Master Watchmaker Derek Pratt Passes Away
Derek Pratt, one of the world’s leading watchmakers, has passed away following a long illness. Derek was a watchmaker’s watchmaker and a true scientist of horology. He was often cited as among the greatest living watchmakers, his name mentioned in the same breath as George Daniels, Philippe Dufour, and other modern legends. Derek is also acknowledged as an important influence by many of today’s younger horological stars. Derek was born in Orpington, Kent, in England in 1938. Between 1955 and 1959, he attended the National College of Horology in London. Following his formal education, Derek served as an apprentice at Smith & Sons. In 1965 he moved to Switzerland. During the 1970s, Derek met Peter Baumberger, the owner of Urban J��rgensen & S?nner, and he began to receive commissions. Over time, the relationship grew into a full collaboration.As a watchmaker, Derek not only designed and made movements, but he also occasionally dials, cases and crowns. In 1981 Der

Inside The Manufacture: The Making Of F.P.Journe's Most Complicated Watch
Before we get started, we need to talk about just what a grande sonnerie is, and what it's not. A grande sonnerie is not a cartoonish complication. A grand sonnerie hasn't been taken from the highest echelons of true artisanal watchmaking to become a status symbol for anyone who can string together a few bucks. There are no movement shops selling off-the-shelf grande sonneries to fashion brands. There is no such thing as a grande sonnerie module from Dubois Depraz, and we've yet to see a Chinese grande sonnerie.You see, in the world of high complications, the grande and petite sonnerie holds a very special place, well above even split-seconds chronographs, perpetual calendars, and certainly above the once-holy tourbillon. Consider the fact that the very first grande and petite sonnerie wristwatch was produced not in the 1940s like so many complications, but in 1992, and it took the skills of no one short of Philippe Dufour to accomplish this. It was just this past October t

Mixed results with AP Service
Well, I went to pick up my 15300 at the NYC boutique today. While I had been very happy with the fact that AP had agreed to service/pressure test my watch under warranty (which technically had expired a few weeks before i brought the watch to them) I was a little nervous about all the horror stories i had been hearing about AP service.Lo and behold, I went to pick up my watch and found a prominent scratch (albeit not very deep) right on the bezel. Obviously, I was very unhappy about this. To their credit the boutique staff took the watch back without question and will be sending it back to clearwater to be refinished/polished. They also made a point of telling me that the turnaround shouldnt be more than a week. So...am i disappointed? sure. AP should have much stricter quality control. Who exactly is handling our watches and how are there so many stories like this floating around? On the flip side i have to commend them that there were no accusations that I dinged the watch myself, or

Ninety-two days ago, my Seamaster 300 Master Co-Axial arrived
I wound it up and set the time with my atomic watch.Checking it against the atomic watch again this morning, my 300 MC has gained 23 seconds! (.25 sec/day)I guess it's time to have it serviced. ;-)

How does this Seamaster look?
How does this Seamaster look? I've been jonesing for an automatic, and a Seamaster that may need something so simple as wound would be perfect. Any ideas on age?.propertyroom/itemdetails.aspx?l=6403634What say the watchnuts, go, or no go?