Initially oriented towards jewelry,Peter Speake-MarinHe ended up graduating as a watchmaker from Hackney Technical College in London in 1985, from where his interest in watchmaking took him to Neuchâtel, Switzerland, to further his studies at the prestigiousWOSTEP. Back in England, he received the offer to organize and direct the repair shop ofSomlo Antiquesin his Piccadilly shop, where he had the opportunity to learn how the old master watchmakers worked precisely by repairing their works. After seven productive years, in 1996 he returned to Switzerland to join Renaud & Papi, the prestigious company that creates the most sophisticated watch complications (now in the orbit ofAudemars Piguet). And finally, in 2000 he opened his own workshop where a year later he finished what would become the Foundation Watch: a pocket watch with a tourbillon and a double train of wheels that would begin his first collection, the Piccadilly, in memory of his years in the workshops ofSomlo, a key place in his training and that continues to influence all his work.
Fifteen years and many models later, inBaselworld 2015has presented his latest creations.
Named after the impressive sailboat of theJ-ClassBuilt in 1933 and still in service today, the Velsheda indicates time using a single hand running through the center of the watch, where the Speake-Marin emblematic topping tool wheel rotates to indicate the seconds on a multi-layer lacquered dial. The Roman indices are separated by five-minute graduations grouped into quarter and half hours, recalling the mono-hands ofMeistersingeror, to put a colleague of theAHCI, de Aniceto J. Pita. Velsheda being the name of a ship, the set evokes a marine compass while the rose gold case is inspired – in Peter's own words – by marine chronometers. Mount a gauge
Vaucher 3002 automatic, product of the collaboration between Speake-Marin and thismanufacturebelonging toParmigiani, with the rotor and bridges finished by hand. This rotor, which is also shaped like the wheel of a “topping tool” (a word for which I have to find a translation for Spanish, but which amounts to a machine for cutting the teeth of gears) can be seen through the transparent background. The numbers: 28,800 vibrations per hour, 28 jewels and 50 hours of power reserve.
The Dong Son tourbillon features a gold sphere one millimeter thick, decorated with motifs found on ancient bronze drums created and used by this culture established in the Red River Delta of Vietnam between 600 BC and 300 AD. A thorough
precision work to faithfully reproduce ancient motifs paradoxically carried out with the most modern technologies. In the words of Speake-Marin: «The tourbillon is one of the things I like most in watchmaking, not so much for the precision it brings to the caliber as for the life it gives to the dial. It shows time in motion in a way that a minute repeater or grand chime cannot offer. For me, it's something profound." The caliber is an automatic with a platinum counterweight visible through the sapphire caseback that mounts the 38mm pink gold Piccadilly case. It is a series limited to 8 copies, in a clear nod to oriental culture, especially Chinese, where the number 8 is good luck. The price? Around 100,000 euros.
And speaking of the tourbillon, the star of this edition of Baselworld has been the Vertical Double Tourbillon, a piece that Peter speaks about with special pride. It features two 60-second tourbillons mounted on a single bridge, each equipped with its own barrel and wheel train,
linked by a type of gearbox called “gear equalizer”, a device that absorbs and compensates for possible imbalances that may occur between the two. It is a pair of concentric wheels, one mounted on the other, each linked to one of the vortices. Between the two is a small spring that has one end fixed to each wheel. When the operation of both regulators differs, the spring is tensioned and forces a rhythmic rhythm to be recovered. The baked enamelled dial with Roman indexes is complemented by a power reserve indicator (70 hours) above twelve and a day/night indicator at six. All this in a generous 46 millimeter Piccadilly box! in white or pink gold in a limited edition of five pieces in each metal, which will cost their lucky owners around €250,000
Finally, the Shenandoah is Speake-Marin's women's bet. Also belonging to theJ-Class, Shenandoah is the name of an old sailboat that in turn inherits it from a river in the State of Virginia (USA). Developed entirely in-house by its own design team, it presents shapes that vaguely remind me of the Queen of Naples fromBreguet, although in this case they have not complicated life and all Shenandoah movements are made of quartz. Swiss, yes. With one or two time zones, decoration with or without diamonds, various types of dial and the infinite number of straps available, the variety is very wide and it will be difficult not to choose any.
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Peter Speake-Marin produces around a thousand pieces a year, of which around 70 belong to theCabinet des Mysteres, the most artisanal version of this creator, although all his watches convey that feeling of perfectly executed work. This year 2015 has meant a leap forward in many aspects (production, management, growth...) that guarantee the maturity of your project, but this will be the subject of another article.
For my part, I confess that I have aSpiriton my very-very desirable list…
Best watch strap | Best annual calendar watch | Best watch winder | Best Black Luxury watch | Best Luxury Watches Men | Best Swiss Luxury Watches Women | Best Men Diamond Watches under 1000 | Best Diamond Watches Women | Best Luxury Dive Watch
