A 1936 Lancia Astura

The throaty roar of revving engines echoed off Monte Carlo’s famous casino and the neighboring Hotel de Paris as drivers prepared for the start of the Louis Vuitton Classic Serenissima Run last April. The brand, which celebrates travel, has sponsored seven of these elite classic rallies around the world since 1993. Christian Philippsen, who is in charge of the jury and car selection, reviewed more than 120 applications for the 42 slots, selecting only exceptional cars to create a jaw-dropping $300-million field that included William Evans’ 1913 Isotta Frachini IM, Arturo Keller’s 1938 Mercedes-Benz 500K (which was awarded the best of show prize), Bruce Meyer’s 1929 Bentley 4 ½ liter, Michael Leventhal’s 1950 Ferrari 166MM, and Thomas Price’s 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, a car so rare that a similar model recently sold for more than $30 million.

Sports Director René Metge and his team planned a 1,400-kilometer (about 870 miles) scenic route through the Alps on the way to Venice with stops in Menthon-Saint-Bernard, France, Stresa, Italy, and Verona. Metzge, a three-time winner of the Paris-Dakar Rally has organized the Classics since the first race. “The starting and finish lines are the most important things to choose,” he explained during a garden party lunch at a private palazzo in Venice. “Once you have chosen them, everything else comes together. We organize rallies that are possible but not easy, and we select the cars according to the itinerary, which is why there are so many Ferraris this year.”

From the starting point in Monte Carlo, we embarked on a twisting and turning climb of long switchbacks through the Mercantour national park in southern France. After a quick buffet lunch at a snowy Napoleon’s Retreat, I joined Philippsen in his one-of-a-kind 1939 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS “256.” Using the thick race book detailing turn-by-turn instructions, I relayed the directions as we talked. One wrong turn can take you miles off course, which may explain why Philippsen continually asked if I could see other competitors for reassurance.

Christian Philippsen's 1939 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS “256”

“These cars are like sculptures, they are truly art in motion,” he said as we descended the serpentine road from the restaurant. “Cars can feed the senses: You can look at them and see the shapes, proportions, and colors; you can touch them, smell them, and listen to the engines. If you buy a painting, you just put it on the wall and leave it there.” A steady rain began to fall as we closed in on Menthon-Saint-Bernard, France, on the shores of Lake Annency. After struggling to keep up, the old Alpha’s windshield wipers ultimately quit, leaving us to peer through the rivulets streaming down the glass. While wiping down the foggy windshield, Philippsen commented on the technological advancements that have been achieved in automotive design from improved windshield wipers and defrosting systems to antilock brakes and other safety features—seat belts immediately came to mind. Regrettably, though, we conceded that all the universal safety standards have resulted in rather bland cookie-cutter cars that hardly inspire the passion and admiration ignited by their charismatic ancestors. In village after village, passersby would stop, point, and smile when we passed through.

Another aspect of the course planning involves selecting special experiential stops along the way. Our route included private lunches at the Rouvinez winery in Switzerland and at a private castle in Italy. We also toured Louis Vuitton’s shoe factory in Fiesso d’Artico near Venice. Philippsen added that another consideration in choosing participants is the social aspect of the rally, so participants are often friends from around the world who have participated in previous events.

Winners for each class were awarded trophies at the final gala on Venice’s Piazza San Giorgio overlooking the Grand Canal. The event’s grand prize was awarded to a 1923 Bugatti Type 23 piloted by Giuseppe Radaeli and his son.

John and Tamsin Bentley of England piloted an open 1932 Alpha Romeo 8C 2300, weathering the elements with aplomb. “That first day we started in the sun, went right up into the snow, and came down to an English summer—pouring rain,” she said, clearly relishing the adventure. “The course was challenging,” added John. “We were doing 11- to 12-hour days, but we had the right car for it. The guys with large, heavy cars had quite a work out in the mountains.” The Bentleys were awarded the Moët & Chandon Sparkle award for their exuberance throughout the race.

“At times, we could drive quickly and at other times we were doing hairpin turns at under 10 miles an hour,” said Jack Thomas of St. Louis, who raced with this wife Debbie in a 1955 Ferrari 375 America. “Each day brought a new vista and a great experience. The roads were wonderful to drive and challenging at times. Having completed it, we all have a sense of accomplishment.”

1955 Ferrari 375 America

William “Chip” Connor II of Hong Kong, who took the prize for the Track & Road class, drove a 1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT with his wife Jacque. “The Dolomites were spectacular,” he said. “But, the one photograph I wish I had taken was of Evert Louwman’s Mercedes special roadster 500K, Tom Price’s GTO, and Michael Leventhal’s Ferrari 166 Mille Miglia all in a row in front of gas pumps at a station in Italy.”

Of course, antique cars have a propensity to break down, especially when being pushed hundred of miles through the mountains. But each day’s trials and triumphs were the subject of entertaining banter over cocktails and dinner in the evenings. The third leg from Stresa to Verona proved especially challenging for many of the drivers, some of whom did not arrive to display their cars on Piazza dei Signori until after 9 pm.

“I broke down on the third day on several occasions,” recalled Thomas at the awards ceremony. After his car quit in a construction zone in Como, Thomas called on the event’s mechanics, who got him started again but warned him not to kill the engine for 100 miles. “We made a wrong turn in Riva del Garda, and the car ultimately conked out,” he continued. “We were a mile off route, and we speak no Italian, but we were rescued and befriended by several Italians, who got me into a local garage. Ultimately, we could not get it started, so we made our triumphant entry into Verona on the back of the flatbed.” He and the mechanics worked all night to get the car running for the final leg. “If Louis Vuitton is about the spirit of travel and adventure,” he added. “We certainly experienced it.”

“Royal Oak transformed the company,” says Garcia. “It shifted the attention of the company into design, and it put design on the map in the high-watchmaking market. Before that, most high-end watch companies were only concerned with mechanical concepts. The Royal Oak changed that mentality in many ways.”

Openworked Extra-Thin Royal Oak

Highlights of the 2012 lineup include eight new models, including four extra-thin watches, two of which are open-worked and limited to 40 pieces in platinum. The Openworked Extra-Thin Royal Oak and the The Openworked Extra-Thin Royal Oak Tourbillon carry on Audemars Piguet’s 70-year tradition in skeleton watches. “The fact that they are so slim is quite a statement of technical prowess,” explains Garcia. “The more material you take off a movement, it changes the behavior of certain bridges and stress points.” Another unusual feature of the Openworked Extra-Thin Royal Oak is a date function, not often seen in a skeleton watch because the date disc obscures the movement. Audemars solved the issue by using a clear sapphire disc with the numbers printed around the perimeter to provide an unimpeded view of the mechanism. The extra-flat manual-wind tourbillon with power reserve is powered by an exclusive caliber by Renaud et Papi, Audemars’ development facility in Le Locle.

The core collection was also revisited with a range of anniversary year models. Some of the subtle changes include a redesigned dial that takes its styling cues from the original Jumbo but with a more contemporary approach. For example, the indexes have been faceted to make them shinier, a new triple folding clasp enhances comfort, and the characteristic engraved tapisserie pattern has been enhanced to make it more visible.

“When Genta designed the Royal Oak in ’72, he really outdid himself,” says Garcia. “It’s such a perfect, timeless design in every aspect—from the way it’s finished and proportioned to the way it’s a statement piece and unmistakably recognizable. That’s why it has such a long-lasting effect. It’s 40 years old, and it is still one of the most modern watches around.”

At a spring 2010 auction preview at Phillips de Pury in New York, a staff member approached Alexandra Mor and inquired about the jewelry she was wearing. When the elegant, raven-haired Mor replied that she had designed the pieces herself, the woman offered to introduce her to Nazgol Jahan, the auction house’s worldwide jewelry director. Suitably impressed, Nazgol featured her designs at a December 2010 auction. Jahan reaffirmed her support by selecting five pieces from Mor’s Signature collection for another auction last December. “Phillips de Pury gave me the confidence and boost to introduce the brand to a bigger audience,” says Mor, who has been designing and producing jewelry for private clients for five years. “Everything happened organically.” Her collection is now available at 1stdibs.com, and she continues to work with private clients on custom commissions.

Such serendipity was not a new experience for Mor, who met her husband, Alon, a few months before she was to graduate from film school in New York. Mor had planned to return to her career as a production manager in Israel, where she had grown up in a family of French-born dressmakers. But those plans soon changed. Alon, who owns his family’s wholesale diamond business in New York, introduced her to the jewelry industry. She joined him on a buying trip and became fascinated by the beauty of gems. Rather than take the easy path in launching a jewelry business that naturally would draw on the resources of her husband’s company, she immersed herself in study. “I took a number of jewelry classes over a few years, which really helped me to bring out the most from the precious metals I was working with and to develop  an ‘inside out’ perspective to my designs.” she explains. “It took me years to come up with the designs of my signature details—my Signature collection’s concept.”

Alexandra Mor Coral Earrings

Her collection of limited edition and unique pieces features bold, contemporary cocktail rings and earrings with jackets—an adaptable concept she especially appreciates as a working mother of three. She is also known for thick, diamond-set bands that are made to order and engraved with names or expressions of love. As the collection evolves, she has grown more daring, incorporating knife-edge detailing in her designs. “Each of my pieces have elements of 18-karat yellow gold,” she adds, noting that she is inspired by the allure and techniques of antique and vintage jewelry. “Something about yellow gold brings a little of the past to the future.”

Other design influences include architecture, furniture, and, of course, fabrics. “The concept of one-of-a-kind comes from growing up with my mother making my clothes,” she explains, recalling memories of sitting on her mother’s lap at the sewing machine. “When I design, my mind is like a three-dimensional stage; I play with the stones, like soft fabric—the final piece is clear in my mind’s eye, and I am then ready to go to the drawing board.”

Mor intends to preserve the exclusivity of her collection with limited production and high quality. “My biggest dream is to expand into a lifestyle brand with a limited-edition and one-of-a-kind concept,” she says. “I cannot see myself mass producing—it’s not in my blood.”

Stephen Forsey (Ben Dauchez for Greubel Forsey)

In 1999, Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey of Greubel Forsey began working together with the premise that all had not yet been invented in mechanical watchmaking, particularly with reference to the tourbillon’s use in wristwatches. They devoted years of research and development to devise new tourbillon systems for the 21st century, which have captured chronometry awards as well as the hearts and imaginations of mechanical watchmaking devotees worldwide.

Please explain the concept behind the tourbillon for those who may not be familiar with it.

The first single-axis tourbillon was invented for pocket watches in order to overcome accuracy problems associated with gravity, lubrication, and materials issues. The tourbillon averages for gravity-induced errors on the balance wheel oscillator by continually rotating the regulating system. This was particularly effective with the pocket watch because its balance was usually in a vertical position.

Since its introduction at the beginning of the 19th century, the tourbillon provided a very high level of precision in mechanical pocket watches. When watchmakers first succeeded in miniaturizing the single-axis tourbillon some 70 years ago, they hoped to obtain similar improvements in timekeeping performance, but, perhaps partly due to the technical challenges of miniaturizing the mechanism, there were no further developments of the tourbillon system in the wristwatch until the turn of the 21st century.

What is the purpose of putting a tourbillon in a wristwatch that constantly changes position?

Bearing in mind that the tourbillon was originally designed for the pocket watch, we realized that its application for the specific conditions of the wristwatch had not been seriously studied.  So, we decided to investigate the subject and this led to inventing truly new tourbillon solutions to suit the specific requirements of the wristwatch.

Greubel Forsey Tourbillon 24 Secondes Contemporain

The fundamental research carried out before the official launch of Greubel Forsey showed us that with the balance wheel inclined in the tourbillon system, we could seek improved timekeeping performance especially in stabilized positions (such as when the wristwatch is removed at night). The balance wheel oscillator could be of a larger diameter than the thickness of the movement promising more stable performance and the inclination of the interior cage enabled the oscillator to avoid unfavorable horizontal and vertical positions in a way that was impossible with existing systems featuring a single-axis cage or a 90° angle between their cages.

After four and a half years of intensive work, Greubel Forsey presented the first Double Tourbillon 30° wristwatch with the completely new system of a one-minute cage inclined at 30° and rotating within a second exterior four-minute cage. This was followed in 2005 with the first Quadruple Tourbillon wristwatch, and in 2006 with the first rapidly rotating inclined single-cage tourbillon in the 24-Second Tourbillon wristwatch.

What do you say to those who question whether tourbillons actually improve precision in a wristwatch?

For Robert and I, the major challenge from the beginning of Greubel Forsey was to investigate and prove or disprove if the tourbillon in a wristwatch could really improve timekeeping performance. Solid proof of performance and reliability for regular use was the highest score for precision and first position attained with our Double Tourbillon 30° Technique (DTT30) at the 2011 International Chronometry Competition launched by the Museum of Horology in Le Locle, Switzerland, completed in October after 45 days of rigorous testing and exposure to magnetism and shocks. The DTT30 scored 915 points out of a possible 1,000 to claim first place both in the tourbillon category and the highest score of the overall competition. The best performing non-tourbillon timepiece achieved 764 points.

How did you approach advancing a centuries-old concept for the modern age? Is there still room to push the envelope further?

To go beyond what was the accepted technology, it was necessary to look again with a fresh perspective at the history of the tourbillon. Then we had to refuse to accept that everything had already been invented in the field of mechanical horology after more than 400 years of highly inventive watchmakers—could we open new avenues and create previously unexplored and unimagined solutions?

Greubel Forsey GMT

The constant challenge of working with the tourbillon for the wristwatch is in mastering the compact size and the high number of components required to achieve high precision and performance. Solutions lie in both the architecture and technicalities of the mechanism. There are also aesthetics to consider as the decoration and fine finish of our timepieces is of paramount importance at Greubel Forsey. Hundreds of hours of hand finishing are necessary for each movement and every minute detail is considered—such as internal angles and flat black polishing on steel bridges. Also, an individual component may look aesthetically acceptable on its own, but in the context of the whole movement, if it doesn’t contribute to the overall harmony of the creation, it must be rejected.

We still have many ideas, but to develop new ideas always takes time, and so we must be patient in order to allow us to complete each step of our research. There are also other complications that we want to explore in our own specific way, such as the new GMT, which shows that each Greubel Forsey timepiece represents the spirit of our passion with an in-depth approach to the function and display of each mechanism and complication.

“The things I want to express are so beautiful and pure,” declared Maurits Cornelis Escher, the celebrated 20th-century Dutch graphic artist. Escher’s enigmatic prints often bend the conventional rules of visual perception with mirror imagery and repetitive interlocking motifs known as tessellations. In its ongoing pursuit to advance watchmaking’s centuries-old métiers d’art for the modern era, Geneva watchmaker Vacheron Constantin approached the Escher Foundation and gained the rights to reinterpret Escher’s works for its latest Métiers d’Art series, Les Univers Infinis.

The first trio of watches, each limited to 20 pieces in white gold, portray familiar Escher themes of birds, fish, and shells with starfish. “It took us about two years to really be able to reproduce the kinds of mind games that you sense when you look at Escher’s designs,” says Christian Selmoni, Vacheron’s artistic director, who points out that every piece is completely crafted in house by staff engravers, enamellers, guillocheurs, and gem setters. “All the techniques in these watches are traditional techniques—enameling, engraving, guillochage,” adds Selmoni. “But Vacheron Constantin is certainly the only brand working with guillochage in a figurative, creative, and artistic way. It is usually a very strict technique for creating uniform patterns on dials.”

Vacheron previewed the Dove watch at the Only Watch auction last September in Monaco, a charity event for which the brand produced a unique piece with a dial of interlocking birds in flight rendered using various métiers d’art. The new limited-edition version also employs watchmaking’s decorative fine arts of engraving, Grand Feu enamelling, gem setting and guilloché. First, the engraver outlines the dove shapes on a yellow gold dial then engraves the motifs, so the enameller can later fill the cavities with colored enamel, a technique called champlevé. With each layer of colored enamel, the artist fires the dial in a high-temperature oven multiple times before applying a top coat of translucent enamel to the violet birds and a coating of opalescent enamel to the white birds. A gem setter then pavé sets a single dove with sparkling diamonds before the dial is sent to the guillocheur, who engraves it to accentuate the dimensionality of the design. While guilloche engraving is commonly done before enamelling, it is rarely a final step in the painstaking process of creating enamel dials.

“The craftspeople all work together, and this is the result of their common crafts,” says Selmoni, who recalls that 20 years ago, it was difficult to sell enamel watches. “When I see this comeback of métiers d’art in watchmaking, I never thought it would be possible. What more can I say? It’s fabulous.”

The position was Starck’s idea, explains Domoina de Brantes, a 30-year-old former gallery owner, who edits the hotel’s art blog and produces a weekly newsletter of recommended exhibitions that is posted in every guestroom. De Brantes also consults with guests to create personalized art and cultural programs or to organize guided or private viewings; she even can assist with art acquisitions. “I am ready to answer any request,” she says. “We specialize in contemporary art because Philippe Starck wanted to give a special twist to this hotel. But of course, if guests want something classical or even something design- or fashion-related, we’re happy to assist.”

In contrast to the minimalism of some of his previous hotel projects, Starck indulges his fantastical imagination at Le Royal Monceau with a mindboggling array of details in a warm and inviting atmosphere, where each nook and cranny offers something to contemplate. Public and private spaces are adorned with countless photographs, sketches, books, objets d’art, and curios—from exotic insects in tiny glass cases to large-scale installations commissioned from prominent artists. French artist Stéphane Calais, evokes a Parisian garden with his ceiling fresco in the French restaurant, La Cuisine, where the walls are covered with paintings, sketches, and photographs. Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos created an oversized teapot sculpture for the hotel garden, and Russian artist Nikolas Polissky produced dozens of hunt-inspired animals in natural, unpolished wood for display on a staircase landing.

The hotel’s curator Hervé Mikaeloff, who also consults for LVMH, orchestrates the artistic experience of the various spaces. In addition to cultivating a roster of artists to work with, Mikaeloff suggests pieces for the hotel’s private collection and plans exhibitions for the Art District gallery space. Photography gets particular emphasis with about 285 photographs exhibited throughout the various rooms, including dedicated suites that house works by a selected photographer or artist that have been designed specifically for the space. Mikaeloff also edits submissions to the hotel’s Young Photographer competition, which is judged by jury to award exhibition space to five prizewinners, who are then invited to submit work for a possible commission for the permanent collection.

“It’s anything but an elitist place,” says Mikaeloff during an interview featured on the hotel’s arts blog, www.artforbreakfast.com. “It’s a place where we’re going to make discoveries. It’s a place where we’re going to produce things, see young artists, rediscover artists who are not so young, but who have disappeared from Paris. It’s an important cultural hotbed as Paris used to be and must continue to be.”

Seated amid the display cases, Michel Parmigiani, the collection’s official restorer and the visionary watchmaker behind the Sandoz-backed Parmigiani Fleurier watch brand, reflected on his craft both past and present. “Restoration work was really a fil rouge, a connecting red thread, that allowed me to pursue, excellence, harmony, technicality and the thought processes of how to put together timepieces,” said Parmigiani, who demonstrated that connection with two new limited-edition wristwatches inspired by historic pocket watches in the exhibit.

Parmigiani Toric Minute Repeater

About six years ago, Parmigiani started restoring an early-19th-century Perrin Frères signed pocket watch from Neuchatel, Switzerland. The musical minute repeater, which chimes the time, was noteworthy for its unorthodox movement with the gongs shaped into snakelike coils. A special sector time display indicates the passing of the hours through an aperture on the dial.  “The beauty of the mechanism with the chimes drew me to that piece,” explained Parmigiani. “The idea was to take a minute repeater and associate it with a passing time display.” Working together, Parmigiani’s restorers and elite complicated watchmakers created the Parmigiani Toric Minute Repeater with a new movement, the Calibre PF 321, featuring a minute repeater with cathedral chimes plus an additional module dedicated to the sector time display. “It’s a very beautiful emblem of the collection,” he concludes.

A signed Vardon and Stedman pocket watch dating to 1800 with unusual telescopic hands was the impetus for the Toric Oval Watch with Telescopic Hands. Parmigiani’s team worked to recreate the complex hands, which expand and contract to follow the perimeter of the oval case as time passes. Taking aesthetic cues from the Eiffel Tower, the hands are constructed from tiny riveted segments of blued titanium assembled using extremely precise specifications. “What is different is the minimization concept,” explained Parmigiani. ‘Everything is adjusted piece by piece, and the hands will not function unless everything is done perfectly.”

Calibre PF 114 Toric Oval Watch with Telescopic Hands

Oval-shaped pocket watch © 2011 Fondation Edouard et Maurice Sandoz (FEMS) Pully Switzerland Photography R. Sterchi

The Peacock Egg by Fabergé © 2011 Fondation Edouard et Maurice Sandoz (FEMS) Pully Switzerland Photography R. Sterchi

Cage with two singing birds© 2011 Fondation Edouard et Maurice Sandoz (FEMS) Pully Switzerland Photography R. Sterchi

© 2011 Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved DACS. Photography by Prudence Cuming Associates

While watchmakers use technical creativity to measure time, artists and designers recently sought to creatively interpret time at O’Clock—time design, design time, a Panerai-sponsored exhibition that runs through January 8, 2012, at the Triennale Design Museum in Milan, Italy. At the exhibit’s opening on October 11, Panerai’s CEO Angelo Bonati spoke about the importance of design in watchmaking and one of the stars of the show, English artist Damien Hirst. “He has always been an avid collector of our watches,” said Bonati, who took credit for suggesting the use of Panerai dials as a medium. Hirst obliged with two spin paintings: the large Beautiful Sunflower Panerai Painting and a zoomlike version on the same theme, Beautiful Fractional Sunflower Panerai Painting. For both pieces, Hirst adhered dozens of varied Panerai dials without hands to the psychedelically painted canvases in a vibrant expression that conveys a sense of time flowing by.

Martin Baas’ Grandfather Clock (Real Time) I (2009)

Hirst’s colorful works were relatively straightforward among the myriad concepts of about 80 international artists and designers who attempted to answer such questions as: How can time be measured? How can passing time be shown? How can time be experienced? The show’s three sections displayed works specifically created for the event as well as existing pieces. Michael Sans, for example, rethought the cuckoo clock by  placing a digital clock on the preserved body of cuckoo bird that died of natural causes in 1958. Eske Rex constructed an imposing pendulum-driven drawing machine that etches continual ellipses on a paper-covered floor. Albin Karlsson’s 2007 work 0.5 g/min constantly evolves with a ceiling-mounted container of melted wax that spins and releases a drop of wax to fall to the floor once per hour. Martin Baas’ Grandfather Clock (Real Time) I (2009) is a grandfather clock with the dial replaced by a video of a man continually erasing and drawing in the clock’s hands to symbolize that man, rather than mechanical devices, move time. In addition to her buglike time machine and an interactive piece inspired by the rushing white rabbit in The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola, who also designed the exhibition, created an installation I mondi di Officine Panerai (The worlds of Officine Panerai), which traces Panerai design from the first Radiomir wristwatches built in 1938 to present-day pieces. Eight models are displayed in separate cases, in which they are depicted as characters in scenes that express humor and poetry.

Luminor Marina 1950 3 Days - 47mm (PAM0042)

Panerai chose to unveil one of its 2012 novelties at the event as well. The Luminor Marina 1950 3 Days – 47mm (Ref. PAM0042) is a next-generation version of 2011’s PAM372, which took inspiration from a 1940s-era model. The stainless steel timepiece is powered by a new Panerai calibre P.3001 movement with large bridges and two barrels that generate three days of power reserve, which is indicated on the main bridge visible through the case back. With its clamp-down crown protector, rounded cushion-shaped case and luminous, stylized indexes, the model stands as a pure expression of Panerai design, which has evolved with the passing decades yet remains true to the original codes of the brand, which traces its history back to 1860, when Giovanni Panerai opened a watchmaker’s shop in Florence, Italy.

© 2011 Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved DACS. Photography by Prudence Cuming Associates

Panerai Luminor Marina 1950 3 Days - 47mm

Michael Sans Cuckoo Clock (2008)

Fabrice Gousset's Falling Vase 2

Marina’s distinctive sense of style was shaped by her years spent as head designer at the famed Rome jewelry house founded by her grandfather, Sotirio Bulgari. Marina left Bulgari to establish her own collection characterized by voluminous forms, vivid semiprecious gems, and the combination of geometric lines and subtle curves. Her inspirations included Greek and Italian mythology, nature, and architecture—particularly Art Deco style. Bestsellers included adaptable pieces such as the reversible Caty earrings and the Pneu earrings with interchangeable beads. In addition to recreating Marina B classics from the late Seventies through the 1990s, Lubetsky will also produce new jewels in the daring Italian spirit of its namesake founder.

Eric Ripert wearing a Vacheron Constantin Malte Chronograph

Why are so many chefs passionate about watches?

There are similarities between watchmakers and chefs. It’s about craftsmanship more than anything else. In watchmaking, artistry comes in the design and when they create different complications for calculating time. For chefs, the artistry is in the look of the plate and also in the way we create flavors. We find ways to control flavors to create a dish like they control time. Those similarities bring us together in some way subconsciously. A watch is very useful for us because we work under time restrictions, and it’s a beautiful object that we respect.

What role does time play in your work?

Dining rooms in restaurants all over the world fill up twice per day, every day. Chefs have to organize themselves and create systems that allow them to serve 80 people at the same time, without anyone being frustrated because they wait too long or feeling rushed because it’s ready too fast. Timing is something we deal with both consciously and unconsciously on a daily basis. When creating sauces and preparations, sometimes we have to be very patient and let things cook for a long time. Other times we have to be very fast, because if something cooks too long, the flavors die.”

How did you become interested in watches?

I started my watch collection at age 15. When I graduated from culinary school, my mom gave me a round Cartier Santos ultra thin in gold and stainless steel. That was my first watch, and I still have it. Over the years, I have built a collection of about a dozen pieces.

What drew you to Vacheron Constantin?

I got into Vacheron Constantin about a decade ago. I saw an Overseas at a photo shoot, and I purchased it. Now I have a Royal Eagle and the Patrimony Contemporaine in platinum. I also have number seven of the limited-edition Historiques American 1921.

I like the mystique, the quality mentality, the design, and I like the way they create and organize their complications. I visited the factories where they make the watches, and I was amazed by the way the watchmakers work in a very confined universe. They look through a microscope all day long. Talking to them is so interesting, because when they see the world beyond the microscope they get overwhelmed, and I was overwhelmed by how confined their world is.