Virgin Australia Voyeur — December 2017

DECEMBER 2017 VIRGIN AUSTRALIA 115

EXEC STYLE

Wo rd s KEN KESSLER

Having lagged behind, the European powerhouse

is once again at the forefront of watchmaking.

ABOVE

’Rockpool’

Tourmaline

Necklace

FROM TOP

Sinn ‘EZM 10’;

Dornblüth & Sohn

‘99.1 Silver Dial’.

Germany’s Time is Now

The Life

Aquatic

I

n the hierarchy of

horological history,

the all-time top five

nationalities once read,

in descending order, the

English, the French, the

Germans, the Swiss and

the Dutch.

Why some fell from

grace is a tale for another,

ahem, time, although we

should understand it was

the Swiss who embraced

modern watchmaking

practices (stealing from the

Americans, who went mass-

market), going on to claim

ownership of the industry

as we now know it.

The Swiss ascendency

was aided by the fall of

the German watchmaking

industry — crushed by

WWII and the ill luck of its

horological hub falling into

the hands of the Soviets.

Jump straight past the

palaver that was the Quartz

movement ‘crisis’, to the

Tell us about designing

Paspaley’s new

collection, Rockpool.

We usually begin a collection

two years before it’s released.

I create a brief, illustrating a

theme, style, general look and

feel. Then I work with designers

to respond to the brief — we

work as a team, working on

each piece right down to the

minute details. Our jewellers

spend, on average, a year to

develop the manufacturing

techniques for each collection.

Does it ever happen that

what you’ve envisaged

can’t be created?

Every collection that I’ve

presented to our jewellers has

been technically challenging.

We work together to realise

the impossible. That said, we

have designs that have been in

the workshop for several years

as we haven’t found solutions

to the mechanics of the pieces.

What can we expect

from Paspaley next year?

We hope to release another

high jewellery collection in

October. It’s inspired by areas

of the Northern Territory —

an adventurous collection

with bold and vibrant colours.

http://www.paspaley.com.

collapse of the Soviet Union

in the early 1990s. It’s here

Germanic opportunities

once again arose, such that

a genius named Günter

Blümlein was able to restore,

with a surviving member of

the Lange family, the house

of A. Lange & Söhne.

Thanks to the rebirth

of this manufacturer,

German watchmaking

instantly returned to the

upper echelons. And while

Blümlein sadly didn’t live

to see it, his eforts resulted

in A. Lange & Söhne

becoming one of the finest

manufacturers on the planet.

In its wake has come a

strong German march — the

Swatch Group revived the

Glashütte Original brand

(historically related to Lange)

while makers including

Dornblüth & Sohn, Hanhart

Chronographen, Junghans,

MeisterSinger, Nautische

Instrumente Mühle

Glashütte, Nomos Glashütte,

Sinn and Tutima, plus a few

dozen others, benefitted

from the regained respect

and attention.

Today, German watches

are feted, with many people

choosing them for their

rarity compared to the more

common Swiss pieces.

“There’s a rather special

feeling that comes with

wearing a watch that isn’t

on every second person’s

wrist,” says Lydia Dalle

Nogare, the co-founder of

Australia’s leading retailer

of Germanic wristwear,

Define Watches. “But it’s

also about the exceptionally

high-quality standards, the

understated and streamlined

design aesthetics that are

guided by functionality, and

the brilliant value for money

thanks to lower overheads.”

Tick-tock — it’s definitely

time to go German.

http://www.definewatches.com.au.

We talk to Christine

Salter, the creative

director of acclaimed

Australian heritage

jeweller, Paspaley.