Tag: Thomas Prescher

Categories
Swiss Replica

The ‘mystery’ of Thomas Prescher’s Mysterious Double-axisTourbillon Replica

ThomasPrescherMysteriousAutomaticDoubleAxisTourbillon17

Almost a year ago we did a post about Thomas Prescher’s Mysterious Double Axis Tourbillon. Although the time spent with this replica watch was very short it stayed in my thoughts, and I wondered whether I would ever have the opportunity to see it again.

It turns out that I did have the chance to look at it again during a visit with a member of the Horologium team and #thewatchnerd to Thomas and Heike Prescher early this year. I have already mentioned some of his Tempus Vivendi dials we saw on that day, and in particular the Qatar one for which we saw a dial and completed version, but today it is time to revisit the Mysterious replica watch.

I received many queries about how the ‘mystery’ behind ‘the Mysterious’. People puzzled over it. Thomas Prescher is a highly specialised independent replica watchmaker, and perhaps it is in some part due to this status that this piece, although not a new model, is not as widely known as it should be, that its ‘firsts’ and the astonishing ‘mystery’ are not as widely known as it should be. Hopefully, today we can introduce it to a new audience.

ThomasPrescherMysteriousAutomaticDoubleAxisTourbillon14

You may recollect my mentioning in the previous post that the focus on this replica watch was visibility – of the (double axis) tourbillon, and of the oscillating weight with its integrated calendar. Today is all about sharing what could not be seen in the previous post.

Thomas Prescher’s idea was to create an automatic movement with a horizontal swinging oscillating weight, with the movement hidden on the left and right sides of the case, inside the bezel.

ThomasPrescherMysteriousAutomaticDoubleAxisTourbillon11

So about the movement. It is the automatic Calibre TP MANDAT No1. Developed and made by Thomas Prescher, it measures 38mm x 33mm in diametre, 12.35mm in height, and has 394 components.

This replica watch was the first double-axis tourbillon wristwatch with a constant force mechanism in the carriage, the first wristwatch with a calendar in the oscillating weight, the first automatic movement with a horizontal oscillating weight, and the first automatic movement with upright mainplates – these are what you can now see in these photos but which are hidden from view in the replica watch’s final form.

ThomasPrescherMysteriousAutomaticDoubleAxisTourbillon7

At 36.75mm wide, 41.20mm high and 16.50mm thick, this replica watch may appear hefty and angular to some, but not only does it feel perfectly fine on the wrist, but there is a reason for its shape and thickness, and that lies in what Thomas Prescher sought to achieve (and did) with this replica watch. In this sense it is a very minimalist replica watch, but it is not only a remarkable piece of horology but also very intriguing and appealing aesthetically. In a way it is almost easy to forget its timekeeping aspect when examining it, but this is a replica watch that I would be more than happy to have on my wrist.

Categories
Swiss Replica

HANDS-ON : Replica Thomas Prescher Tempus VivendiQatar

ThomasPrescherTempusVivendiQatar1

In late January Horologium and #thewatchnerd visited Thomas and Heike Prescher at their old (as in about-to-be-vacated) workshop and home in a town near Biel/ Bienne. What was originally intended to be half a day with them turned out to be the better part of a day. The three of us were left with much food for thought that we are still discussing and processing even now, not just about Thomas’ replica watches but also his approach to replica watchmaking; not just technical aspects but also with respect to how he looks at challenges and the manner in which he resolves them.

Now working alone, he showed us some of the high quality replica watches that he has made over the years, including the Mysterious Double Axis Tourbillon which I had seen for the first time a year previously, and a few other pieces about which I will write individually. Today’s focus is on the Tempus Vivendi Qatar (2009).

The Tempus Vivendi collection’s members all share the same retrograde time display method of a double retrograde to display the hours and minutes, with the differences lying in the decoration. In this case, Qatar was the inspiration and the realisation, hand-engraved in solid gold, came in the form of the Qatari coat of arms between which is the traditional dhow ship. One sword indicates the minutes and the other, the hours. The island represents ‘The Pearl-Qatar’ in Doha, a man-made islad of some four milion square miles which is home to about 12,000 residents.

For those who are unfamiliar with retrograde displays, when the hands reach the end of each sector the jump back to the beginning. However, this is not all these hands can do – depressing the button in the crown moves the hands to a ‘resting’ position to show the ‘true’ state of the coat of arms; a further push will move them back to show the time.

The 18 carat gold case is 39mm, and the automatic movement is 28,800VPH with a power reserve of forty hours. As you can see, the rotor is also 18 carat and highly decorated (hand-engraved).

Although the use of double retrogrades is not something ‘special’ per se as it were, what stands out about the Tempus Vivendi range is its artistry – the dials are really quite beautiful, and striking. As a point of comparison, here are some dials from other models from this collection.

Geisha

Falcon

Crane

Phoenix

Look out in the upcoming months for more posts from this visit, and our thanks to Thomas and Heike for their hospitality and a memorable day.

Categories
Swiss Replica

REPLICA THOMAS PRESCHER : the Mysterious Automatic Double AxisTourbillon

ThomasPrescherMysteriousAutomaticDoubleAxisTourbillon2

Would I like to see a ‘simple’ replica watch from Thomas Prescher? When I met Thomas and Heike Prescher earlier this year and was asked this question by Heike, I was momentarily struck silent, as my mind tried to quickly think of what options ‘simple’ in the world of Prescher might actually mean. Very possibly still something that I would not be able to get my head around at first glance. Very possibly something that I would need to sit down and think about.

Well it turned out that I was correct. I didn’t quite get my head around it at the time, and it has been periodically surfacing in my mind since then. I admit hesitation about doing this post, as the photographs weren’t taken under ideal lighting conditions, and I don’t wish to do the replica watch an injustice, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised that it was better to share it. So here it is, the Mysterious Automatic Double Axis Tourbillon, the ‘simple’ replica watch. You can wear one too, if you wish. Or if you are looking for something more ‘complicated’, how about the Triple Axis Tourbilon Sport?

Thomas Prescher speaks of time in terms of vision and sculpture. These are terms that pop up regularly when the sources for replica watch design inspiration are discussed, but they are never quite done in this sort of a way. For this model, his focus was on visibility – visibility of the tourbillon, visibility of the calendar, visibility of the oscillating weight.

There is a lot of ’empty space’ in this replica watch, but it serves a purpose – to draw the eye to the remarkable swinging object. What is this object? Well the idea was to create an automatic movement with a horizontal swinging oscillating weight, with the movement hidden on the left and right sides of the case, inside the bezel.

It was this which lead to my utter confusion when I saw this replica watch – swinging bits, things that I couldn’t get my head around. Oh and it’s also a double axis tourbillon with constant force, too. So yes – only the time, the tourbillon, calendar and oscillating weight are visible.

Thomas Prescher wouldn’t be Thomas Prescher if there wasn’t at least a double-axis tourbillon, and so it was in the design and realisation of this replica watch – a flying double-axis tourbillon with constant force would be added, as would the calendear. In his words, the idea to add a calendar to this creation came whilst observing how people getting onto a giant swing could move on its surface. Why not create an oscillating weight with integrated calendar indications and allow simple gravity to ensure the calendar on the oscillating weight is always horizontal?

With the calendar located on the flat side of the oscillating weight this indication is always facing upward. This means that it can always be read regardless of which side of the replica watch is up. You will note the presence of two crowns – one is for winding and the other, for time (right) and calendar setting (left). You may also notice their placement – they build the main symmetry axis.

This theme of ‘symmetry’ then appears again, with a three-dimensional moon placed between the two barrels indicating hours and minutes. The hours and minutes are on a rotating barrel.

Finally, the bi-axial tourbillon is placed on a turning axis, held by a carrying arm and rotating around itself.

There are replica watches for which the immediate response is a variation on the theme of ‘wow’ but that you can ‘get’ immediately, or within a few minutes. Then there are the replica watches where your response is ‘wow’ and the more you learn about it, the more the volume of ‘wow’ increases. This is one of those replica watches. It is only with time, learning, and repeated exposure (yes I would love to see it again if the opportunity arises) that the achievement is fully realised, and as I do not yet feel fully confident that I do understand the intricacies of its operation, I am hoping that my path will again cross with the Preschers.

It is a mindboggling work of horology, and as a friend of mine says – “that replica watch is seriously nuts, I have no idea how it works”. As for the ‘specs’, this 36.75mm wide, 41.20mm high and 16.50mm thick replica watch comes in platinum 950 or 18 carat gold. Inside is an in-house 38 hour power reserve Calibre MANDAT NO1 automatic movement that is hidden on both sides of the case. The replica watch consists of 250 components. The plates and bridges are grey rhodium plated. The one-minute revolution tourbillon is 13.5mm high and weighs 0.347g.

Oh and yes, you will notice that it is numbered 00/25. That’s because it’s Heike Prescher’s.

[20 July 2015 : to see the ‘mystery’ behind the ‘Mysterious’, click on this link.

Categories
Swiss Replica

HANDS-ON : Replica Thomas Prescher Triple Axis Tourbillon RegulatorSport

ThomasPrescherTripleAxisRegulatorSport1

One of the most engaging (and perhaps marginally frustrating) parts of the replica watch world is that sometimes, you are confronted with so many interesting things on people’s wrists and appearing miraculously out of hidden jacket pockets that you aren’t quite sure which way to look first.

Sometimes, you get even more lucky and find yourself unexpectedly meeting the friendly and down to earth Heike and Thomas Prescher and being confronted with a multiplicity of tourbillons.

For those new to them the tourbillon, which means ‘whirlwind’ in French, was invented by Abraham-Louis Breguet in the late 1700s (and patented in 1801) with the aim of counteracting the effects of gravity on a replica watch by mounting the escapement and balance wheel in a rotating cage, to negate positional gravitational effects on a timepiece and improve accuracy.

As I’ve noted before, whether tourbillons are necessary or not in modern replica timepieces is a moot point. People love looking at them, wearing them, and making them. After all, what’s not to like about a whirlwind on your wrist? Their creation is a replica watchmaking art, which is why they command a premium, and their popularity in modern replica watchmaking bodes well for the continuation of this level of craftsmanship, skill and micro-engineering. It has also meant that with more replica watch brands creating tourbillons, more complex multi-axis ones have become the goal to aim for, with independent replica watchmakers and small brands at the forefront of this progression. It is very much arguable that Thomas Prescher has his own special place in this pantheon.

Thomas Prescher traces his own horological influences to Anthony Randall and Richard Good, British clockmakers who produced two and three-axis tourbillons in the 1980s, interpreting Good’s work in creating a triple-axis tourbillon cariage clock for firstly pocket replica watches, and then wristwatches. The third axis would revolve hourly.

Meet the Triple Axis Tourbillon Regulator Sport. ‘Sport’ not in the sense that this over half a million dollar replica watch is for all your hiking/ diving/ cycling/ paragliding activities, as I’d really not recommend this, but ‘sport’ because it is more informal than his other creations.

The first impressions of this replica watch are that it’s actually surprisingly discreet. At 43mm and 17mm thick, when you get to to terms mentally with having it on your wrist, you will find that it’s comfortably sized and weighted. It can be ordered in 18k gold or 950 Pt, since it’s able to be customised, so the weight will vary accordingly. Bearing in mind that it is housing a triple-axis tourbillon, the thickness is to be expected. A triple axis tourbillon with its spiral-shaped movement takes up a certain amount of space.

Movement wise it uses an in-house manual wind calibre 3W6A.3 beating at 21,600VPH and with a power reserve of forty hours. The plates and bridges are gold-plated brass and wonderfully hand-engraved/ guillochéd; it’s a very interesting juxtaposition of clean lines and intricate handwork. The tourbillon itself is visible through both sides of the replica watch, mesmerisingly so. The first Axis is that the entire tourbillion spins around at its point of connection; when it hits the red arrow indicator, this is the minute revolution. The second and third axis points of the tourbillion are that it spins vertically and horizontally in its cage. The height of the tourbillon rotation is 12.2mm and the size of the cage, 13.4mm.

Thomas Prescher created the first flying double-axis tourbillon with constant force in the carriage in a wristwatch, which was presented at Baselworld 2003 and 2004. The tourbillon is powered by a constant-force mechanism called a remontoire. He created this constant-force mechanism to equalise the effects of a wound and unwound mainspring, friction, and gravitation, thereby ensuring that an even force is always supplied to the oscillation regulating system of the double-axis tourbillon. The constant force reloads six times per second.

The Triple Axis Tourbillon Regulator Sport is, as the name indicates, a regulator with subdials, and its functions are confined to hour, minutes and seconds.

As mentioned earlier, the case is available in either 18 carat gold or Pt 950. Both versions have a crystal sapphire crystal on front and back, and are individually engraved with a replica watch number. The dial is 1.2mm of solid silver, hand guillochd, with 18ct gold applied indices, daphine-shaped hands, and what he calls a “hand-engraved name and number-plate”.

The thing about triple axis tourbillons is that they are ever so rare ‘in the wild’. To see one unexpectedly takes a certain amount of time to get one’s mental faculties around, and somewhat to my regret, it has only been in the time following my unfortunately all-too-brief interaction with it that I’ve thought more about it and had the time to properly appreciate it, albeit without the actual replica watch in front of me. If I’m lucky, perhaps I will have another chance one day to ‘have a play’ with it, as they say.

A ‘protip’, as they say – if you are fortunate enough to find a Thomas Prescher replica watch in your hands, step away from everyone for a few minutes to somewhere silent (or less racuous) and take the time to have a proper look at it.