>SHOP

keep my inbox inspiring

Sign up to our monthly newsletter for exclusive news and trends

Follow us on all channels

Start following us for more content, inspiration, news, trends and more

Remembrance of horology past
Baselworld

Remembrance of horology past

Thursday, 29 March 2012
close
Editor Image
Christophe Roulet
Editor-in-chief, HH Journal

“The desire to learn is the key to understanding.”

“Thirty years in journalism are a powerful stimulant for curiosity”.

Read More

CLOSE
4 min read

The Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants never fails to produce some gems. This year is no exception, in the persons of Masahiro Kikuno, a young Japanese watchmaker working exclusively by hand, and the Ukrainian Valerii Danevych, a specialist in watches made entirely from wood.

Ah, the joys of modernity! After contemplating the masterpieces of miniaturisation that line the aisles at Baselworld, and pondering the technology required to machine the infinitely tiny parts that bring them to life, it’s tempting to forget an earlier time when watches were crafted entirely by hand, using specialised tools as ingenious as the timepieces they ultimately produced. Fortunately, the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI) is there to remind us of these times immemorial, when horology was in the hands of master craftsmen whose knowledge was passed from generation to generation.

Living the dream

Masahiro Kikuno ranks among them. This young Japanese watchmaker (just 29 years old) already made an impression at last year’s Baselworld with his temporal hour watches (a mechanism that increases the space between moving index markers, programmed over one year for traditional Japanese units or wadokei, and displays civil time), and a tourbillon perpetual calendar using a completely remodelled ETA 6497 base calibre, the first to be made fully in Japan. This year, Kikuno raised the bar with his Tourbillon 2012, crafted entirely by hand – not a CNC machine in sight – and driven by a herringbone-finished calibre mk12 movement inside a 43mm case.

“Four years ago, I attempted to make a flying tourbillon, but try as I might I couldn’t get it to work,” he explains. “You know the saying, if at first you don’t succeed… The three watches shown at Baselworld took me six months. The first two are virtually finished, I just need to make a few minor adjustments to the mechanism, apply the logo to the dial, and make a presentation box. The third is still under construction.” Pulling out a tablet PC, Masahiro Kikuno proceeded to show images of the various stages in the process, from cutting the bridges and the tourbillon cage to making the different parts and the plate.

Masahiro Kikuno Tourbillon 2012 watch © Masahiro Kikuno
Wood, a precious metal?

Masahiro Kikuno had an epiphany when reading a magazine article about independent watchmakers. This was what he wanted to do. He enrolled on the prestigious Hiko Mizuno College WOSTEP course and, his diploma under his belt, continued to study alone, using George Daniels’ work as a major reference. Some twelve months later, he was hired as a teacher by the very school that had trained him, a position which allowed him to carry on his own research at the same time. In April 2012, Masahiro Kikuno will leave Hiko Mizuno College to set up under his own name and join the ranks of the very same independent watchmakers who helped shape the course of his life. His project: to build a minute repeater and be able to cut his own gears.

Bronnikov may not be a familiar name to many outside a circle of specialist collectors, yet this dynasty of nineteenth-century Russian watchmakers merits our attention for the particular nature of their work. For three generations, the Bronnikovs crafted watches, mechanisms included, out of nothing but wood, ivory and bone. Their production is estimated at some five hundred watches, only half of which are believed to have survived. A tradition kept alive by the Ukrainian Valerii Danevych. A sculptor as much as a horologist, he showed on the AHCI stand a collection of pocket watches and wristwatches made from the same wood, fossilised ivory and bone, and whose intricate sculpting and subtle graduations of colour have nothing to envy the work of his illustrious predecessors. This artist has even succeeded in fitting a tourbillon movement inside a Fabergé-style egg that almost gives wood the allure of precious metal. For Baselworld’s many Japanese visitors, the AHCI stand was doubly attractive this year, first to admire the work of their compatriot Masahiro Kikuno, then to plunge into the world of Valerii Danevych and appreciate the delicate craftsmanship Japan has always held in great esteem.

Back to Top