Welcome to Watchland, the story of the Franck Muller manufacture

Franck Muller manufactureFrom Watchland, the Genevan estate where Franck Muller is based, you are able to look out across the calm blue waters of Lake Geneva to the far bank, and in the distance gaze up at the white peak of Mont Blanc. In this postcard setting, Watchland is an open expanse of chalet-style buildings designed by the Swiss architect Edmond Fatio, punctuated with manicured gardens that remind of the calm grounds of Versailles. This year, Franck Muller announced that Watchland had been renovated extensively, with two new buildings constructed in the same style as the rest of the estate, which dates back to 1905. These additional buildings are to accommodate around 420 Franck Muller watchmakers, artisans and operational employees to work in a single location, improving efficiency, and also allowing the brand to be more reactive to market demands. The new buildings give the brand an additional 16,000 square metres at their disposal, making it possible to manufacture components, assemble the watches and finish them all in one place. Franck Muller still have a number of other production sites around Switzerland which will stay in operation, so the project has been more of an expansion than a relocation. In true Franck…

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6 years ago

FRIDAY WIND DOWN: Our four favourite stories of the week, feat. Dusty, Magnets and Mil-specs

The Friday Wind Down was always intended to be some light relief to deliver to the inbox in that window between finishing up for the week and starting the weekend. That precious interstitial place that is usually accompanied by a cold beer or a room-temperature red and some wacky workplace banter. That’s certainly what’s happening in here when we get to writing it. In the background there’s the tic-tac sound of a table tennis ball bouncing off wooden bats. There’s the shouts of defeat, the agonising roars of a loss. There’s laughter, and someone is hogging the Spotify account at a too-loud volume on the office Bose tower. But not today. It’s a wasteland inside the office and out. Every few minutes, not seconds, someone walks past. There is no table tennis noise, the team are social distancing and going slowly mad — according to the increasingly weird emails. But we are all still working on what you need right now — distractions in the form of watches, watch stories and Dustin Martin. Watches Under $500 We don’t know about you, but our watch-buying budgets have been curtailed for the foreseeable future. That’s not to say we won’t all resume…

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6 years ago

Bulletproof: These G-Shock Utility Series watches show off Casio's 21st century take on the mil-spec watch

Casio’s G-Shock watches are already widely regarded as some of the toughest SOBs in the business, capable of taking more punishment than Tyson Fury and still coming back for more. But the Japanese watchmaker has seen fit to, aesthetically at least, step it up a notch, by taking some of their most iconic timepieces and giving them a proper mil-spec treatment, and in doing so creating the G-Shock Utility Series. Comprising a number of different models in G-Shock’s current lineup, we thought we’d take a look at our favourite four iterations from this exciting new collection. Casio G-Shock DW-5610SUS-5   G-Shock’s DW-5600 series of watches is perhaps its most recognisable, and the “Utility” treatment that they have given to this model in particular is easily my personal favourite. The matte sandy-beige case has been contrasted with a matte black bezel and the watch’s dial features a Saharan camouflage motif, which looks downright cool. Paired with an equally great-looking black fabric strap, this watch screams robustness and exploration, and if I were going on a Safari, this is the watch I’d want strapped to my wrist. Casio G-Shock DW-5610SU-3   Perhaps the most mil-spec looking watch of the lot, the G-Shock…

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6 years ago