pplater
5425
Calling the 'old-timers' (no pun intended)...
Oct 13, 2011,03:35 AM
As the 'current crop' of Independent horology enthusiasts we are familiar with the 'current crop' of popular Independent watchmakers. Everyone here knows the work of one or more watchmakers who are, for example, the current members of AHCI or otherwise known through their presentations at Basel and other shows.
We talk with insouciant familiarity about 'Kari' or 'Vianney'; we talk with reverence about Monsieur Dufour; we all know who Gary is sighing about when he mutters the name 'Volker'.
Who, though, were yesterday's shining lights? Does anyone here remember the watchmakers who have come and gone on the AHCI membership list? Which artists struck out on their own, not associated with AHCI?
Here is a watch by Gene Clark (photo courtesy airgraver dot com):
It's a minute repeater, and a very lovely piece (from an aesthetic viewpoint at least), but information about the man and his work is fairly scant and hard to source. Most material online is about his pocket watches, which are gloriously clean: very Daniels-esque.
So, does anyone have this watch? Any Clark watch?
How about Jozef Op de Beeck? Here is one of his watches (photo from watchismo dot blogspot dot com) which may go some way to curing Arthur's horofatigue
:
He and his daughter Elke (also a watchmaker) are now, apparently, the curators of a clock museum in Belgium. He was formerly a member of AHCI. Does anyone have one of his watches, or photos of other Op de Beeck pieces? Come on, Bim: he must be just a short Clio-ride away from you!
Finally (for now, at least), how about Leonardo Spinelli? Here is a shot of one of his 'mystery' regulators (photo from jewelry dot ha dot com):
Spinelli is or was a Milanese watchmaker and one of a number of Italian watchmakers who graced the membership list of AHCI in its earlier days. Where is he now? Where are his watches now?
It would be interesting to piece together a list of all of those who have been members of AHCI at some time or another; that information is not easy to come by. What other names can you add to the list?
Cheers,
pplater.