It was a bustling Friday evening at Baselworld when Harry Winston broke the news that should have left more than one watchmaker overjoyed. The brand is launching a competition for young watchmaking talent, in partnership with Time aeon Foundation which was set up by a handful of fine watch professionals and enthusiasts, including some of the leading names in contemporary watchmaking such as Viannay Halter and Kari Voutilainen. Its aim is to safeguard traditional watchmaking expertise and promote the skill of fast-disappearing trades.
“The Time aeon concept came about after drawing several conclusions on the watch industry. The sector is faced with dwindling expertise and knowledge in certain areas such as engine-turning. There are fewer and fewer artisan-experts in fine watchmaking, and young independent watchmakers experience huge difficulties making a name for themselves in the market,” explained Martial Fragnière, President of Time aeon.
This prompted the idea to set up a non-profit Foundation to support young watchmakers and help them work independently, thereby promoting the art of contemporary watchmaking into the future.
Supporting innovation in watchmaking is something we have taken very seriously for a number of years.
Thomas J. O’Neill
Unconditional support
No sooner said than done. Using the proceeds from the auction of three watches by Greubel & Forsey – two of Time aeon’s seven founding members – the Foundation was officially created on March 4th this year. Contacts with Harry Winston go back much further. “Supporting innovation in watchmaking is something we have taken very seriously for a number of years, in particular through our Opus project. It was therefore only natural that we should join Time aeon in helping young watchmakers imagine and produce exceptional timepieces,” Thomas J. O’Neill, CEO of Harry Winston, declared.
The competition is open to all up-and-coming watchmakers. The winner will be given the chance not only to be trained, but to be subsidised by Harry Winston to produce their idea as a mini series, signed by the American brand.
Only the broad outlines of the competition have been defined so far. “We will publish full details of the competition next June,” says Martial Fragnière. The name of the first winner should be announced at Baselworld 2009. “If the idea takes off, we intend holding a new competition each year, at the Basel fair,” he adds.
