Watches

By Rick Sapp

A quick flip through the New York Times almost any day of the week finds numerous ads for the most expensive of watches, which are now, as in the time of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the most elite of fashion statements and a clarion call that the wearer has achieved career success and wealth. This book includes 40 of the most famous watchmakers of all time who are currently producing outstanding timepieces for all pocketbooks and for all occasions. The introduction provides a short history of how Man first told time and developed the industry of timekeeping. Switzerland is the legendary home of the most distinguished craftsmanship in timepieces, in fact so much so that new companies establish themselves in Switzerland, not only to be close to the most-skilled technicians in the world, but also for the cachet that accompanies the location. The watch, regardless of its form, will survive the test of time because of Man’s need to control his destiny, to count his accomplishments, to cram a lot of activities into a single day or night. Time stands still for no one. The watch is the messenger.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TAJ Books International
• Release date: Mar 2, 2013
• ISBN: 9781844062812

Rick Sapp

Born near Chicago, Rick Sapp grew up on Amelia Island, Florida. His unusual heritage— on one side a long line of southern farmers, shrimp boat captains and rebels, and on the other, a legacy of northern coal miners, gangsters and union organizers—gave him a restless spirit and an inquisitive mind. After three years at the U.S. Air Force Academy he joined the army as a paratrooper and subsequently worked as an intelligence officer in Europe. He completed his PhD. in cultural anthropology at the University of Florida, conducting field work with the National Institute of Mental Health (St. Elizabeth Hospital) in Washington, DC, and in the Great Bend of the Suwannee River, Florida. Rick owned a Media Consulting firm until 9/11 and soon thereafter began freelancing full-time. Rick has since authored (or coauthored) 30 books about camping, bicycle touring, urban redevelopment, history, political cartoons, and outdoor activities. A prolific freelance writer since 1980, his resume includes hundreds, perhaps a thousand, nonfiction articles, creative nonfiction, and short fiction stories, and even poetry. Rick lives in Florida.

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Published by TAJ Books International LLC 2013

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Copyright © TAJ Books International LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored

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[e-mail].

ISBN 978-1-84406-242-3

ePub ISBN 9781844062836

Printed in China.

1 2 3 4 5 17 16 15 14 13

Contents

Watches

Armand Nicolet

Ball

Baume & Mercier

Blancpain

Breguet

Breil

Breitling

Bulova

Bvlgari

Carl F. Bucherer

Cartier

Chopard

Corum

Davidoff

Fendi

Frédérique Constant

Girard-Perregaux

Gucci

Hamilton

Harry Winston

Hermes

Hublot

IWC Schaffhausen

Longines

Montblanc

Movado

Omega

Oris

Patek Philippe

Piaget

Rado

Raymond Weil

Rolex

Seiko

TAG Heuer

Tissot

Ulysse Nardin

Victorinox

Wenger

Zenith

Backmatter

Index

WATCHES

BY RICK SAPP

In the beginning...

The emerging theory of the multiverse rather than a single universe, there are many suggests there may never have been a beginning of time. It is certainly difficult to wrap our mind around such inspired or preposterous concepts, depending on our own particular perspective. Concepts of some of these differing universes include the arrow of time; time travel being possible, but unidirectional; and the grandfather paradox.

But those ideas, however fascinating and entertaining, are essentially irrelevant to life as most of us perceive it. We rise when the sun rises. We lunch at high noon. At 9:00 p.m., we turn on the television to watch our favorite sitcom. At night, we look in the mirror and observe that our hair is turning gray.

One problem, we say, is time. There’s not enough of it, as if it were a sack of potatoes or an exciting moment in a baseball game.

We might complain that time is going too fast as we observe a new wrinkle under our eye or watch our children become quickly competent at some new skill. But it is, in a sense, an inside joke because from our perspective, time is constant, unchanging. It is a quantity that we can count and anticipate.

It has always been this way, for Man is the single species as far as we know that is aware of his cosmic position and potential: observing phases of the moon to determine the best moment to plant wheat; counting moon cycles while a baby grows and anticipating its emergence; naming the seasons to track wildebeest migrations; and understanding when the rains come and when they don’t.

Man is a counting animal, and so he is also an animal that is extraordinarily conscious of time. Thus, he keeps track as much as his needs require, and as well as his instruments allow. Thousands of years ago, the Babylonians and Egyptians monitored the shadows of tall obelisks to record the hours of the day. Ultimately, they invented the sundial and the water clock.

Anthropologists believe that Man first kept count of whole days, a far easier task than measuring hours or minutes, which had, so long ago, not yet even been invented. Sticks or the bones of animals, such as baboons or wolves, were marked using sharp stones as a means to keep track of the passage of time, perhaps as early as 50,000 years ago. Anthropologists have discovered several of these