Horological Meandering

Yes, time again for one of the periodic dinners of the NorCal gang, this time with the welcome addition of our own timerider! 

This is the second time that I have entered this post -- the first version was lost forever when I hit "backspace" rather than "delete" to remove a duplicated photo...aaargh!  The good news for you is that this version will be a bit briefer...

Our theme for the evening was "unusual complications," to draw out some of the pieces that folks wouldn't ordinarily bring.  In addition, members of the group conceived of some unusual categories of complications, as you will see! 

Apologies to the attendees for leaving out some pieces that I didn't get photos of, and to you, kind readers for the photo quality -- the lighting in the restaurant was pretty desperate.  But hey -- it's about the people, after all!

Let's start with the first category: "improved timekeeping."  Nice to be able to open with an icon: the original Lange PLM, with chain and fusee:

Next up a, shall we say, rare piece: the Dufour Duality, with twin escapements and differential

And then the next two: the FPJ tourbillons, incorporating a remontoir and dead seconds.  The first is one of the original "subscription" pieces that FPJ sold to finance the start of his business; the second in the double wrist shot below is a more recent, but no less lovely, example

This grainy gold dial has to be seen to be believed:

Siblings:

Next, we move on to "jumping" indications.  Some of my faves from the group, including the Vagabondages, did not make an appearance, but we did have, among others, this unique jumping seconds piece from the Habrings.  This also fell into the "multi time zone" category.  Can you tell from the picture below what the home town of the owner is?

A second, simpler jump seconds Habring was also in attendance:

And both minutes and hours jump on this Zeitwerk Luminous...

The Moser Perpetual 1 was in attendance as well -- its special jumping trick is the instantly jumping date (including month end).  In addition, it belonged to its own category, "traditional complications (in this case perpetual calendar) displayed in non-traditional ways"

One of the categories that was explicitly mentioned in the invitation was "astronomic complications."  We had a few moon phases to start the bidding:

...and the grand-daddy of moon phase displays, the Lange -- if I live to be 1000, I still wouldn't have to change the moon display on this one!

Even more "astronomic," perhaps, was the AP Equation of Time, with moon phase, EOT, and times of sunrise and sunset.  This one in white gold:

And with its fraternal twin, the rose gold/black face version -- both with San Francisco bezels and cams.  Lots of fun to compare!

We had a couple of other watches that put forward their own categories: this JLC that merges twin time zones with bomb-proof durability...

...and a very pretty Blancpain that was an entry in the "extended running" category at 8 days power reserve (one more coming in another category, below)

On to our last set: the chimers!  Off to a great start with the UN Hourstriker:

...and then a piece that is both understatedly beautiful and rare, the AP Jules Audemars quarter-hour grande sonnerie -- this one with the skeletonized movement, as well:

Wouldn't be a NorCal gathering without at least one of Kari's pieces -- in this instance the MR 10.  This watch is a bugger to photograph, but in person it is beautiful, believe me:

Ho hum, another repeater!  Striking (pun intended) IWC skeleton repeater, here sitting on the wooden resonating box brought by its owner

And, two repeaters from JLC.  First, the MMR, with its 15-day power reserve also an entrant in the endurance category, and with (if memory serves) a torque indicator as well

And, a personal favorite of mine, the original Reverso Repetition Minutes

Here are all of the chimers in one spot -- quite an array of sonic pleasures!

That's all, folks!  As usual the evening sped along, with great conversation on topics large, small, and hilarious.  It's always a great treat for me to have a chance to meet with my great friends in this group, and I hope that you enjoyed seeing a bit of the watch-related goings-on from the evening.

Best,

Gary G

Especially the Lange 1815 moonphase, the U.N Hourstriker, the Reverso MR and the Ti MMR, and in another register, the AP EOT...

I love your menu, guys.

Thanks for the slice of dream.

Best,

Nicolas

It is always such a treat to spend time with these guys, and then to see what they pull out of their bags!  Every theme seems to tease out some wonderful treats.  Delighted that you enjoyed it.

and quite reflective of the NorCal atmosphere...understated powerhouses...

But perhaps you are right -- what I can say is that I think my buddies have pretty good taste!

speachless really,i don t know where to start from......Lage luminous,MMr,Un,Kari.....and the others...must have been heaven!

Wow Gary,I hope to attend a Nor cal gang meeting in my life.

Mo

...and to see some DeBethune magic while we are at it...

I might tailor plan a trip around that time then......Thank you Gary,very kind of you.

Mo

Every piece you posted is special, I recognize the strap on the Sonnerie

...and your name did come up during the discussion of the Sonnerie!  This example was the skeleton -- wonderful to see all of the work they did to get the sonnerie mechanism into that JA case.

I wonder if there was a sound-off among all the chimers that we should know about? 

Tx for the great report!

Thanks for your note, Jester.  We certainly did sound all of the watches many times!  The UN was a pleasant surprise to me, as I haven't really liked the sound of most UN chiming watches I've heard -- but this one had a sweet, clear tone.  The MMR was clear and crisp, the KV very "positive" in its sound, and I thought that my Reverso RM acquitted itself quite well indeed in some very distinguished company.  

my reaction to this group.  Rare to see one of those let alone all of them at one sitting.  My wrists would never be the same.

Thanks for sharing these.

Darren

I agree -- in most settings it would be phenomenal to see a PP annual calendar or a Habring jump seconds, but in this setting we started there and kept raising the ante!

lovely watches!! i definitely would like to meet up when I'm in N.Cal=D

We don't meet up that frequently here, but when we do it is always a blast...

What a gathering Gary !

Thanks for the pics.

Fx

I would have to be Yul Brynner, I guess -- don't know who would play the reformed drunk

Nice, rare, not-seen-often pieces.  Thank you!  Simply jaw-dropping line-up.  Would love to join if possible!

Ken

We're really not in "competition" with your Tokyo gatherings, but if we were I think the firepower on your side of the ocean might still be superior!

To see a Duality and that original FPJ Rem-Tourb together... the mind boggles.

Thanks!

_john

...when the Duality and FPJ subscription piece were going to get some love from this crowd!

Hey Gary,

Thanks for sharing all these oh so good pieces!

I love that 8 Jours Blancpain, i was very tempted on several occasions to purchase that one, but let the chance pass by.

Cool to see that exclusive Pt 950 hallmark too!

Cheers

Stephen

Easy to "lose" even something that beautiful when surrounded by so many other watches!  I agree with you that the PT case is a lovely feature of this one...

Gary, please post the name of a reliable realtor in NorCal - you guys are having w-a-a-a-a-y too much fun over there by yourselves!

I am sure that some sort of acceptable real estate transaction could be arranged!  

With the kind of fire power at your GTGs, I'm glad I missed the gathering with you when you visited Singapore.

Would have been great to meet you, and in any event the watches are just an adjunct to the good fellowship.  

that is quite an unusual and may I add 'rare' selection of some of the most desirable timepieces around.

Thanks for sharing Gary.

cheers

fernando

P.S. I have also lost a few lengthy posts by pressing the backspace button - so frustrating! Better to compose the text somewhere else, then copy & paste.

 

It was great fun to see all of these in person, including many I had never seen or handled before.