Six Independent Lots Worth Watching This Weekend At Phillips

Independent watchmaking is undeniably charming. Send a note to an indie watchmaker and there's a high likelihood that the same person whose name is on the dial will write you back. Many of the all-time watchmaking greats are independents, and of course so are many rising stars just striking out on their own. We can't help but root for them – and it’s always fun to see how they perform at auction. To me, they're some of the most exciting lots to watch simply because there’s so little market data out there, compared to pieces from the large groups. Plus, the watches themselves are often stunning. This weekend’s sale, Phillips The Geneva Watch Auction: XIII, has some real lookers from the independent camp among the lots. Here are six worth watching. Roger Smith Series 1 "Onely Theo Fennell" If you don't know who Roger Smith is, you ought to . He's one of the most lauded figures in this industry, and for good reason. Once an apprentice of Dr. George Daniels, he struck out on his own and now operates out of a small workshop on the Isle of Man, producing a minuscule number of watches per year. This particular example dates to 2005, and according to Phillips it’s the only Series 1 in white gold ever made. There are nine rectangular Series 1 examples out there, three of them for London Jeweler Theo Fennell, and t his is one of them. Click here for the listing for lot 145. MB&F LM101 Limited Edition for HODINKEE This is a watch we should know a thing or two about. The LM101 series was first launched in May 2014, and several iterations followed. The model launched with non-limited red and gold editions, then 33 pieces in platinum and 18 in palladium, and 33 in "frosted" red gold and "frosted" yellow gold. There was another collaboration with H. Moser that resulted in 60 examples (15 pieces in four different metals), but just 10 of the HODINKEE examples were made. It was also the first MB&F in stainless steel, a metal that's not typically used by the brand. Click here for the listing for lot 226. Ming Ref. 18.01 H41 It's hard not to root for Ming Thein. His creations just ooze personality and they're affordably priced to boot. In the less than five years he's been in the game, he's made a tremendous splash, and it's particularly interesting to see this watch among all the horological heavyweights. Minimalism, a hallmark of Ming, is applied in such a clever fashion on the 18.01 H41. It's his first watch with a running center seconds, and the dial furniture is made from HyCeram Super-LumiNova XI, a luminous ceramic. Jack once wrote of the Ming's lume, "Super-LumiNova XI is applied to the bezel as a liquid epoxy and to the hands as a solid material. There are any number of luminous watches whose lume you don't especially notice unless it's nighttime, but occasionally, you find yourself wearing one (the various Seiko divers have this property) that glows noticeably even in slightly dim ambient light. During the time I've had the 18.01 H41, it has surprised me on several occasions by doing so in an elevator after coming in from a bright afternoon." Click here for the listing for lot 90. F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain à Remontoire d'Egalité We've explored Journe's work with tourbillions before. The tourbillon is a bit of a Journe hallmark, so naturally this specific piece stuck out from a total of 11 lots that are crossing the block this weekend – 12 if you count this one . Dating to '99, it's part of the third series of the Tourbillon à Remontoire d’Egalité, but what sets this one apart is the white gold dial – the majority were made with yellow-gold dials. Click here for the listing for lot 93. Laurent Ferrier Galet Micro-Rotor Limited Edition This is the second HODINKEE Limited Edition on the list, but it doesn't have the same sort of fanfare around it as the aforementioned MB&F or the Skipperera . And that's by design. We worked with Laurent Ferrier to create a run of 12 and never publicly advertised them. The Traveller Limited Edition was the first collaboration and it featured a complication, but the second collaboration, the watch you see here, is an exercise in minimalism. Framed by a 40mm titanium case is a dial that's unique to the HODINKEE edition. And what's not present is the running seconds you'd find on other Galet Micro-Rotor watches by Laurent Ferrier. It's still powered by the FBN caliber 229.01, but it's been pared down just about as much as it can be. Click here for the listing for lot 225. Louis Erard x Vianney Halter Excellence Le Regulateur This watch shares something with the mystery watch we already covered in this auction . They both offer a decent value proposition. This Excellence Le Regulateur carries an estimate of $2,200-4,400. For reference, one of Vianney Halter's creations sold last year for CHF 37,800. Louis Erard's name comes on the right hand side of the dial, and the brand's work is typically priced in line with the estimate of this watch. With that being said, this is still an interesting path to owning a piece that Halter had a hand in creating. Click here for the listing for lot 139. Phillips’ The Geneva Watch Auction: XIII takes place this weekend, May 8-9.“To find yourself, think for yourself.” - Socrates