I was there for a couple of days and thought that Roger Smith's watches, though exclusive (only 10 pieces a year hence the 3 year waiting list) and impeccably made, were far too heavy for daily wear and I only tried on the relatively basic Series One. I cannot imagine how heavy the Series 4 would have been. The prices I agree are rather high. Kari Voutilainen's Vingt 8, one of the finest basic watches around is half the price of the Series 1 and Kari only produces 40 watches a year.
I was most drawn to the Freidrich III for Lang and Heyne as it now spots a more classic silver dial (instead of the black) and the stainless steel piece that you photographed is almost a steal considering the beauty of the hand finished frosted movement. I am actually considering taking the plunge and ordering one.
Arguably, the Felix from the Habrings is termendous value for money and Habring2 still only make 200 watches a year so the exclusitivity is guaranteed. No wonder it won a GPHG award this year with its well finished movement.
Another brand many may have missed but I really hope will succeed in the ever competitive watch world is Urban Jurgensen who are now back under Danish ownership. Lovely hand made dials and the detent escapement watches are amazingly accurate. When I spoke to the new owner, he mentioned that they had sent a number of watches to the COSC for testing who then asked for a few more to be sent as the results were like nothing they had ever tested before so they wanted more watches to determine if it was not an error or a one off! It was neither, and the daily tolerance apparently is better than almost anything else similar in the market.
Thank you again for the wonderful photos. I now keep the photo you took of the Friedrich III as my screen saver as Marco Lang's collegue Dominique took a couple of the watch on my wrist but they do not look as good as your photo.
Sham