Independents

Greg D
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Grail - Paul Gerber

I've visited and met many members of the AHCI over the years. But there was one I've always wanted to meet - but never had.

Paul Gerber is a watchmaker's watchmaker - his work on the 'Worlds most complicated watch" which was commissioned by Lord Arran - and discussed here some years ago - is still one of the most extra-ordinary pieces of watchmaking I've ever seen. On the face of inserting an 'in place tourbillon' while keeping the balance sounds impossible. And that was just the start.

As well as that, I think Paul captures what George Daniels describes as the 'interesting and amusing' aspect of watchmaking - with his spherical moon - which is deeper than the movement that contains it - or the insane but wonderful geared winding weights - orthe retrograde seconds on the retro twin and retrograd watches.

And that's even before mentioning his work with Luwig Oechslin on the MIH watch with the amazing annual calander and the Ochs and Junior brand.

Paul is a man who can make the impossible happen. He perhaps suffers from being an 'engineer' rather than someone with a unique design aesthetic - or an obsession with perfect finishing - but he does some very interesting work.

Over the year there has been a lot of discussion about his work here - so look up Curtis's article on making the retro-twin and the amazing storm of the 'Lord Arran' watch.

I bought my first Paul Gerber watch, a retrograd, from AHCI member Kiu in HK - which I described here years ago. It was a wonderful afternoon - and Kiu described Paul as 'my great friend'.

Sadly this watch was stolen at the start of the year - but I was able to buy a 'retro-twin' from another purist to replace it. Amazingly the police then found my retrograd (only 2 of the 13 have been recovered). My MIH watch was one of the few not stolen. So at this point I had 3 Paul Gerber watches - more than any other brand!.

I had always wanted to meet Paul - but since he was in Zurich - a little away from most other watch makers - our paths had not crossed.

Aware that Mo and I would be in Switzerland (and I was travelling by train - to be eco-sensitive) - I thought about extending my trip by a few days and I got in touch with Paul - who was happy to meet me.

So on Monday morning I set out from the centre of Zurich by tram...