Independents

I've been meaning to make at least a cursory post on this one for some time, but couldn't quite manage it.

Anyways, the idea behind this one began with my fascination with the Zenith 135 movement.  The more I researched this particular movement, the more I longed to find an "orphan" movement which could serve as the base for a new timepiece.  Really fell for the history of this movement in time competitions, as well as its slow-beat mechanism and rather large balance wheel, among other things.  I was not, however, willing to separate a 135 movement from the timepiece in which it was "born", so it had to be floater if this was going to work.

After a fair bit of searching, a movement without a watch came available and it was on to the next phase.  I had a couple of watchmakers in mind, but luckily for me number 1 on that list proved ready, willing and able to work with me after I reached out to him.  After a few e-mails back and forth, a telephone conversation and a few more e-mails, we had settled on design, case metal, hands and size.

The process was a large part of the fun, as Thomas and his team kept me in the loop every step of the way.  Lots of scans from beginning to end, which only served to build the excitement.  The timepiece has been everything I hoped for now that I've had it for a bit.

Enough of my blathering - here are a few scans from along the way and the finished product.  This one is hard to photograph, but I thought these came out fairly well.

Hope you enjoy.

Darren

 

Various in-the-making scans

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The movement

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The movement next to Christian Klings' movement

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The watch at completion

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The final timepiece

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The dials share subtle similarities I think

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With some others

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The Independent trio are amazing! This message has been edited by sidneyc on 2011-11-14 03:15:53

e

That must be very satisfying.  Great looking watch as well.
nick

Did Thomas service and help clean up the movement or are you fortuhnate enough to have found the 135 in that condition?

Great outcome regardless.. juts curious.

and provided a full service.  The movement was in decent shape as shipped to me, but Thomas worked some magic on it.

Thanks for the kinds words.

Darren

Great to see such workmanship and 3 beautiful watches you own.

Congratulations
Andrew

and congrats on the Prescher.
Is that the same watch I saw in Basel?
Don

Thomas did indeed have this timepiece with him at Basel, so would I guess this is the one you saw.

Darren

That is some GOOD watchmaking there, sir.

Roger Smith haunts my dreams.  I can see why you're drawn to it.  Hopefully one day you'll have one on your wrist!

Darren

really has a timeless quality to it--and makes a wonderful addition to your collection of independents!

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I like a lot the way TP used the 135. I saw it at Basel...

Enjoy your watch with this iconic movement!

Fx

You are to be congratulated on your patronage of a talented Independent, and maintaining a tradition of re-housing a worthy movement. The resultant watch is a beauty.

Cheers,
pplater.

This movement deserved a new beginning, and I think Thomas did it proud.

Darren

Thanks so much for the post and pictures next to the Klings. TPs chronicle on the Thomas Prescher website is also very impressive. I think the design you and TP produced is sublime--I love it. And the hands are simply to die for. There is such a striking contrast between it and the fantastic Klings as well. For me the Prescher looks like a watch you could wear every day for the rest of your life, and you'd need nothing else. It's simple, classic and sublime.

I do indeed wear the Prescher quite often.  It works quite well as a casual timepiece or for more formal occassions.  I enjoy watching the massive balance wheel almost as much as I enjoy reading the time on the front of the watch.

Darren

it too was a commissioned piece.  I've had the Klings for close to 2 years now, and never tire of it.  You are correct that the movement started as an AS 130 ... another slow beat regulator.  I got somewhat lucky on this one, as I reached out to Christian at just the right time.  He makes very few watches each year (he does all of the work with his own 2 hands), but as luck would have it he was able to accept my engagement.  I knew I wanted a power reserve and moonphase in this watch, and from there we created the design, colors, etc. together.  Christian is old school in every sense of the word - here was one of the original renderings of my timepiece:

 

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Here was the next one:

 

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Here are the instructions I received with the watch:

 

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Christian was wonderful to work with, and IMHO is one of the best watchmakers going.

Darren

Chris and I have lunch together often and I was able to see the construction of this watch several times through it's making. He bounced his idea for the dial off of me early in it's conception. He is certainly an inspiration!

Congratulations on building on this theme!

I have always enjoyed "process" photos where one sees the components coming together to make the delivered watch.

Bill

A great way to resurrect an outstanding calibre.

- SJX

Thank you so much for sharing these.  A nice little family indeed!