Horomundi meeting

Last Saturday was the first official European get-together (GTG) for members of watch forum Horomundi. Sixteen watch aficionados from Europe and even one from the USA, gathered in Maastricht to share their passion for fine watches.

The attendees brought more watches than the one around their wrists. Mostly very impressive watches! In a private room at retailer of several of the most prestigious watch brands, Leon Martens, we sat down and had time to admire the watches. However Leon Martens also had some incredible pieces for us to see, and there was something very special!

Let’s have a look at the horological sweetness that was present. We start with something that is simply extremely rare, as there are only three models in Europe: the Patek Phillipe Celestial. Shortly after our GTG it was sold to a collector from the US, so now only two remain in Europe.

Other watches that we had time to handle and study from close-by: Breguet skeleton Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar, a prototype Jaeger-LeCoultre Duomètre à Chronographe, a Richard Mille RM010 and Theo Diehl’s Richard Mille RM001 tourbillon.

skeleton Breguet Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar

Jeager-LeCoultre Duomètre a Chronographe

Jeager-LeCoultre Duomètre a Chronographe

Richard Mille RM010

Richard Mille RM010

Richard Mille RM 001 tourbillon

And there was more… our host of that morning, Leon Martens in Maastricht, was about to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his boutique and A. Lange & Söhne created something very special for the occasion: a Lange 1 Timezone with the town of Maastricht, replacing Paris, as city for the GMT+1 time zone. Now that’s something that Lange & Söhne simply doesn’t do very often. Retail price is around € 30.000 euro.

Lange Söhne Lange 1 Timezone for Martens

Lange Söhne Lange 1 Timezone for Martens

Lange Söhne Lange 1 Timezone for MartensLange Söhne Timezone for Martens

Probably the most beautiful movement of all present watches, was also made by A. Lange & Söhne… the Double Split.

One of the few independent watchmakers worldwide, was also present at the Horomundi GTG. Roger Smith, who learned his skills from no one less than George Daniels, enjoyed the day like the rest of us. For me this was an eye-opener, because i hardly knew anything about independent watchmakers and the fine art of watchmaking. Roger was so kind to explain about the difference between a ‘regular’ watch and a watch that is 100% handmade. An impressive story… and the Roger Smith Series 2 is even more impressive!