You might recall a famous scene from the 1923 silent film Safety Last where the great actor and stuntman Harold Lloyd dangled from the side of a New York skyscraper, at one moment hanging on for dear life on the hands of a clock. You almost certainly known this image, even if you do not know the film or Lloyd, and as a watch-loving person – as you certainly must be – you might have wondered how in the world was the actor able to grab hold of the clock’s hands? Were they not shielded by glass or something? Depending on your age and how strong a grip watches have on you, you might have even wondered that before thinking about how this scene was shot.
Indeed, in ages long past, one might adjust a watch by turning the hands themselves, as you might also have noticed from films and other depictions and recreations of the past. Movements, all mechanical back in these periods, were a little better protected but not by much. The clockwork was protected by doors, through which servicing was done, and the largest ones were walk-in (or climb-in) engines. Pocket watches were much the same, with the movements of key-wind and key-set watches needing to be accessed directly to, well, wind and set them. The invention of the keyless works by Adrien Philippe (of Patek Philippe) in 1843 went a long way towards resolving this issue, and other advances in winding and setting the time generally made watches safer and easier to use. That is to say, the machine itself was less at risk of unintentional damage from handling and from the influence of the outside world.
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Denne historien er fra Issue 72-utgaven av WOW Singapore.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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NEW FRONTIERS
The outgoing CEO of TAG Heuer Julien Tornare shares his management style and values. No doubt these will remain consistent in his new role as Hublot CEO, just as they were in his Zenith tenure
STRUCTURAL STYLE
Parmigiani Fleurier CEO Guido Terreni explains the logic of the new Toric collection and takes us through his thoughts on style and elegance
THE CONVERSATION: APROPOS COMPLICATIONS
A watch with complications appeals to different sorts of collectors, and is quite different to a complex watch. The editors of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand discuss the virtues of all sorts of complications and consider when more is really better...
EUREKA MOMENTS
Our extended look at gold in watchmaking comes to a close in this third and final part, with a look at five proprietary gold alloys. Of course, there are certainly more than five so we will leave the door ajar on going even further
MACHINE LEARNING
The mechanical calendar has been perfected over the last 100 years; it remains a challenge that invites multiple watchmaking and engineering approaches. We get into the nuts and bolts of how the perpetual calendar gets the job done
CULTURAL SENSE
The story of our calendar and why it is rife with anomalies
QUANTA OF TIME
Just as hours, minutes and seconds are quanta of time, so too are days, weeks, months and years. We finally explore the story of the perpetual calendar in particular, in a year that invites such ruminations
PURPLE REIGN
H. Moser Cie brings a brand new dial to the party with the Pioneer Perpetual Calendar Concept MD Purple Enamel Sincere Platinum Jubilee Edition
AUTUMN HUE
Grand Seiko continues its celebration of the 20th anniversary of Calibre 9R with the limited edition SBGA499
TWICE UPON A TIME
The world's greatest double tourbillon wristwatch, the Breguet Classique 5345 Quai de L'horloge is back, with new hand-finishing touches