Presented by The Hour Glass, the Persistence of Memory is an online exhibition that surveys the last fifty years of artisanal watchmaking.
The point of departure begins in 1970 with the genre defining work of two close friends – Dr George Daniels and Derek Pratt; the continuity of their non-utilitarian horological attitude by the likes of François-Paul Journe, Philippe Dufour, Kari Voutilainen and Denis Flageollet and, ending this decade past with the promising contributions of their younger colleagues such as Roger Smith, Felix Baumgartner and Rexhep Rexhepi.
The Hour Glass’ goal with The Persistence of Memory is to create a living online repository of the key members of this contemporary independent watchmaking movement, documenting its developmental timeline and photographing and archiving its most important watches.
Said Mr Michael Tay, Group Managing Director of The Hour Glass and exhibition curator, “This survey has been a project that has been fermenting for several years now and I couldn’t have been happier with its outcome. We assembled some 150 of the finest examples of artisanal watchmaking of this period including two of George Daniels’ masterworks – the Space Traveller and the Grand Complication. Many of these watches were on loan from important private collections as well as from the artisans themselves.”
Mr Tay continues, “Due to the pandemic and safe distancing restrictions, we were required to innovate and realised this exhibition via our bespoke online viewing room (OVR). This OVR platform is highly immersive in that it allows for thorough story telling accompanied by precise macro photographs of the watches. Something I’m certain the global enthusiast community will appreciate.”
The Hour Glass’ core mission as a specialist watch retailer is to advance watch culture. They do so by actively sharing watchmaking knowledge that cultivates connoisseurship and encourages the development of a watch collecting mindset.
Check out the Persistence of Memory exhibition online here: https://ovr.thehourglass.com.
