RedBar Independents Night 2018 — Collectors' Perspective

Nov 6

Nov 6 RedBar Independents Night 2018

Photo by Atom Moore (Fiona Kruger and Rexhep Rexhepi)

For the last two years the regular RedBar meeting that precedes the annual WatchTime event has become known as Independents Night! In conjunction with the show run by WatchTime Magazine we invite all of the members of the smaller independent brands to drop in for a drink. WatchTime is becoming known as the show in NYC to really get a chance to get face time with some of the worlds most sought after independent watch brands. The owners of these brands are often the brains behind everything they are doing. It’s always great to be able to have our members talk directly with the brand president, ceo, watchmaker, designer, and marketing team all at once. This year we put the call out and had quite a few of the independent watch elite show up. Fiona Kruger, Romain Gauthier, Rexhep Rexhepi from Akrivia, and CEO of DeBethune Pierre Jacques.

This is Fiona Kruger’s first time participating in the WatchTime show. She is a watch designer firebrand bringing with her a disruption to the definition of fine watchmaking. In addition to her previous skull shaped watches she has recently released her new Chaos collection now consisting of the Mechanical Entropy skeletonized models and the Entropy 1 solid dial variations. We love Fiona, she has a true artistic spirit and isn’t afraid to wade into the wide world of watches with her unique interpretations. Her follow up to the skull line is really intriguing and we will be watching closely as she takes off past past chaos into the new world order of independent watchmaking.

Romain Gauthier is an established brand run by a true watch engineer. Romain has taken the chain and fusee movement from clock making history and re-engineered it into a wristwatch. He had with him his personal Logical 1 with his intriguing chain mechanism. No big deal, it had No 01 on the movement. Recently Romain has brought his sharp aesthetic to his Micro Rotor watch (one of my personal favorites from Basel last year). While he was in town for WatchTime he also stopped in with our friends over at the Horological Society of New York and lectured on the use of the chain and fusee movement.

On the heels of releasing a watch with his name on the dial Rexhep Rexhepi took his first trip to the US for WatchTime and decided to come hang out and talk watches. He had with him his, completely sold out, Chronometre Contemporaine. This is a masterwork in simplicity and movement design that is way up there in our opinion. Being his first time in the US we were honored to have him stop by and share a drink with our members.

Pierre Jacques is the CEO of the futuristic brand that has been around in the independent watchmaking world for a long time. DeBethune has a large collection of models and we were lucky enough to get to see his personal DB28 Kind of Blue. It was very interesting to see his personal watch, which has the amazing blued case that DeBethune has become known for, and get to see the patina on the finish. It isn’t often you get to see one of these watches in person and when you do it’s even more rare to see it with wear and patina clearly from everyday wear.

When we get the opportunity to visit with even one of these brands when they are in town we consider ourselves lucky. It was a truly awesome experience to get to play watches with such break out stars in our little hobby. These are the brands pushing the envelope and creating, what I believe to be, true artistic creations. Tiny mechanical art on the wrist achieved!

The following day there was an event at the Cellini boutique in midtown Manhattan where they have a large collection of independent brands for sale. Their collection of brands is unparalleled as compared to anywhere else in the city. Kari Voutilainen and Steven Forsey attended to talk with collectors and enthusiasts. It was kind of Cellini to extend the invite to our members to get a chance to spend some time in the boutique with Kari and Steven.

Not a member of RedBar? Get in touch on the Contact Us page to get on the mailing list to attend events like these.