A few days ago I had a great conversation with my publisher Peter Schiffer about the ‘Limited Edition Watches’ book we had produced together. Essentially I wanted to thank him for doing such a wonderful job, which massively exceeded my expectations. Since his mother Nancy Schiffer retired a couple of months ago Peter has taken over the helm. Due to the time difference between Adelaide and Pennsylvania it is not easy to make contact with Peter on a regular basis. However, it is pertinent to mention that he is very supportive and more importantly allows his authors a huge amount of creative autonomy.
One of the 150 incredible craftsmen featured in ‘Limited Edition Watches’ is British based watchmaker Roger W Smith. Recently his wife Caroline sent me a press release announcing the launch of his new website. As well as highlighting his services he has also collaborated with a very talented photographer called Andrew Hall. Effectively Andrew has created several unique images, which act as perfect background to showcase Roger W Smith’s sublime timepieces. Interestingly Andrew became inspired by Roger’s timepieces after watching a Netflix documentary called “The Watchmaker’s Apprentice”
Even though Andrew Hall is British born he has lived and worked in Los Angeles for the last decade. In his own words the main concept of his work revolves around “the physics of interacting liquids and the divine geometry of intersecting circles”. When I first saw the pieces I felt they had an almost painterly, fine art quality. Certainly the wonderful aesthetic he has created would translate to oil on canvas. As an artist his pieces definitely resonate with me because of their unique organic appearance. They also work in the context of a watch website and compliment Roger W Smith’s sensational mechanical watches.
The marvellous images on Roger W Smith’s website are part of photographic collection entitled “The Universe is a Clock” which will be exhibited internationally in 2016 and 2017.
