We talk turkey about SIHH 2013, some of the watches, a lot of the people. And what it is like as a watch blogger to be there. Oh, and more…
Listen to the HourTime Show watch podcast episode 128 here.
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Given the chance, some time into our conversation I asked Gregory if he’d considered adding a chronograph — not merely because it traditionally goes with the car motif, but since the watch-nerd in me was curious just how far this double-balance movement can be modified. His reply ended up surprising me a bit: since Roger Dubuis has several dozen calibers it doesn’t use, and that broad range incorporates several traditional chronograph calibers, he stated he would have found it “easy” and “dull” to put a chronograph on the back of this movement.Sounds like a bold statement, but I could see his real excitement and pride concerning this leaping seconds, something that was a first for Roger Dubuis and, again, something that he got to figure out and engineer into this remarkably complicated, double-balance movement. In addition, he noted consumer feedback regarding the Quatuor, which, although praised (and set-up) to be accurate, never had a seconds hand — and conventional, sweeping seconds hands aren’t exactly accurate either. All these pieces of comments made him desire to go for the jumping seconds, in order to ensure that the accuracy of this Duotor movement can be traced effortlessly — talk about an engineer pleased of his work!Having had the opportunity to briefly play the Excalibur Aventador S, I can, in advance of a hands on article, say that it looks leaps and bounds better in every way than it will from the official images. The official leaves allow to get an okay-ish grasp of the unusual layout of the movement, but they say nothing about the three-dimensional construction that’s so much easier to see in the alloy. The various kinds of Geneva Seal-compliant finishings also add a fantastic deal to what is a somewhat spectacular design. More about the cool quirks and attributes of this Duotor movement, along with highly detailed macro pictures, to come soon.