WORLDTEMPUS - 19 March 2010
Elizabeth Doerr
The A.H.C.I.—Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendents (Horological Academy of Independent Creators)—a loose grouping of thirty-five idealistic independent watchmakers, celebrates 25 years together.
Celebrating this monumental milestone—which certainly aided in bringing about the mechanical renaissance—the Academy, as it is known, presents a new book called The Hands of Time. Conceived by member Peter Speake-Marin and written by Ian Skellern, The Hands of Time briefly chronicles the events surrounding the formation of the group and comprises a chapter on each of the 33 current members. Readers, even those not well versed in the intricacies of independent mechanical watchmaking, will enjoy the clear language and 200 pages of color photography chronicling these masters of their craft. It can be purchased for 60 Swiss francs at the A.H.C.I. booth during Baselworld 2010 (Hall 5.1, A01) or at www.watchprint.com.
Telling for the make-up of this group is the fact that neither of its founders, Svend Andersen and Vincent Calabrese, is Swiss. Though practically all of the members live and work in Switzerland, the multinational group can boast eleven different countries of origin. In the wake of the quartz crisis, Andersen, a Dane, and Calabrese, an Italian, were both practicing their craft in Geneva. Andersen relates that at the end of the 1970s, working as a restorer, “someone brought me a very complicated movement with no case. I was supposed to reconstruct it.” Upon achieving this difficult task, he was assaulted with an avalanche of requests from collectors regarding vintage pieces they owned. He described how, by about 1984, he and Calabrese were being visited mainly by Italian collectors looking for bespoke mechanical watches.
Andersen and Calabrese knew this was the time to attract interest in independent mechanical watchmaking. History has since shown that their decision was more than correct: the founding of the A.H.C.I. remains a key focal point in the high watchmaking arena, and may well have been one of the key proponents of the mechanical renaissance at the time.
The Academy has only flourished since—remaining the premier creative driving force to the present day—and at Baselworld 2010 seventeen members and candidates exhibit their creations at the traditional A.H.C.I. booth located in Hall 5.1 including Thomas Prescher, Philippe Wurtz, Aaron Becsei, Paul Gerber, Miki Eleta, Svend Andersen, Marco Lang, Christiaan van der Klaauw, Rainer Nienaber, Matthias Naeschke, Robert Bray, Frank Jutzi and Pita. One big surprise awaiting this year's visitors, however, is the revamped booth design allowing for the exhibition of more hanging timepieces since many A.H.C.I. members are specialized in wall clocks. Many other members are exhibiting in other locations around the fair: Vianney Halter and Kari Voutilainen, for example, are in neighboring booth C01, while Peter Speake-Marin, Felix Baumgartner, and Beat Haldimann exhibit their creativity in the new Palace hall.
