Nagging..

Courtesy of Serica

I am sure that I am not alone in the feeling that certain things, be they pens, sneakers, or dare I say it watches can keep bubbling up from your subconscious to your every waking thought. That I what I continue to experience vis-a-vis Serica's California Field Chronometer.

This is not, repeat not a new release from Serica. It has been out for several years. But it still continues to taunt me ; )

Courtesy of Serica

I like to think I live in "the real world" - I am not diving for treasure in the briny deep. I am not an F1 driver. I am a teacher / social worker that works in Watch Town on the side. And owing to this, I want (and yes, need) hours, minutes, and seconds. That's pretty much it. But I would also like it with a little pizzaz ; )

Courtesy of Serica

So it would seem that this particular time machine and yours truly are on a bit of a collision course. 

Stay tuned ; )

\

The OW 8001 HAVANA (COSC-certified) - on leather!

A quick note - James Henderson (Henki Time) is the North American representative for Ollech & Wajs Zurich 1956).

Courtesy of Ollech & Wajs

This is a twist on the 8001 which Ollech & Wajs teased out during the Time to Watches show in Geneva this past April. Apart from the leather strap, the specs are the same as the integrated bracelet version.

Reference
OW 8001 Havanna

Year
2023

Dimensions
39.5 mm X 12.7 mm

Case
Brushed 316L stainless steel tonneau style, screwed bottom, screwed crown, fixed steel bezel; made in the Swiss Jura

Bezel
Fixed bezel with a combination of numeric and round markers at 5-minute intervals

Glass
Sapphire with anti-reflective treatment 

Dial
Double-lacquered ‘Havana fumé’ dial; baton hands and indexes in Super-LumiNova®, with date window at 6 o’clock

Water resistance
300m/ 30atm 

Movement
Automatic, COSC-certified, bespoke OW Soprod Newton Precision P092; date-only calendar, with semi instantaneous changes and quick adjustment using the crown; stop seconds; 4Hz 28,800 vibrations per
hour; 23 jewels; 44-hour power reserve. The Soprod Newton P092 movement is also independently tested for dependability and durability at the internationally renowned Laboratoire Dubois in Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, and has additionally been awarded a Chronofiable® certification.

Average Accuracy
+/-  in accordance with COSC tolerances

Bracelet
Integrated leather strap

Origin
Hand made in the Swiss Jura

Endings and Beginnings

Okay, in reading Robert-Jan Broer's post on his pursuit and purchase of a GMT Master (Rootbeer) -

https://www.fratellowatches.com/why-i-bought-a-five-digit-rolex-gmt-master-ii-again/

Courtesy of Tudor

I got to thinking of "What's Next?" in my own collection. Before going on, let me state plainly that I have resolved to thin the herd by about 5 pieces. It is important to understand that as I work for/with/represent several brands, I have no small amount of choice when I go to the bank deposit box to select something for the week.

With that being said, I am getting to a certain point where priorities are most assuredly shifting. Like most Americans I will likely be working closer to my 70s rather than my 60s. Overall, I'm okay with that as Wendy and I don't have kids (meaning no grandchildren to fuss over and take up our time ; ) 

But moreover, I have gotten to a point where apart from "work watches" (which I love, don't get me wrong!), I tend to wear 2 or 3 in particular, meaning that while they are secure in the bank box, several watches are just sitting there, where they are safe, but unworn and (unintentionally) under appreciated. So in the next few months I hope to remedy that. If you are looking for a good deal on some pre-owned time machines, follow my feed on Instagram for buying options -

https://www.instagram.com/henki_time/

But back to the matter at hand -

As mentioned in the second half of my Geneva notes, I returned to the Boston and learned my Aunt's husband was quite ill. She and his daughter worked tirelessly and selflessly to take care of him for a few weeks until he had to be hospitalized, and he passed shortly thereafter. And this really resonated with me. I think we tend to trivialize long-enduring relationships as something everyday or common. And of course if we think about it, we realize that just isn't so. For over forty years their lives had been intertwined, learning each others shorthand, and maintaining their individuality while growing stronger together. 

"Okay Henki - what's this got to do with watches?"

Fair question, allow me to retort -

A watch, be it a mighty Rolex or a $10 Snoopy Timex that your parents bought you in the 70s is not a "timepiece", rather it is a time machine. It has the ability to take you to a different time and place (hopefully a happy one). It can mark a milestone - such as a graduation, wedding, wedding anniversary, promotion, new job, etc. It can mark the end, and also the beginning.

And I think that I am coming up to a very pivotal point in my own life - both personal and professional. On the personal side? I've never been happier. Wendy and I will celebrate our 31st wedding anniversary this week. The brands I work with are doing well, and although bittersweet (as her longtime partner is no longer with her), I get to spend each summer with my Aunt. The work side I have come through what I can only describe as a crucible. For those unfamiliar, here is AI's take on the definition:

A crucible is a cup-shaped container, typically made of porcelain or metal, used in laboratories to heat and contain substances at high temperatures. It can also refer to a severe test or trial, or a place where things change or are influenced by concentrated forces. The word also appears in Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible", which is a powerful dramatization of the Salem witch trials, often used as a metaphor for political persecution and the dangers of mass hysteria.

I am currently the Executive Director of a MassHire Career Center. Our mission is to help people who have lost their job either enter or re-enter the workforce. This is done with counseling, as well as hard and soft-skill training. It is very challenging work, but also very rewarding. I work with a phenomenal team of extremely committed people. I wouldn't call it a family because that just seems like a cliche. But I have never worked with a team so focused, dedicated and united in what they do. So maybe it is what a work family could and should be. We will have a new operator on July 1, and we have been made to understand that many of us will be shown the door. I am, by and large, the newcomer with a little over 2 years spent.  With that being said, I have colleagues with nearly 20 years invested in what they do, and it has been heartbreaking to watch them try to navigate this enormous change that they know is coming. 

For me personally? It has been disappointing to see the work of the last two years get somewhat methodically pulled apart by the future operator, not unlike a sweater that slowly gets unravelled. And believe me when I say it, we did a lot in just the two years that I have been involved, and no doubt much more in the time before I arrived. It goes without saying that the only certainty in life is change. But change can and should be managed, but sometimes the way it gets managed is outside your control.

So again - "What's this got to do with watches?"

I was re-reading Will Guidara's best seller,
Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect

and he shared a quote from his father:

"Adversity is a terrible thing to waste."

Think about that for a minute. 

My team did something remarkable these past few months, knowing full well that they would probably not be doing what they've been doing for the past 5 years or more, they continued to show up every day with a smile, focusing on helping our customers. Think about that. While the temptation might be to go into Eeyore mode, they continue to be professionals, right up to June 30!

And for some of us, this now presents an opportunity to explore other paths, to turn left at the fork in the road rather than the right turn that we have always taken up to this point. We have the power to put some control on our future by collectively saying that this is not something that happened to us, but something that is happening for us!

And for me, I want to mark what has been a career defining 2 plus years. I had great early success managing programs and teachers in Finland back in the 90s. I thought for sure my career path was set. I got a huge job in the US, moved home, and promptly failed. It was a series of very hard lessons to learn. What followed was a series of aimless jobs that (in truth) I was overqualified for, but felt secure and safe in that I would not have the burden of leadership and the fear of failure that accompanied it. Nearly 20 years later I found myself leading a team of 3, which grew to 10. Together we built one of the strongest adult education programs in the region, growing from 60 students to over 130 - and doing so during COVID. This led to my current (soon to be finished) tenure with MassHire. In 2 years we have achieved similar results in terms of our performance and the customers we have served. So again, this coming to an end is somewhat bittersweet.

So I know now that I can lead a team, that it is always worth fighting for what is right, and that I don't want to hide in the shadows any longer.

I am not a wealthy person, so the watch that will mark this new chapter will not be brand new. But I do want it to be special. I have a few things in mind, but the Tudor Black Bay GMT Steel and Gold seems to tick all of the boxes. Gold, but not "Gold-Gold". 

Courtesy of Tudor

A GMT feature which connects me to friends around the world, and in this instance I think not a bracelet. I think the black "fabric" strap lends itself more to my chosen career in the "helping business".

Courtesy of Tudor

So that's all for now, stay tuned for the next dispatch.

Tempus Fugit!

The BR-03 Diver Lum Outline

From Bell & Ross -

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

This is the latest diver from Bell & Ross. The case is ceramic and measures 42 mm. The movement is listed as Calibre BR-CAL.302-1, which I believe is based on Sellita's SW300-1 per the folks at Caliber Corner.

This is limited to 500 pieces, and is priced at $5,200.

And Then This Happened... SB05 SunflOwer

So I find myself, once gain, at the back of the Conga Line -

Courtesy of Sartory Billard / Studio Underdog

This past April, my old friend Armand Billard (Patron Saint of the Oberlin Watch Company) in collaboration with Studio Underdog came out with this wrist-rocket! 

This is the SB05 Sunfl0wer, and yes, I am a bit obsessed!

There are people you meet who change the course of your trajectory - and I can absolutely say without fear of contradiction that meeting and working (albeit briefly) changed my life as a "behind the scenes" presence in Watch Town. So much so that people do a double take and assume that I'm "name dropping" to impress them ; )

So we are now at the latest chapter - at least the latest that I am writing about. This is the fantastic mash-up between two emerging forces in watches. And what is so fantastic about this watch is that it clearly champions the ethos of both of the participants.

As far as I know, this one sold out before the main production even started - I await correction from Armand if I got that part wrong ; )

But for those of us who missed the boat, I would rather light a candle than curse our darkness, so here are the pertinents so that we can collectively live vicariously through the lucky 10 future owners -

Dial

Golden outer section Grand-grain guilloche.

Brown Grand-grain guilloche pattern center disk.

Brown Grand-grain guilloche pattern small seconds sub-dial.

Sapphire disk with pad printed delicate golden hour markers and black
minute track.

Sartory-Billard reference : SB05SUN


Movement

La Joux Perret ref 7380Winding Mechanism: Manual
Finishing: Dark metallic grey color (NAC)
Diameter: 30.00 mm
Height: 2.90 mm
Frequency: 3 Hz
21 jewels
Power reserve: 90 hours

Case & Strap

Material: 316L steel
Finishing: Polished, Brushed and Micro-blasted
Diameter: 38.50 mm
Height: 8.50 mm
Lug to lug: 45.50 mm
Water resistant: 50 m
Strap: 20mm Curved handmade Epsom Calfskin strap made by The Strap Tailor

In Memoriam - Angelo Bonati

 

Courtesy of Italia Living

Word reached the North Shore offices of Henki Time that former Panerai CEO Angelo Bonati has passed away.

In an industry where more often than not you are either born into leadership (Chopard, LVMH, Patek), or you land in a comfy place - think Mr. Dufour of Rolex, very few people could have taken what a brand considered something of an anomaly, and make it the object of intense desire. But that is just what Panerai became under Angelo Bonati.

There are unicorns out there, to be sure, but as we roll past the first quarter of this century, they are becoming much thinner on the ground. It's easy for people to forget how different things were in 2000. A 44 mm case was anathema. Today it is "average". Watch fans will recall the ill-fated Anonimo which is still bobbing about in the flotsam of Watch Town's harbor. Proof positive that without the vision, investment, and consistency, a brand will become an afterthought. 

Back in 2003 when I broke in with Tourneau in their original San Francisco store, we were not authorized to sell Panerai (new Panerai, that is), but we did a brisk trade in pre-owned Panerai. So brisk that a Panerai would go in the showcase and likely be sold before the close of business. That, in fact, was how I got mine. A "B" series Luminor. The rule for employees buying a pre-owned watch was that it had to stay in the case for at least one full day before you could purchase it. And you had to pay full price, no employee discount! So I waited, and once the doors were closed? I pounced! And to say I loved that watch is an understatement. I still miss it to this day. But that is a story for another day.

But that is the manic obsession that Panerai created, and continues to evoke to this day. And it couldn't have happened without Mr. Bonati.

Go easy, sir.

The New Vektor Portal

From Defakto -

Courtesy of Defakto

Here are the details, straight from Defakto -

The new and limited 38,5mm Defakto Vektor Portal (10 pieces) comes with black in-house made pvd case and Japan made, automatic movement Miyota 9015. The watch offers a very flat st.steel case with only 6.6mm - incl. the acrylic dome it has a total of only 9,8mm! DEFAKTO VEKTOR PORTAL 38,5 mm x 44 mm x 9,8 mm, weight 35,6g In-house made ICKLER case, Pforzheim, Made in Germany Automatic Movement Miyota 9015, Japan Made Domed dial and acrylic crystal, curved hands German made cowhide strap with fast release system. 3 ATM water resistant 785,00 € incl. VAT EU-Citizens 659,66 €  excl. VAT Non-EU-Citizens Limited to 10 pieces

For You Cycling Fans Out There From Breitling

Breitling continues to have a press distribution system that continues to baffle me. Try though I might, I have yet to get added to it over the past 15 years. Now in fairness, I have been guilty (as has a lot of members of the Fourth and Fifth Estates) of not fawning over the "Squad" concept, and questioning the sanity of what appeared to be a lease program that did not guarantee that you would end up with the watch you really wanted. But let's focus on more positive things...

But with all that in the rearview mirror, I did some digging on my own when I remembered that it was Giro time again, and that Breitling had released two interesting variations of their Top Time series to honor to Italian cycling legends - Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi.

And whether they intended to or not, the two represent sharp contrasts. 

Coppi was dashing, glamorous, rode for Bianchi in its "Celeste" livery (note to the Breitling PR team - CELESTE, not turquoise!), left his wife for la dama in bianco di Fausto Coppi, ran afoul of the Pope himself, and died of malaria after an ill-fated visit to Burkina Faso to race locals and then go hunting. I supose the irony being that one of the mighty hunters were felled by a small flying insect.

Where Coppi was a matinee idol straight from central casting, Gino Bartali was quite the other thing. As it is a pretty involved recounting, I will let the Wikipedia entry tell the tale -

Rescues and Resistance role during World War II

[edit]

Bartali used bicycle training as a cover for secret efforts to rescue Jews.

Bartali earned respect for his work in helping Jews who were being persecuted by the Nazis during the time of the Italian Social Republic. He appears as a character in the 1978 novel, The Assisi Underground: The Priest who Rescued Jews, and in the 1985 American television film adaptation, both based on the real-life account by Father Rufino Niccacci.

It emerged in December 2010 that Bartali had hidden a Jewish family in his cellar and, according to one of the survivors, saved their lives in doing so.^[17]

Bartali used his fame to carry messages and documents to the Italian Resistance.^[18][19] Bartali cycled from Florence through Tuscany, Umbria, and Marche, many times traveling as far afield as Assisi, all the while wearing the racing jersey emblazoned with his name. Neither the Fascist police nor the German troops risked discontent by arresting him.

Giorgio Nissim, a Jewish accountant from Pisa,^[18] was a member of DELASEM,^[20] founded by the Union of the Israelitic Communities to help Jewish Italians escape persecution. The network in Tuscany was discovered in autumn 1943 and all Jewish members except Nissim sent to concentration camps. With the help of the Archbishops of Genoa Pietro Boetto and Florence Elia Dalla Costa, the Franciscan Friars of Assisi and others, Nissim reorganized DELASEM in Tuscany and helped 800 survive.

Nissim died in 2000. His sons found from his diaries that Bartali had used his fame to help. Nissim and the Oblati Friars of Lucca forged documents and needed photographs of those they were helping. Bartali used to leave Florence in the morning, pretending to train, ride to Assisi where many Jews were hiding in the Franciscan convents, collect their photographs and ride back to Nissim.^[5][21][22] At Assisi Bartali was in direct contact with Rufino Niccacci.^[23] Bartali also used his position to learn about raids on safehouses.

Bartali was eventually taken to Villa Triste in Florence. The SD and the Italian RSS official Mario Carità questioned Bartali, threatening his life.^[22] In spite of any threats, Bartali did not reveal what he had done. Even after the war he never boasted his merits; he used to say: "Some medals are made to hang on the soul, not the jacket."^[24]

Bartali continued working with the Assisi Network. In 1943, he led Jewish refugees towards the Swiss Alps himself. He cycled, pulling a wagon with a secret compartment, telling patrols it was just part of his training. Bartali told his son Andrea only that "One does these things and then that's that".^[22]

In June 2012, a book about Bartali's wartime activities, Road To Valor by Aili and Andres McConnon, was published.^[25]

In 2013, Yad Vashem awarded Gino Bartali the honour Righteous Among the Nations.^[26] He is a central figure in the 2014 documentary My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes.^[5] In 2007, the script for a movie based on Bartali during World War II, called Lion Man of Tuscany was on the Black List, a survey of the "most liked" un-produced scripts in Hollywood.^[27]

In 2017, research by Michele Sarfatti questioned Bartali's efforts to save Jewish lives, referring to the very limited sources and contradicting that Bartali would have described this in his diaries.^[28] In 2021, Marco and Stefano Pivato corroborated this stance by Sarfatti, calling the whole story 'invented' ('una storia inventata').^[29][30] In 2021, an interview with Sergio Della Pergola, an Israeli-Italian academic who was involved in Yad Vashem’s investigation of Bartali’s role during the war, was published in the Corriere della Sera. Outlining some of the evidence regarding Bartali’s efforts during the war, he disagreed with the argument put forth by Sarfatti and Marco and Stefano Pivato. He was quoted as saying: “To question whether Gino Bartali risked his life to save Jews is like denying that the Earth is round.”^[31]

At any rate, two legends of cycling, two tributes from Breitling -

                            For Fausto Coppi

Courtesy of Breitling



For Gino Bartali

The New and Improved Dialog

From DEFAKTO -

Courtesy of DEFAKTO

This latest version of the Dialog offers an affordable entry point to the DEFAKTO brand.

The case is of stainless steel and measures 40 mm in diameter. The movement is Ronda's Swiss made 712 Quartz.

Attractively priced at:

345,00 EUR (incl. VAT) // EU Citizens
289,92 EUR (excl. VAT) // Non-EU Citizens

Bern to La Chaux-de-Fonds to Zurich and Home

So Bern. I have been through Bern once or twice via train connections, and driven by my friend Rod Hess. With that being said, I was clearly missing out. I had about two hours after breakfast to take in the sights -

There is clearly a lot more to be seen, so next year this is definitely slated for a full day's stay.

And then I got a reminder about just exactly how large and (I gotta' be honest) not consistently logically laid-out a train station Bern is. If you've never started a journey in an SBB station without a ticket (and you do not have a pay account tied to your SBB app) you must do a few things before you get in the carriage:

• Identify the ticket machine - curious to relate? It is not always where you expect it to be.
• Make sure your payment method is going to work. 
• Make sure you have sufficient Swiss Francs and (if necessary) Euro to make your purchase (see above).
• Clearly understand just how far the platform is from the main hub.

So let's examine that last bullet item in a bit more detail. Ordinarily, it is a fairly brief walk from the central hub to any given platform. The one previous experience I've had is the walk "across the border" when arriving into Basel via Mulhouse (France). With that said, I was not prepared for the (literally) 1 + kilometer walk I had to make - and that is FROM the tunnel marked "Biel/Bienne"!

Long story short? I had to sprint at the end to make the train, and truly just made it!

With that said, it was a beautiful day and the ride to Biel/Bienne was smooth, with a quick transfer to La Chaux-de-Fonds -

And a return to visit my friend Kornelia Imesch at ochs und junior -

And I got to check out the settimana junior -

Courtesy of ochs und junior

And in an odd sort of way? This was really coming full-circle for me. Back in 2010 I had walked away from DOXA, realizing that it had become a bit of a dead-end, and I was not going to advance or go any further. I had started writing Tempus Fugit (which is today known as Henki Time), and I stumbled upon ochs und junior via a magazine article that had been forwarded to me. I then connected with Beat Weinmann and got a behind the scenes look at the nascent brand. Fast forward nearly 10 years to the day later, and I was back behind the scenes and got to know the owner Kornelia, the inspiration for the settimana junior - Flori, and got to see how things were moving forward since ochs und junior moved to La Chaux-de-Fonds. So really oj does bookend my start in consulting and media and as I said, it feels as if I've come full circle ; )

After a lovely lunch and a walk around the neighborhood, I was off to Zurich -

I got checked in, found dinner at my favorite Chinese take-out in the old town, got a good night's sleep. The next morning I availed myself of the Ruby Mimi's breakfast - highly recommended by the way, and struck out for a personal errand...a visit to Jenni Uhren, the work address of one Marc Jenni (among others).

After a few wrong turns and a short stroll along a river / canal, I found myself in the right place. I had my eye on two different pieces -

This particualr one I quite like - it's quirky and definitely "of an era", not unlike yours truly ; )

But I had also been admiring this little time machine -

And that is what I ended up with.

And a few words about Marc. The watch business can be a cynical world. As a member of the press, you all too often realize that your relationships with brands and watchmakers can be transactional. I sometimes call them "Weather Vane" friendships, meaning that whether or not some folks have time for you depends upon which way the wind is blowing ; )

But Marc Jenni is something altogether different. I will never forget getting a much coveted invitation to the AHCI dinner during BaselWorld several years back. I have never considered myself an "A List" level invitee, so I reached out to Marc and asked if there had possibly been a mistake, did they really mean to invite me. Marc immediately responded saying that I was absolutely meant to be invited, and that he looked forward to seeing me there! And he could not have been more inviting, more friendly, and more engaging. And I can honestly say after several years of knowing him that he is exactly that nice! For those of you have have the opportunity, he is a friend well met.

Then back to the hotel, packed everything up (including watches this time and double checked), and headed to the station -

And off to the airport, and some "self-care" which my friend Armand Billard reminds me is important not to neglect ; )

As I write this, it is Sunday morning, nearly one month since I got back. A lot has happened. A family member has been diagnosed with a serious medical condition, my job will likely be over by the end of June owing to the political machinations endemic to the city of Lawrence, and in many ways while it feels like the end of some things, it also seems like the start of yet another series of wonderful opportunities, and I am reminded once again that true friendship is something that endures.

Life is fickle and short, embrace it.

Tempus Fugit -