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Independents

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Comments:

Calling the 'old-timers' (no pun intended)...

 
 By: pplater : October 13th, 2011-03:35
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 smile  :




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.

Very interesting topic...

 
 By: Emil Wojcik : October 13th, 2011-07:03
...I wish I could contribute but I just don't have the knowledge. Hopefully others will.

Emil

Dang! These are lovely PP! Great thread!

 
 By: ArthurSG : October 13th, 2011-07:21

I'm googling some of them in another window.

And a great theme.. vintage indies... which gives rise to another oft asked question on indie collecting... these chaps who have come and gone, for the owners who have them, how are you addressing the serving issues?  Is it easy enough for a good watch maker to service them?  Parts, special tools etc?

Excellne post from which I infer another.  Thanks PP.

Love the post.....

 
 By: Darren : October 13th, 2011-09:35

wish I knew more about some of these early independents.  I didn't realize that there were any former AHCI members - interesting to know.  There are even some current AHCI members who don't get much mention here for one reason or another.

I love the Clark timepiece.  I recently saw a thread at a different forum discussing his various pocket watches, one of which came up for auction not too long ago.

Look forward to following this thread!

Darren

Interesting...

 
 By: DonCorson : October 13th, 2011-11:00
I am pretty much in the dark too.
Will see if my feelers can find anything.
Don

Sven Anderson naturally...and my favourite pieces from him

 
 By: Hororgasm : October 13th, 2011-12:53

pictures taken off the world wide web

 






















Best,

Horo

So the watches with the car and the other with the dog

 
 By: ArthurSG : October 13th, 2011-18:42
are adjusted to how many other positions?  smile

alright, but the name is Svend [nt]

 
 By: amerix : October 14th, 2011-11:59
No message body

Apols, I left out the d

 
 By: Hororgasm : October 14th, 2011-20:33

adding a "d"

 
 By: amerix : October 15th, 2011-07:27
I have a commemorative edition of a watch that came in a feudal, truly gigantic box made from heavy, presumably African, wood with the lettering "Made in Switzerlan" on the top.The lettering may have been applied, but it was perfectly spaced, with no room left for the missing "d". I notified the manufacturer of the watch (Maurice Lacroix), and they replaced the box for me, which obviously had not been made in Switzerlan(d) but in some part of the world like Hong Kong - they said ;-)

Talk about embarrassing! 

I would also like to add that Svend is not only a wonderful fellow to know and deal with but has provided many valuable tips and extra services to me.

Regards,
Amery
This message has been edited by amerix on 2011-10-15 07:36:55 This message has been edited by amerix on 2011-10-15 07:46:34

Some additions

 
 By: aaronm : October 13th, 2011-14:00
I don't think he was a member of the AHCI formally, but Derek Pratt springs to my mind in that generation of makers:



Also don't forget the Franck Muller, the watchmaker, was an independent back in the day, that phase is CLEARLY over...

also a possibly interesting link from 5 years back on the then-current membership.
www.thepurists.net

There was an american maker who concocted a watch wound by temp changes, like a wrist-Atmos, but I cannot recollect his name

A

StevenPhillips is the name you are searching for [nt]

 
 By: Hororgasm : October 13th, 2011-14:19
No message body

That's the one!

 
 By: aaronm : October 13th, 2011-15:27
I think he was the first American member of the AHCI.

A

We had a recent retrospective on Steven Phillips ...

 
 By: AndrewD : October 13th, 2011-21:36
Click here ...

That watch is so beautiful in person

 
 By: Gary G : October 14th, 2011-07:13

I had the privilege to see this watch in person at the atelier of another independent watchmaker, and I can tell you that it was one of the most amazing things I've seen.  The watch is bigger than one might think, and that slow beat tourby has to be seen in action to be believed.  The movement finishing, particularly the soleil striping on the rear movement plate, is eye-popping.

If you ever have a chance to see this one, don't pass it up!

Best,

Gary G

A list was compiled

 
 By: MTF : October 13th, 2011-21:56

pplater,  

AHCI produced a book documenting the history of the association up to their 20th anniversary.

There was a list of members and candidates.

Some candidates may not have made it to full mmbership if they failed the meisterstück test or they defected to another association.

 

Regards,

MTF

 

MEMBERS

Andersen, Svend
Andersen, Søren
Baumgartner, Felix
Becsei, Aaron
Bray, Robert
Calabrese, Vincent
Chaykin, Konstantin
Daniels, George
Delaloye, Nicolas
Dufour, Philippe
Eleta, Miki
Gerber, Paul
Haldimann, Beat
Halter, Vianney
Journe, François-Paul
Jutzi, Frank
Kazes, Jean
Kiu, Tai Yu
Klings, Christian
Lang, Marco
Lederer, Bernhard
Muller, Frank
Naeschke, Sebastian
Naeschke, Matthias
Nienaber, Rainer
Pita, Aniceto
Prescher, Thomas
Preziuso, Antoine
Schmid, Peter
Speake-Marin, Peter
Strehler, Andreas
Van der Klaauw, Christiaan
Voutilainen, Kari
Vyskocil, Volker
Wibmer, Peter
Wurtz, Philippe

 

CANDIDATES

Bouvier, Saskia Maaike
Jenni, Marc
Jiabao, Xu
Leube, Eva
Mc Gonigle, John
Mc Gonigle, Stephen

This message has been edited by MTF on 2011-10-20 13:37:58

Thanks MTF, but...

 
 By: pplater : October 13th, 2011-22:47

...(with the exception of some candidates having become members) that looks a lot like the current list. The names in the OP are missing, for example, and there seems to be no argument that they were, once, AHCI members. Is it 'non-U' to look back on these 'others'?

Cheers,

pplater.

Kiu, Tai Yu

 
 By: takashi78 : October 13th, 2011-23:02
Anyone has any recent news of Kiu, Tai Yu?

Seems he after his "illness" he has went off the radar and no one has heard of him since.

Even searching through the net i cant find any review of his watches nor any members here having any of his pieces.

The list just posted by MTF...

 
 By: pplater : October 13th, 2011-23:17

...has him marked as 'deceased', sadly.

 

Cheers,

pplater.

CORRECTION: still alive but inactive

 
 By: MTF : October 20th, 2011-13:47

pplater,

Apologies for error.

Latest news from Hong Kong is that Mr Kiu Tai Yu suffered a serious cerebrovascular event (stroke) and is still alive but he is "unable to make watches anymore".

 

Regards,

MTF

Thanks, MTF...

 
 By: pplater : October 20th, 2011-17:07
For taking the trouble to update. Sad news, albeit a better outcome than first thought.

Cheers,
pplater.

"Inactive"

 
 By: MTF : October 20th, 2011-13:40

Mr Kiu Tai Yu suffered a serious cerebrovascular event (stroke) and is still alive but he is unable to make watches anymore.

Apologies for any confusion.

 

Regards,

MTF

I have jet-lag: What is an OP? (nt)

 
 By: MTF : October 13th, 2011-23:34
?

Officine Panerai? Wait... Original Post? ;)))

 
 By: amanico : October 13th, 2011-23:36

"Original Post" - sorry... [nt]

 
 By: pplater : October 13th, 2011-23:53
No message body

AHCI AGM is tomorrow

 
 By: MTF : October 14th, 2011-05:44

pplater,

 

I thought you knew something was up because the AHCI Annual General Meeting is tomorrow (15 Oct 2011).

Maybe new members will be installed?  New candidates?

 

smile

MTF

 

We can but hope... :-)

 
 By: pplater : October 14th, 2011-05:52

Wonderful watches and post!

 
 By: Gary G : October 14th, 2011-07:10

Thanks for introducing this topic!  I have to say that I love all three of those watches -- would be very proud to have any of them.  I'm enjoying the rest of the thread as well...

Best,

Gary G

Thanks, Gary, and how about it?...

 
 By: pplater : October 14th, 2011-07:57
...are there any 'old guard' names you can throw into the mix?

Cheers,
pplater.

OK, some more 'thread-fuel'...

 
 By: pplater : October 14th, 2011-22:01
This guy was / is one of AHCI's success stories. His watches seem to be diminishing just a little in popularity now, but for a while he had a mortgage on a very distinctive style (think anamorphic numerals and tonneau cases) that was much sought-after. Of course, he has also given us, at various times, what are ostensibly the world's most complicated wristwatches. Here, though, is a piece from an earlier time; a time when he needed, it seems, only one name:


(photo from PuristS N54 platform - Ian Skellern?)

smile

Now, there must be some of his watches on the forum! Does anyone have one of the earlier pieces, though?

Cheers,
pplater.
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