Independents

As promised in my Simplicity post, here are more photos of the lovely Duality in WG.  If time permits I may try to get a few more of the movement, but here's what I have as of now:

 

Hope you enjoyed!  As always, all comments and suggestions welcomed.  And many thanks to my friend for permitting me to photograph this very special watch!

Best,

Gary G

Any Dufour watch is stunning.

Tony, well said! Gary's photos are the next best thing to seeing the real watch - I could not have said it better!

You have no idea how many photos I take to get a few decent ones!  My "reject" rate is very high indeed -- I'm glad to hear that some of the ones that survive do communicate the essence of these beautiful pieces.

All the best,

Gary

Producing that ONE spectacular photo is all that matters!

For me, being able to handle and photograph a Duality was mind-blowing!  Only 9 were made, and the dual escapement design was truly ground-breaking as an advance in time-keeping.  Gorgeous, too!

Best,

Gary

And it's a poor photograph of an amaxing moment. Two watches - four balances! The first time I'd seen either of them.

Both beautiful watches -- would be great to see a RG version someday, as PD's RG has (for me) a particularly beautiful color.

No message body

nt

Gary, what about a wrist shot ?

Huge Congrats !

...to be clear, the watch is not mine!  I do have permission to wear the watch a bit, so will see about that wrist shot...

Best,

Gary G

I have one.
Stop making posts like this there are people with weak heart around

Duality movement is just summit of high horology
Best
Damjan

Having the opportunity to photograph this piece at my leisure has been fantastic!

Best,

Gary

Gary many thanks for the post. Rarely do we get to see pictures of the Duality.

In the last picture, and I am not sure if it's tech issues, the geneva waves seem to bleed into the wording. Am I correct?


regards

Weekeat

Thanks, Weekeat!

On the logo, the ridges you see are not the striping (which is very subtle) but grooves cut into the sides of the letters themselves (that is on the vertical surfaces).  Invisible to the naked eye, but with zillion-times macro photography one can see all sorts of things!

Best,

Gary

Thanks for sharing.

 

Vte

Fun to do! 

Best,

Gary

though I still prefer the simplicity

The Duality has the great advantages of rarity (9 made) and innovation (dual balance escapement) -- but some folks do prefer the Simplicity.  For that matter, some prefer the Observatoire to both!

Best,

Gary

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Given the consistenly high quality of your watch photos, that's quite a compliment!

The Duality was, shall we say, a challenge to photograph -- between the domed crystal, lack of AR, and subtle brushing of the silver dial (that either doesn't catch the light or tends to throw chromatic aberrations), it's a lot harder than it looks!  For no-hassle images, give me a Lange, anytime

Best,

Gary

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I'd be interested to hear your views.  There is the inner "railroad track" that indicates the minutes -- are you looking for something different from or in addition to that?

Thanks,

Gary

The rail-track should not be positioned in the inner ring.  It should be placed at the outer ring as in the Simplicity.  Practically, that should be the right place as the longer minute hand points in that position.  Asthetically, the inner ring where the rail-track is, should be replaced by a simpler design or the middle part of the dial be made guilloche or different material.

To me, the Simplicity dial is simple, beautiful and elegent and it suits the whole spirit of the watch whereas for Duality, it is a much more complicated watch, the dial should have higher quality and more beautiful/complex than that of Simplicity.

This of course is my personal view.

Regards

Ling

 

In fairness, on the 34mm Simplicity the railroad track is on the inner ring (this is the easy way to tell a 34 from a 37).  To your point, however, the center of that dial is guilloche (and that beautiful wavy guilloche, at that) which creates a lot of visual interest. 

I agree that the Duality dial seems quite sober for the amazing movement that is behind it!  The subtle brushed finish and contrast between the main dial and seconds subdial do help (I'll try to post some better photos later this week), but the overall effect is pretty plain, as you say.

Thanks again for the further articulation.

Best,

Gary

The Duality dial to me is a case of breaking all the accepted rules and getting it exactly right. I wouldn't change a thing.

_john

I would be glad to hear more details on Duality dial from you.

Thank you in advance.

Regards

Ling

Hi Ling,

I don't fully understand the question, but let me try to explain what I mean.

The convention for watch dials would be that the markers or numerals be positioned at a distance from the center that is proportional to the length of the hands which indicate them. Hour markers should be placed or extended nearer to the center to approach the tip of the hour hand and the minutes and/or seconds track should be closely aligned with the tips of the minute and second hand. This makes the accurate reading of the hours, minutes and seconds as easy and intuitive as possible and so has come to be the accepted convention for watch and clock dials, thought of as essentially "correct" rather than just aesthetically pleasing.

I don't believe Dufour to necessarily be a master designer (I find the Simplicity lugs to be too long for example), but I do believe the glaring inversion of the positions of the hours and minutes markings on the Duality dial to be a masterful stroke. Breaking the rules sometimes results in something beautiful and iconic and that's how I feel about the Duality dial.

Of course YMMV.

_john

Nt