sham1
8992
Did you not post something similar a few days ago?!
Jan 01, 2022,10:11 AM
Anyway, I disagree that MB&F should be part of any holy trinity or Top 5. Why I say that was that I was on a zoom call with Max Busser a few months back and when I asked him about the accuracy of his watches, he stated that they were about +8 -2 seconds per day. Some may say if you want an accurate watch, buy a quartz or a spring drive. But there are watch companies out there that can produce beautifully finished watches with accuracy a lot better than a MB&F. And I have owned a LM101 and had to send it back as it was not impressive in its time keeping. Yes MB&F is creative and thinks outside the box but so is Urwerk and De Bethune.
So my top five is based on dial design and finishing, movement design and finishing, case design including lugs, accuracy, wearability, exclusitivity and reliability. Those massive Gruebel Forseys with a quadruple tourbillon are all very clever but packaging it into a wearable size has not been possible.
In no particular order, I vote for Philllip Dufour, Charles Frodsham, Rexhep Rexhepi, Roger Smith and Kari Voutilainen. I was tempted to add Gronefeld instead of Frodsham to the list but the truth is Frodsham is almost offering a cut price Roger Smith with its double impulse escapement watch. A Smith with the same movement would have easily cost double the price of the Frodsham. Some may say Dufour should not be on the list as he is not making anything but while this great watchmaker is alive, any list should include him. And he is making those twenty rare Simplicity watches. Then there was a choice between Rexhep Rexhepi and Petermann Bedat. Perhaps the latter are too new a set up whereas the mere mention of Rexhepi creates an aura which is hard to compete with.
I have excluded Greubel Forsey and Ferdinand Berthoud as I find their watches too large although the design and finishing are beyond reproach. GF in particular must be commended for making their watches accurate to +2 -1 seconds a day, a figure that even Max Busser was surprised at, when I mentioned it to him after he told me of the +8 -2 seconds accuracy of his watches. At these price level my fellow purists, we should not be compromising.
And for the record, the top three would be Dufour, Smith and Voutilainen