world's most complicated watch sells for 13.4m GBP

[KB]

See here..... http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-30002096?ns_mchannel=email&ns_source=inxmail_newsletter&ns_campaign=bbcnewsmagazine_news__&ns_linkname=na&ns_fee=0

 

Ken

[dbane883]

I believe the owner of that watch died yesterday.

[droptopman]

Now that is a time piece.  

[sgtguk]

Came across this in my news feed today...............last wound in 1969    absolutely stunning piece, now that didn't come from one of our TD's now did it  

[Nanuq]

Then there's the Paul Gerber with 1,116 parts...

[KB]

Then there's the Paul Gerber with 1,116 parts...

 

Oiling that baby must be a bitch

 

Ken

[Nanuq]

There are only 1.115 parts when you remove the Zerk fitting. Just hook up the grease gun, couple squirts, you're done.

[Nightwatch]

"though the watch hasn't been serviced since 1969 (seriously), it operates flawlessly, as do the chiming and alarm mechanisms." according to Hodinkee: http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/henry-graves-supercomplication

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPWxvFjl4xQ&feature=player_embedded&list=UUelkSnSbxvIfjjD01uPHHbg

 

 

 

[droptopman]

Then there's the Paul Gerber with 1,116 parts...

Wholly mother of jewels...How long would that take to assemble?

[CharlieUK]

Came across this in my news feed today...............last wound in 1969    absolutely stunning piece, now that didn't come from one of our TD's now did it  

I think that must have been a typo in their article, there's no way that it has a 45 year power reserve haha.

Edited November 12, 2014 by CharlieUK

[lhooq]

I believe the owner of that watch died yesterday.

 

Death caused by complications.

[Nanuq]

Death caused by complications.

Post of the week!

[trinity13]

I wonder what the watchsmith will do if the small screw fell into that movement... I'm screwed....

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[mymanmatt]

He didn't say it was still running, he said it had not been serviced since 1969. I find that interesting, because the oil they used then, would over time jell,and be varnish like and would need to be cleaned off and re oiled. However, these guys know more than anyone on the planet about watches. So, in conclusion  AMAZING!!!

[fraggle42]

It's definitely still running, the auction house video showed it running, stopwatch and chimes.

 

Servicing anything with that many parts in it must be a *very* logical procedure.

 

Get lots of part trays with 1200 (or however many parts it has) individual compartments, all numbered, and take 1200 photos as every part comes off, all annotated with where the smeg the part came from.

 

Work in a totally sealed oxygen tent to make it easy to find the "ping-fu$kit" parts.

 

Have a very good friend with all the tools to reproduce any part that breaks.

 

And charge about $150,000 for the service! Probably take a good few months to do it properly.

[Nanuq]

Paul Gerber built that rascal by hand, over 10 years... I bet he could do it with his eyes (almost) closed.

[astonjenks]

Amazing, make  a great wristwatch :-)

AJ

[Nanuq]

Ahhhhhh, it did. The journey is worth reading about:

http://www.tp178.com/jd/uber-comp/artikel_4_2.html