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In this issue we venture into what some
mechanical watch purists would consider
sacrilegious: these pages harbor an article about
quartz watches.
We don’t consider this blasphemy. For better or
worse
time cannot stand still
and nor can prog-
ress. The quartz timepiece, al-
ready decades old, has gained
respectability in most circles
as have the companies that
opened this technological
frontier, paving the way for
other innovations. The quartz
watch is supremely accurate
thanks to the grace of nature,
not of man, though it took
man to discover this and put
it to use. It hasn’t prevented
him from surrounding this
discovery with stunning cases
of
timeless beauty
and much
additional functionality.
Progress hasn’t stopped there.
It was
only a matter of time
before Silicon Valley got into
the fray. Cell phone technolo-
gy has packed huge comput-
ing power into tiny packages.
Large companies as well as startups are now
luring consumers into putting this power on
their wrists.
Is it a war between the technol-
ogist and the traditionalist? We
don’t think so. There is room
and need for both and the twain
shall indeed meet. It is not a question of halting
the relentless march of progress, rather of not
losing
time-honoured methods
of manufacturing
and to continue building upon them and see how
far they can go without charged electrons being
involved.
Has any of this hurt the market
for purely mechanical watches?
In the long run the answer is
a resounding “NO”. There have
been fluctuations but
time heals
all wounds
. For the last twenty
or so years, demand for hand-
made and hand tooled watches
has grown steadily. Companies
which had all but closed their
shops are now creating inspired
works with a vengeance.
You are the benefactors of
these revolutions in manufac-
turing, and we, at
Art of Time
,
who bring them to you, are nev-
er bored watching it all happen.
Time marches on
, as do we.
We explore other aspects of
watchmaking and jewelry here,
of course, but the underlying
thread throughout this issue as
with all of our issues is creativity and innovation.
This magazine is a celebration of the heroes and
heroines who conceive and build things of such
refinement that we are in awe in their presence.
Time waits for no one
but we will continue to
strive to keep up to speed.
Where all of this will take us,
only time will tell
.
A R T
of
T I
M E
AS TIME GOES BY
or,
Where would I be without metaphors?
18
EDITORIAL