Independents

Gary G
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Lunch with Kari

Greetings!  For this post, I have dispensed with my usual "So seven guys go into a restaurant..." title, even though that is exactly what happened here.  This meeting really was all about the people, even though some watches were on display (photos below) -- the NorCal gang meeting with our good friend Kari Voutilainen.

Lunch was at the Parallel 37 restaurant at the Ritz Carlton hotel in San Francisco, later in the day the site of one of the big watch events of the year, Jeff Kingston's review of the Basel and Geneva shows (and more broadly this year, some fascinating films ranging from a visit to a watchmaking school to an inspiring day with Philippe Dufour). 

Lots of fun conversation over a period of a couple of hours -- as always, the time went by way too fast.  I missed out on photographing a number of the watches present (all of the Observatoires, the Duality, a Simplicity, etc.) but was fortunate to catch a couple of Kari's current pieces.  First, the 37mm Vingt-8, now with a small seconds hand:

...and a lovely larger Vingt-8 in rose gold:

Here's the movement side of the latter watch -- for me, Kari's finishing keeps getting better over the years, and despite restaurant lighting conditions and the use of a point/shoot camera, some of that comes out here:

Next, a beautiful Masterpiece Chronograph: this one a unique piece with 45-minute register

Kari's in-house movement as seen from the rear -- a real feast for the senses

Among the other watches present, a few notable tourbillons.  First, one of my favorites, the FPJ Subscription piece:

...and not one, but two ALS PLM Tourbillons!  The third one owned by the group is still off at Lange for routine service -- I am salivating at the idea of getting all three of those watches in one place for a photo session...

Finally, a revelation from the master:

An upcoming piece, seen here for the first time!  As many of you know, my wrist shot technique isn't very good, and I'm sorry that I seem to have blurred this one a bit -- guess we will all just have to wait for delivery of this watch to get a clearer view

That's it for now!  Hope you enjoyed -- more news anytime I have it...

All the best,

Gary G

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