Mr. Fleming, who was raised in Alexandria, Va., is the first watch collector in his family. (His father is a partner in a venture capital firm; his mother, an accountant, is retired; and he has two younger brothers.) And initially, his own array was pretty limited: As he became interested in watches, he bought a…
With numerous horological innovations to its name since its founding in 1775, Breguet has crafted timepieces that are often included in displays on the history of watchmaking. But the watchmaker’s links with English society are the focus of “Abraham-Louis Breguet: The English Connection,” an exhibition at the Clockmakers’ Museum, which is housed in the Science…
“The belle epoque of watch design.” That’s how Roni Madhvani describes the postwar years of 1945-65, the years when most of the highly designed, time-only watches in his collection were produced. The collection has developed quite a reputation among watch fans, with almost 50,000 Instagram followers drawn to his images of timepieces by brands including…
Anne de Pontonx suggested we meet at the Jardin d’Hiver, the secluded cafe at the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris. Not only does she love its pastries, but she also sees similarities between them and watches. “During the Covid lockdowns I became interested in pastry, for the aesthetic side and the know-how,” she said. “In…
The Place Vendôme in Paris is lined with jewelry and watch boutiques from globally known luxury brands, attracting a steady stream of shoppers and tourists, as well as clients interested in purchases. While Charles Oudin has been a Vendôme tenant in a grand 18th century building for 25 years, its profile is decidedly more discreet.…
This fall and the early months of 2024 promise to bring even more expansion. Citizen, for example, recently announced it is planning to open a three-level, 7,000-square-foot flagship near Rockefeller Center in Manhattan in December that will showcase its timepieces alongside its sibling brands Bulova, Frederique Constant, Accutron and Alpina. “We want the consumer to…
It was near midnight, in a storm, on a dirt road in the middle of Mongolia. Still, the river seemed manageable. My cousin Cole Paullin and I were searching for a place to camp, and I was exhausted from a long day of fording streams in our rented four-by-four truck. “Seems fine,” I said. “Go…
Even before Cartier’s new Baignoire Mini bangle watch arrived online and in stores around the world in late June, there were waiting lists of prospective buyers. And by mid-August, the versions in 18-karat yellow or rose gold, priced at $11,800, were no longer available on Cartier’s website; the jeweler said they would appear again in…
Yet Hassan Akhras, a collector in Dubai and the founder of the Arab Watch Guide, a club for watch enthusiasts, believes there are boundaries: “Collectors research a lot, so if a brand raises prices, it raises questions.” While a small percentage of collectors are happy to flaunt watches as “rich club” membership cards, he said,…
“There are fines involved and we don’t want to violate any restrictions,” he added. Processing CITES documentation for shipments involves fees, which Mr. Bowman-Scargill of Fears Watches said can substantially add to the price of a watch strap, making it prohibitively expensive. But, “it’s not just the actual cost of the documentation,” he said. “It’s…