The hyperbolic curves of the rims mirror each other, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the two sharp outer projections of the larger bridges align with the inner circle of the center wheel.
Philippe Dufour is synonymous with Swiss craftsmanship, and whenever I think about this topic, I think of a conversation I had with him in his studio a few years ago. He lamented the decline in finishing standards in Switzerland, which, in his opinion, had worsened significantly during his career. He said that high-end watch brands cut corners in finishing, and then, to make matters worse, “…then they handed out magnifying glasses as gifts – They give you a stick to beat them with! (It’s worth pointing out that he also happily wears a Rolex GMT-Master as an everyday wear watch, so clearly his idea of what constitutes a good watch is not limited to watches that are hand-finished from start to finish. The only watches I’ve ever seen him wear are the Lange Plotter and GMT-Master… not a bad two-watch collection.
Hand finishing includes but is not limited to polished sides, chamfers, black polishing, see-through, polished screw slots, chamfered screw slots, chamfered movement wheel arms… the list goes on and on, and don’t forget that these are individually learned skills. To do all of this by hand on an entire watch is, for all intents and purposes, simply prohibitive in modern series-produced luxury watchmaking. However, it’s important to understand that, from at least one perspective, it’s this almost impossibly high standard that makes the difference between a good watch (even a great watch) and a watch that is truly excellent in concept and execution. As an old Zenith Electronics TV commercial once said, “Quality comes before the name.”
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