Visiting the Patek Philippe Salon in Genevè

[wasabi]

Yet there are plenty of people posting here who live at home with their parents, have no real savings, but have a 'badge' car, yet most people I know with a bit of cash aren't remotely impressed by someone who has a BMW badge, in fact it is a bit detracting if its more than 2 years old and becomes a bit of a negative.

i.e. single - and likely to stay that way.

[TheAnimus]

I disagree , unless your just using the watch as item to complete your image , it has a special function , or you worked hard to get it what exactly is the reward unless you had a in creating it ?

It depends on the emotion. For instance I can listen to Placidio Demingo and yet I can't sing quite as well as him. Yet singing La Boheme in the shower is still fun.

It isn't a simple thing. It is really obvious that he knows more about watch design than I probably ever will. But often these things aren't simple like that.

A while back I was having to do a lot of work, I wasn't able to do any flying at all. As a result thou I had a bit of cash burning a hole in my pocket and I was offered a B+R for a very fair price. The exact model I bought often sells for silly money I paid about half of that. The thing is the design looks very much like a DI from the cockpit, so I had some kind of emotional pleasure every time I looked at the time go by. Having no dependants one often questions why one works so hard. Not to mention the fact that I have to work for 5 months of the year, just to pay my tax bill, it is really hard to ask myself why I bother, when there are other things I'd rather be doing. A simple reminder of oh yeah, once you've done this project, you could take some time off and be able to afford to fly really helps.

Speaking as artist myself that is the only time I feel vindicated or" rewarded " through the realisation of my creation through myself - and then I suppose if others realise that as well.

This is a very differen't kind of feeling. I generally percieve all of my creations as fundementally flawed, it is ultimately a very useful trait in my line of work to have complete honest objectivity.

Something which is so pointless, so simple, yet so complex is such pathos for me.

[melon]

It depends on the emotion. For instance I can listen to Placidio Demingo and yet I can't sing quite as well as him. Yet singing La Boheme in the shower is still fun.

You miss the point though Anni , because you are still not really creating something from scratch / birth - you are just emulating a tune / lyrics you've already heard and enjoying the challenge of recreating it - that is not creation any more than 100 bad karaokes - its like tracing a drawing and claiming thats art.

I'd say the same for cover bands too unless they're changing it , or doing it in a different way so it sounds different even if the lyrics are the same.

[wasabi]

The fine line between tasteful and tacky always leaps out at me when i look in a jeweller's window and see the pricier watches. And there we're only talking about -relatively' inexpensive £800 jobs. Some of the good watches are gorgeous, while other really make my £20 Sekonda look like the paragon of taste. The mahoosive big ones are particularly bad IMO.

In some ways I find these things wasteful and ridiculously decadent. On the other, when I'm on holiday or have free time i generally go and look at beautiful old buildings/relics/monuments, created by the decadently wealthy and powerful. Nobody goes to marvel at practical middle-of-the-road sensible terrace houses.

[peterb]

Nobody goes to marvel practical middle-of-the-road sensible terrace houses.

I don't know about that

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beat...ildhood-homes/

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/mr-straws-house/

[wasabi]

I don't know about that

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beat...ildhood-homes/

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/mr-straws-house/

Hmmm. A housing variation of that masterpiece of modern art, 'My Bed' by Tracy Emin?

[Andy3536]

Stunning watch Bsodmike

[cookie365]

Nah, if you need to know what time it is, have a look at your bus ticket

[santa claus]

I have removed a couple of irrelevant/off topic posts from the thread

Just more Jokes about Santa..

Damn, were there posts directed at me? I should very much have liked to have seen them and been able to respond.

As for the decadence etc issue let me explain a little. BSODmike spends considerable time preparing his posts and his passion for the items he chooses to buy is unparalleled. I look forward to his posts because he engages readers in something that is probably beyond our reach and he does so without smugness or boastfulness and as has been mentioned we're getting a first-hand owner experience.

If anyone doesn't like this type of thing, you could always leave it to those that do.

[bsodmike]

Hello all,

First off, many thanks to peterb for keeping this thread in good order. Over the years I've shared my pen and watch interests (obsession?) on Hexus, and for the most part I believe some have come to enjoy them. There have been a few to remind me that a BIC is as perfect a tool for the job as is a Casio/Timex!

Various people consider watches quite differently; from utilitarian to an item of value, and for others possibly a status symbol (as melon mentioned). Some wouldn't give them a second thought, as their mobile phone "does the job" well enough.

As an engineer, both timekeeping and the mechanics of mechanical wristwatches has been of great personal interest. Whilst I was at University, I started out with a fairly utilitarian view (along with my adoration for Space) and started collecting a fair number of Omega Speedmaster Professional manual-wind Moonwatches, with calibers varying from current production to those produced as far back as 1963; a cal. 321 specimen of the same reference to have been worn on the moon.

I then eventually progressed onto collecting several Rolexes, of which only two have been reviewed on my YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/bsodmike), and a pair by Audemars Piguet.

I must admit I am bit surprised at the amount of oogling over such a
trivial item , do people really still use labels and objects like this as some symbol ?

Simple answer, yes. Take your favourite rapper named after a couple cents. Chances are he is *not* wearing a Patek Philippe. Reason being, PP is not mainstream. Mainstream brands include Rolex, AP, Hublot, and many more. You will not find Vacheron Constantin, Patek, A Lange & Söhne in that camp.

Over the past few years, much to my dismay, Audemars Piguet has been aligning itself with rappers simply as a marketing tool. It's one reason I stayed away from the brand for so long, as I feel this only undermines their pieces. I finally convinced myself to be dammed with 'appearances' and went for one the most classic Gerald Genta designed pieces, the simple Royal Oak.

On the topic of status symbols, have you seen the AP ROO at 44mm?

Maybe its just me , but how can any one justify spending so much on what is purely a watch , is beyond me.... regardless of what it was made out of , it is still simply a watch .

That's a relativistic question. You'd be surprised what people are capable of justifying; I'm simply not going to judge.

Aye - there is the craftmanship part too ( a part I've learned more to appreciate ) , but really how many people that see that are going to be blown over by that , than what its made out of , and what it might represent if its price makes it exclusive to certain classes ?

Excellent point. I purchase my watches for my personal enjoyment, which I share with a few close friends of various watch/pen circles and on Hexus from time to time. In public, anyone able to catch a glance of my rather classic Patek peeking from under my French cuff would probably not give it much thought.

And furthermore what is the point in wearing one to be seen unless it represent that somehow through design or material used ?

Only collectors (or those we call WIS - Watch Idiot Savant) would be able to recognise particular brands/models of watches from across the room. To most, it's just a watch.

Almost every person you meet would say "Rolex is the best or most expensive", but they would have a hard time recognising particular models etc. It's just common 'knowledge', which in reality couldn't be farther from the truth!

[bsodmike]

As for the decadence etc issue let me explain a little. BSODmike spends considerable time preparing his posts and his passion for the items he chooses to buy is unparalleled. I look forward to his posts because he engages readers in something that is probably beyond our reach and he does so without smugness or boastfulness and as has been mentioned we're getting a first-hand owner experience.

Thank you for those kind words Santa...

BTW, have you seen this http://youtu.be/Nf1xUjbMojI ?

[santa claus]

Thank you for those kind words Santa...

BTW, have you seen this http://youtu.be/Nf1xUjbMojI ?

You're welcome

Great video Mike and a fab watch. I can afford the toothpick so that's a start!

[steve threlfall]

Stunning as always Mike. Thanks for sharing.

[bsodmike]

If you guys haven't seen this particular clip already, it's certainly recommended

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmWIraIFwA4

This is also an interesting clip on their minute repeaters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF5iSGoeUMQ

I had the chance to meet one of their horologers @ the Salon in Genevè, and I probably scared him with my enthusiasm and tonne of questions I had. One of which was the flywheels (seen in the video above) operation with regards to the minute repeater function.

From my understanding of flywheels in general, their rotational inertia cause them to deter changes in directionality of the direction in which they currently have an angular velocity in - this is similar to the way the mass (inertia) of a static object will require a larger force to cause it to accelerate from rest than one with less inertial, ergo Newton's second law. I also liked the notion of thinking of the flywheel as a 'mechanical capacitor', because it stores kinetic, rotational energy (1/2Iω^2).

What I learnt about the flywheels operation in terms of the minute repeater is that it operates in a variable manner, where it's effective diameter is controlled via springs. Initially, it has a lower radius, and towards the end it reaches its largest diameter. The shortest chime (off the top of my head) would be at 15 minutes past midnight (no minutes) are chimed, and the longest would be 11 O'clock & 59 minutes past the hour where it'll chime the hour 11 times, the quarter thrice and 14 minutes from 45-past to 59 minutes. The flywheel has to provide the energy for the repeater to work and it also ensures the pacing between chimes is also consistent, whether it's the shortest 'tune' or the longest 'tune'.

[sau_mal]

The Patek looks FABULOUS! I wonder what do you do for a living, Mike?