Ariel Adams

POSTS BY Ariel Adams

An inside tour of Audemars Piguet Headquarters in Switzerland

The people responsible for the Audemars Piguet of today are often given rock-star status by fellow luxury watch industry colleagues. This perception is often credited to the beautiful synergy between the visual and technical design arms of the prestigious Swiss watch maker. Traveling to Audemars Piguet’s headquarters and movement manufacture in the La Vallee du Joux region of Switzerland, I discover a few other reasons for the brand’s high status as I take an intimate look into the historic brand that has continually produced watches since the mid-19th century. Audemars Piguet started in Le Brassus—small hamlet in La Valle du READ MORE

Interview with Richard Mille at the launch of the Beverly Hills Boutique

Richard Mille and John Simonian walk like good friends with arms around one another. They are smiling as though reminiscing about fond memories. Richard Mille is the man behind the phenomenally successful ultra high-end, technically sophisticated sports watch brand, while John Simonian has long been known as the most important name in Independent watch brands in the United States. In addition to being friends, these men are helping to redefine the face of contemporary luxury watches in America. Mr. Simonian is also the Richard Mille brand distributor in the Americas. A few years ago he not only recognized the potential READ MORE

Hublot Transforms as a True Watch Manufacture

One of the most successful watch brands of modern times literally sets in green pastures between Geneva and Lausanne in Switzerland. I recently visited the factory and learned how Hublot is advancing. The unique high profile luxury watch brand was in sputtering disarray just a few years ago. In 2004, the now well-known Hublot received a much needed revitalization by way of accomplished watch brand savior Jean-Claude Biver (JCB ), who created a big bang at Hublot—in the form of the Big Bang. The Big Bang is a watch. Or shall I say many watches. Each shares the same DNA READ MORE

Different Strokes: Ladoire Black Widow “Mr. Race” Watch

Ladoire’s first watch had the curious title of “Roller Guardian Time,” a unique name that matched the avant garde nature of the watch’s design. Slightly smaller, and with a diverse set of personalities, Ladoire has now released the Black Widow collection to follow up the “RGT.” Using the same type of movement that has undergone a series of modifications, these new watches offer an extremely hip and loud design that will be hard to resist for many people wanting something on their wrist that is ‘obviously different.’ Say hello to Mr. Race. He is the sportiest face in the Black Widow collection featuring READ MORE

Competition Piece: Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grande Tradition à Tourbillon Watch

The luxury watch industry as we know it hasn’t been around for all that long. It really began when cheaper-to-make quartz watches removed a lot of the relevancy that mechanical watches had up until that point. This caused the mechanical watch industry to partially reinvent itself. Certain high-end timepieces of today hearken back to watches that were originally designed for very practical purposes before mechanical watches as much about luxury. Most of us take watch accuracy for granted these days. The clocks on our phones and computers seem to always be right, but such ubiquitous accurate clocks weren’t always around. READ MORE

Any Time, Any Place: Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Traditionnelle World Time Watch

A watch like this is for a commander, a leader who needs information at their fingertips. That might sound like a cliché self-aggrandizing remark a high-end Swiss watch brand might say about their products, but this new piece from Vacheron Constantinis more about information than it is about the traditional minimalism you might consider when thinking of the brand. In fact, I find it is somewhat ironic that the term “Traditionnelle” is part of the watch’s name. It is true however that the Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Traditionnelle World Time watch has a certain retro aesthetic to it. It reminds me of something that READ MORE