L'Atelier Bernard "The Owl"
Another release from young watchmakers. L'Atelier Bernard "the Owl" Nice but very traditional as most of their colleagues... Focus is on finishing, as usual nowadays. It seems that we'll have more and more guillochage, perlage and anglage. Source : Instag...
Saw the video earlier today. Very nice! 😎
Their young, hungry, and have... time. The parts/layout looks really nice, symmetric 😊
15 more, 20 more...
The more the merrier. Heck, could it be that even mere mortals like me could get truly custom even on the minute decoration level (while still keeping one of my kidneys).
150 000 CHF is ridiculous for such basic movement and a new brand. Come on chaps, this is not an Aston Martin !
Amazed by the skills of the young watchmakers and what they achieve but they totally lost their minds. Come on ! Let's have a pragmatic approach : Development costs : almost 0 for this type of very, very basic movement. This could be a montre école. Stain...
I think you’re right.
I’d buy the Aston Martin. At least I know that the Aston Martin is worth something if I’m going to sell it. I don’t know who Bernard is lol. Best Gatsby
Imagine if the tradition had never existed.
Now, suddenly, a new independent brand shows up with exactly the same model but it would cost 100K, and all those caught up in the independent hype (who seem to accept anything) would praise it and consider the price completely reasonable.
It is cool but the price is pretty ridiculous
Good for them if they sell through these, but for the same money there are many, many more interesting pieces available...
The money is crazy and the finishing lacking for the price.
I do think the gold inlay is quite cool from a construction perspective but not an aesthetic that I really care for. Lots of open access holes on both sides makes this feel very much a young/immature work which it is and would be fine if it wasn't priced ...
Hmmm…
…at which point do some of these projects begin to fail? Is it that watches number one and two will sell through (be pre sold) and then things become more challenging? Or if your production is sufficiently low (like here) one can sustain demand for a deca...
Time to post it :) Finishing fetishism is laziness, a wild card to charge crazy amount of money. Innovation is a different story and much, much more difficult.
We entered a vicious circle. 2 weeks ago Atelier Aubert & Ramel released the same kind of 'tradition' watch at 72K CHF. I guess more to come, unfortunately.
Personally I am going back to the OG crop. MB&F, De Bethune, etc. Prices for those pieces have come back down to earth and are a very good value
The perpetual MB&F (not EVO) is like ~$115k - $125k, which is SO much bang for buck. An amazing perpetual calendar movement, excellent finishing and a completely novel design.