The Impossible Collection of Watches (2nd Edition)

Preview: The Impossible Collection of Watches (2nd Edition)

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Order number: V122502

About the Work

Nicholas Foulkes, a British historian and journalist, has updated his 2014 edition by selecting 100 groundbreaking timepieces that have been developed since the beginning of the twentieth century. The selection criteria include rarity, costliness, innovative functions, historical significance, grand provenance and pleasing design. The watch, consisting of hundreds of minute components working in harmony within a precious metal case, has the ability to evoke emotions and inspire the same passion as great art. These beautiful timepieces invite us to join a story, and the narrative that these 100 examples unfold is that of one of the most exciting and dynamic periods in human history.

Reflecting the technological advances and social changes of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, these miniature machines showcase illustrious names such as Audemars Piguet, Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Richard Mille, Rolex and Vacheron Constantin. The selection includes new additions such as the 1925 Patek Philippe Ref. 97975, the earliest known perpetual calendar wristwatch, the 2014 Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight Planétarium and the 2022 Jacob & Co. Opera Godfather Musical Watch. This handcrafted volume is part of the Ultimate Collection and features hand-tipped images. It is presented in a luxurious clamshell case.

About the Author

Nicholas Foulkes is an author, historian and journalist who contributes to Vanity Fair, Financial Times How to Spend It, GQ, and The Rake magazine. He is well known for his trilogy of 19th-century British histories: Last of the Dandies, Dancing into Battle, and Gentlemen and Blackguards, and has authored around thirty books on history, the arts, and style. Recently, Foulkes has published a biography of painter Bernard Buffet (Random House), a biography of Princess Ira von Fürstenberg (Harper Collins), and Time Tamed, a book on humankind's calibration of time from the Paleolithic era to the moon landings (Simon & Schuster). He has also authored Bals: Legendary Costume Balls of the Twentieth Century (2011), Swans: Legends of the Jet Society (2013), and Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso (2020) for Assouline.

"Assouline is more than a publishing house, it is a lifestyle brand."

New York Magazine

Number of pages: 168
Number of illustrations: 150
Language: English
Released in: December 2022
Size: W 39.5 x L 47 x H 8 cm
Weight: 8.3 kg
Further features: Handcrafted volume in a luxury rubberclamshell case with metal plaque
ISBN: 9781649801869