Virtuoso Life - November/December 2007 - (Page 93) COLLECTOR All in the Wrist Boutique Swiss watchmakers craft timeless bespoke treasures. BY MICHAEL CLERIZO N ew York and London run international finance. Paris and Milan rule fashion. High-end watchmaking belongs to Geneva and, well, just Geneva. Strolling from the Swiss city’s lakefront to its outer edge without passing the headquarters of a major watch brand – or one of the hundreds of firms that supply the industry – is as impossible as traversing Rome without passing a church. Religion is at the heart of the city’s abundance of watchmakers. By the sixteenth century, Geneva’s goldsmiths had earned renown throughout Europe for their jewelry. Then, in 1541, the city became the fiefdom of religious leader John Calvin. A proponent of the austere life, Calvin banned the making and wearing of jewelry. To save their livelihoods, the goldsmiths pleaded with Calvin for permission to transfer their skills to watchmaking, a trade already established in France, Italy, and Germany. Watches, the goldsmiths argued, Hours of luxury: Handcarved platinum dragons with diamond eyes decorate SpeakeMarin’s custom-made Fighting Time watch. NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2007 93
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