Olivier Müller
Paradoxically, watchmaking passion and reflecting on time are somewhat incompatible. Passion ignores time: delving into a book, immersing oneself in an interview, taking apart a damaged movement all imply breaking free from the constraints of time in order to devote the mind to entirely to the task in hand.
I am a journalist who specialises in watchmaking. In parallel, I worked for 15 years as a communication consultant. With these two skill sets, I founded Delos Communications in 2008, an agency that is 100% dedicated to watchmaking, and which specialises in content production (text, photo and video) along with media consulting (press and social media management). The agency now has five employees and works with the biggest European magazines and a great many watch brands. A keen collector, self-taught using the works of Georges Daniels, and deeply attached to the technical beauty of movements, I take great care to replace each piece within its rightful context: historical, aesthetic, human, economic and geographical. After all, a watch is simply a reflection of its time, its designer and its history.
Paradoxically, watchmaking passion and reflecting on time are somewhat incompatible. Passion ignores time: delving into a book, immersing oneself in an interview, taking apart a damaged movement all imply breaking free from the constraints of time in order to devote the mind to entirely to the task in hand. So what about watches amid all this? One cannot help concurring with the words of Jean-Claude Biver: “The fact that a watch tells the time is the least of my worries!” Released from this purely functional demand, a watch displays its beauty, its power and its refinement. In this respect, the H8 by Beat Haldimann may be viewed as a magnificent quintessence of the watchmaking art. My philosophy of life is summed up in the words of Bruce Springsteen, whose music was the ‘soundtrack’ for my first articles: “Stay young, stay hungry, stay alive“. In short – remain h
Watchmaking by Georges Daniels: because the vast sum of knowledge contained therein is probably enough to feed my thoughts for a century.
The Conquest of Time by Dominique Fléchon: because one doesn’t enquire of a watchmaking bible why it should be read – it just must!
Reveries of a Solitary Walker by Jean-Jacques Rousseau: because this wonderful posthumous work shows the degree to which the Swiss philosopher was able to detach himself from circumstances… including time.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Yearbook 6: because despite being a brand book, this edition of the Yearbook particularly struck me with the intelligence of its artistic and cultural approach as well as the power of its photography – an example to follow both in form and substance.
Masters of Contemporary Watchmaking by Michael Clerizo: because the author’s pen is of unsurpassed delicacy, winding its away around superb photos to form a coherent whole that reveals the true humanity of these legendary watchmakers. While most writers tend to stick to dealing with things that cannot be photographed, Michael Clerizo offers his photos to be read and his texts to be played like a musical score. In reading his work, one can literally hear the operas played by Philippe Dufour and George Daniels in their workshop!
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