Good morning. The birds are back in town, chirping at dawn, flitting to and from the feeders set up out back, firing up the cat at the window. There’s no languorous idyll in bed before breakfast these days; there’s much to be done. Daylight’s burning. Time for spring cleaning. Start with your fridge and your…
There are a lot of reasons to visit Matsumoto, a city at the foot of the Japanese Alps in the central prefecture of Nagano. Most visitors head there to see the 16th-century castle, one of the oldest in the country, or to bathe in the natural hot springs. But few, even within Japan’s large community…
In fashion, the next thing is the best thing. But the backbone of the Swiss watch industry is heritage, which explains why vintage reissues make up the bulk of new releases. What’s tried and true becomes new again with fresh materials and state-of-the-art movements. Think of it not as a rehash, but as a continuation…
Until last year, the Watches and Wonders Geneva watch fair was closed to the public. Brands, retailers, media and some V.V.I.P. s were granted entry, but regular watch buyers? Would-be watch enthusiasts? It seemed like Switzerland’s reputation for behind-closed-doors dealings was dictating watch show policy, too. But that all changed last year when a new…
Decorative gems have adorned watches for centuries. But, beyond diamonds and the classic trinity of rubies, emeralds and sapphires, a colorless variety of quartz called rock crystal actually is the stone used most often in horology. Yet, “as a material, not a lot of people know about it,” said Tom Heap, deputy director and head…
Entering the atelier of the watchmaker Julien Tixier in Switzerland’s Vallée de Joux, one must navigate carefully past high benches filled to the brim with equipment such as decades-old lathes, drilling machines, grinders, cutters and high-tech devices, plus spaces dedicated to heat treatment, galvanization, decoration and assembly. Despite being only about 270 square feet, this…
In a subterranean workroom of a building on Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris, there are cabinets filled with bags of Chantilly lace in myriad shades: Yves Klein blue, sherbet orange, a silvery periwinkle. Nestled between the furniture are some half-dozen sewing machines, at which a small staff of seamstresses works while constructing corsets for Cadolle, a…
