Guests to Miracles at Midnight usually dress to the hilt, and that extends to their jewelry. If you know me, you know I’m a watch fanatic. Last weekend I was impressed by a very handsome watch worn by a gentleman in the front row. Since we were in such close proximity, I could see the watch peeking out from his sleeve cuff. After the show he allowed me to examine it – an A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwork. I’ve long been an admirer of this German watchmaker, but had never seen a watch quite like this.

First off, unlike most fine timepieces – it’s a digital watch. If you look at the picture above, you can easily read the time: 7:52. To see how that time is configured behind the faceplate, look at the picture below.

There are three sets of dials. The hour dial rotates on a central axis, but the two dials that compose the minutes are positioned off-center. They rotate in league with each other to form any combination of minutes from :00 to :59. That is some inspired thinking.

For those curious to see what the watchworks look like from the rear side.

This photo shows a surprise feature that is available on one of the Zeitwerk models – glow-in-the-dark numbers. If you know anything about photoluminescence, you know that photo cells can only store photons when exposed to light. So how would the hidden dials be able to store light while they are constantly positioned behind the faceplate? A. Lange & Sohne engineers solved this problem quite elegantly by using filtered glass as the faceplate, allowing light to pass through the face of the watch, while appearing black to the naked eye. It’s like a sunglass lens, in reverse.

I’m not in the market for a new watch, but this fellow’s watch certainly caught my eye, and gave me something new to admire.

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At Chamber Magic last weekend, a lovely couple sat in the front row, and the husband was wearing this wristwatch. I actually stopped the show for a moment so I could look down at his wrist. It’s quite distinctive.

The manufacturer is Dubey & Schaldenbrand, a Swiss watchmaker that I was not familiar with – despite the fact that they were established in 1946. The company is headquartered in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the third largest city in the French-speaking part of Switzerland (after Geneva and Lausanne).

After the show, the gentleman and his wife spent some time talking about this watch, and peaked my interest. Now I’m on the prowl for this watch, but since it’s such a niche brand I haven’t been able to easily locate it.

Anyone?

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Over time, I’ve become a watch fanatic, and now have a nice little collection.

On a recent trip to Tokyo, I flipped through a watch-themed magazine and suddenly stopped. I’d never seen this watch before: a Franck Muller 7880 model named “Magic Time.” It even had those two words printed on the dial: “MAGIC TIME.” I instantly wanted one. Why? The two hands of the watch always point to 12:00, all day long. If someone were to glance at your wrist, they would see the time as 12:00. A second hand ticks around, counting off each second, but the minute and hour hands don’t move…

Until you press the hidden button.

To the left of the ‘9,’ there is an additional bezel that you can press. Whilst the button is depressed, the hands of the watch instantly shoot to the proper place on the dial to tell you the actual time. When the button is released, the hands flip back to the 12:00 mark. There they stay, all day long. (Reminds me of the old joke: “Even a broken watch is correct two times each day.”)

Upon returning to New York, I checked with my friend at Cellini, the high-end jewelry shop in the lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria. He made some calls to Franck Muller, and was informed that “Magic Time” is no longer available due to a trademark infringement case. As such, Franck Muller has renamed the watch “Secret Hours.” It has the same functionality (and I had a chance to fiddle with it at the Cellini shop). But oddly enough, I have no desire to own this watch with its new name. “Magic Time,” thumbs up. “Secret Hours,” I’ll take a pass.

Fortunately Franck Muller has such a lovely inventory of functional and/or flashy watches. I have a Master Banker that I’m quite fond of. The craftsmanship is unparalleled.

In a future post, I’ll write about my visit to Geneva to explore watchmaking facilities.

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