Did you know that, until earlier this century, a tourbillon had not been built in Russia since 1917? That’s quite a surprise, given how productive the Russian watch industry is, with all manner of watches and styles available to purchase (new or vintage).
In 2003, Konstantin Chaykin saw an exhibit for Breuget, and at that moment decided he was going to create a watch. Prior to this, he had sold watches, but had no formal training in horology. He definitely leapt in to the deep end of the pool with creating a tourbillon – and he managed to make the thing in only a year!
Long story short, this has lead to quite the creation of what I’d call a haute horology collection, with some rather interesting twists in terms of complications displaying different pieces of information (for example, his Quarter Time piece).
While this particular NY Times article doesn’t go into too much depth regarding the history of the Russian watch industry, it does give a small overview, and a greater look at Chaykin’s personal path to today.
*Picture courtesy of NYT
