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Philippe Narbel & His Inner Angles
A few days ago I had the privilege of joining with other watch enthusiasts for an evening of pizza and drinks, to meet Philippe Narbel and see one of his own-design watches.
Philippe lives in L'Abbaye, near the Valle de Joux and has been involved the jewelry and watch business more than 20 years in various positions, most notably as an jeweler, assembler, then decorator, and skeletonizer for AP.
He now works as a consultant, teaching others how to decorate movements (the reason for his trip to the USA), and having started his own independent atelier, is demonstrating what he can do using a movement of his own design, which features lots of inner angles "just because they are beautiful, difficult and no machine can do this."
This is a stainless steel outer case with a gold movement, and utilizes bridges, plates, hands, etc. designed and decorated by Philippe.
I'm sorry the pictures aren't better; I blame it on the bright lights, pizza and Cabernet...
I'm sorry the pictures aren't better; I blame it on the bright lights, pizza and Cabernet...
We enjoyed a short lecture with questions and answers by Tim Jackson and Philippe, with help from translator Rosie.
Using this basic structure and dimensions (notice the layout of the balance and the 4 ruby jewels) he built his plates and case. The first iteration a few years ago looked like this:
to black and gold. Notice the independent bridges, reminiscent of a pocket watch movement. In addition to the single screw, there is a hidden pin on each which helps align the bridge precisely.
and skeletonized:
To fully gold and skeletonized.
The real thing:
Strap color optional, movement materials, color, case, etc. all open to customer choice. Delivery times around 6 months. Prices 50-80k CHF range.
What do you think?
VIDEO
Philippe Narbel & His Inner Angles
A few days ago I had the privilege of joining with other watch enthusiasts for an evening of pizza and drinks, to meet Philippe Narbel and see one of his own-design watches. Philippe lives in L'Abbaye, near the Valle de Joux and has been involved the jewe...
Gorgeous.
Obviously, there's a heck of a lot of brilliant choices in that price range - the competition is especially stiff.... Thank you so much for taking the time to present this work, and his story to us. Cheers, Filip
Watches with shapes other than round are always tricky, I think
Of course, it goes without saying that the JLC is perfection in a rectangular shape! Front Back So setting that aside, I just have actually have quite a few unconventional shapes: ...
My impression is....
that this is one of those instances where the watch itself is a 'slave' to the movement. Form follows function, the case is there to simply frame the movement effectively....
I've always viewed this watch as a canvas to exhibit his exceptional finishing abilities more than something with the aim of widespread commercial success
And with that I think the watch did it's job! Wish I could have been there to see it myself.
Thanks for the comprehensive posting about the evening.
I certainly would not have done any justice to it should I have tried. It was an interesting evening to be sure. Philippe is a very interesting person. He is dedicated to his passion and is humble despite his amazing skill. The finishing and anglage work ...
Nice, the case reminds me of the
Audemars Piguet Tradition Picture Source: Monochrome Watches S ...
What a great experience. Thanks for sharing
While the watch design isn’t my style, I have so much respect for the practitioners of Anglage, having tried it myself. It is hard to get the surfaces crisp and mirror smooth
I really like this case shape and the two-tone...
...even though the face is a bit ornate for me...
I agree with most of our members here
The finishing, anglage and beveling are probably one of the best in the world, I am shocked how good it is, just perfect really. If the watch wouldn’t have been just a show of what he can achieve at skeletonizing and anglage but a more restrained and clas...
Beautiful workmanship, but not crazy about the square design of the case.
The case and dial design can do with some more finesse-ing.
Thank you Mike for reporting!
Great to see you and others. Philippe has a clear vision of what he wants to share and his watchmaking in this form reveals much about him and what makes him tick (so to speak) Puns aside, his work at AP in their decoration department after working for th...
Feel like the design needs refining
it’s very fairly priced for the quality, but not crazy on the design personally.
