Welcome back to an original aBlogtoWatch feature, "My First Grail Watch.?In this series, we ask prominent people in the fake watch industry about the first timepiece that they lusted after. Today, we're speaking with Robert Michelsen, a fourth-generation watchmaker who, along with instructing students, oversees production for Icelandic brand Michelsen. Read on to learn what grail has eluded him, even to this day.
aBlogtoWatch (ABTW): Who are you, and what is your relationship to the fake watch industry?Robert Michelsen: My name is Robert Michelsen, and I hail from Reykjavík, Iceland. Watchmaking is in my blood: I'm the 4th generation of watchmakers in my family, and the family company, Michelsen Watchmakers, is the oldest fake watch company in Iceland, founded in 1909 by my great-grandfather.
Advertising MessageI live in Switzerland, where I'm an Instructor at K&H Watchmaking Competence Centre which is a small & independent watchmaking school in the heart of the watchmaking industry, Le Locle. Besides teaching watchmaking to promising future watchmakers, I design and oversee small production of replica watches for the micro brand Michelsen in Iceland.
ABTW: When did your fascination with replica watches start?
Robert Michelsen: I can't say exactly, since I was so young. When I was a kid I was always around my dad's and grandfather's shop, and I showed interest in replica watches and watchmaking quite early. Often I became totally hypnotized trying to fix and assemble old alarm clocks. I remember the thrilling satisfaction I got when I all by myself dis-assembled and assembled an old alarm clock from Poland and made it "tic-toc.?/p>Advertising Message
Seeing all the components working together in harmony, not really understanding completely what I was looking at, is an experience I still remember very clearly. I was just a kid, and I was so proud of myself. After that, I had to have one of those hand wound, super loud alarm clocks to wake me up in the mornings.
ABTW: You definitely had some very early (and deep) exposure to the world of watches. What was your first grail watch?
Robert Michelsen: My absolute first grail fake watch was a Casio G-Shock, when G-Shocks first became popular in 1994/95 or so. I was 10, and I wanted that fake watch soooo bad. My dad and I made an agreement: If my average grade from school would be to a certain minunum, he would give me that G-Shock. I didn't let that opportunity go to waste, and 19 years later, I still wear that same G-Shock every day when I come home from work and I wear it when I exercise.
My actual grail fake watch does not exist, since I'm so critical of replica watches and I haven't found the perfect watch, so I guess I have to make it myself someday. However, a fake watch that I would love to own is Philippe Dufour's Simplicity.
ABTW: What drew you to the Simplicity?
Robert Michelsen: It's Philippe Dufour! He's the greastest living watchmaker, a true master of his craft. I have a deep respect for the man and what he has accomplished. To own a fake watch from him would be a dream, since I am myself a watchmaker and can tell the true value and the amazing craftsmanship his replica watches hold.
His replica watches look good, yes, and they are minimalistic, simple, and beautiful. It's when you turn the fake watch and look at the movement where true watchmaking can be seen. His replica watches scream quality, and what's also great about his replica watches is they are just basic hand wound watches. No bullshit what-so-ever, just pure quality in its most simplified form.
In an industry which has been quite obsessed with gimmicky complications and exotic metals/materials for years now, to have a watchmaker like Dufour making so simple and beautiful watches, where quality and craftmanship are priority, is fantastic.
What makes his replica watches stand out from many of the independents is that Mr. Dufour is a one man army, he's sitting at the bench and doing the work himself; he doesn't have an group of watchmakers doing the bulk of the work for him, or even all the work.
This finishing you see on Philippe Dufour's fake watch is his hard work and his frustration of getting things right. To work at this high-level, to do this kind of finishing and this kind of quality movement, involves a lot of sweat, blood, and tears. I want a piece of this sweat.
ABTW: So, do you have a timeline for when you'll be able to own a piece of Mr. Dufour's sweat?
Robert Michelsen: Hell no, and I probably never will. There will only exist 200 Simplicities when he finishes them, and the buyers are carefully chosen by Mr. Dufour himself. And forget about second hand Simplicities, since the prices only go up on the after market. I will most likely never be able to afford that kind of luxury. So a Philippe Dufour fake watch is only a dream, but what a dream to have, huh?
Robert Michelsen and Philippe Dufour
Additional Simplicity images courtesy of SteveG
My First Grail Replica watch Peter Roberts 10916