As with a Steinway & Sons piano, the meticulous attention to detail throughout the manufacture of a Steinway & Sons watch ensures melody and harmony go hand-in-hand with precision chronometry.
The seductively shaped solid-gold watch cases and the curvaceous grand piano bodies may be milled by the latest generation of machines, but it is skilled craftsmen who hand-polish the precious metal to a rich sheen, and the piano’s lacquer to an illustrious mirror finish.
The iconic shape of the grand piano’s precious-timber sound board is reflected in the form of the precious-metal dial of the watches and, on both instruments, the strings are painstakingly fitted by hand. As much care goes into the selection of the precious diamonds in the dial of the ladies watch as goes into the selection of the precious timber of a Steinway piano.
It is only in duplicating the exacting standards set by the world renowned piano designer that Steinway & Sons Luxury Swiss Watches is able to offer exquisite timepieces worthy of bearing the legendary Steinway & Sons name.
Fabrizio Cavalca, the company’s founder, is eminently qualified for managing this prestigious new brand. He is a passionate and gifted pianist who, after studying music for ten years in Lyon, moved to Milan to study design. An interest in horology led Mr Cavalca to design his own successful line of ladies watches. Now with Steinway & Sons Luxury Watches, he brings the three passions in his life – Music, Design and Horology – harmoniously together.
The influence in vision is unmistakable. From the silken curve of the casings to the hand-crafted, unique tuning-fork second hand on the Model M, the designs reflect the luxurious beauty and calibrated function of Heinrich Steinweg’s dedication to his craft. “Build to a standard, not a price” and “Make no compromise in quality” were his tenets, echoed in the action of these fine timepieces.
Steinway & Sons’ newest design, the Seconde Métronomique, is the first wristwatch to feature a precise one-second metronome on the dial. Developed by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, winner of the award for Best Watchmaker in the 2007 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, only 300 are available – in white gold, yellow gold or red gold.
While deceptively and mesmerisingly simple in appearance, a one-second retrograde motion was considered impossible to develop in a mechanical movement. Impossible, perhaps, for anyone but Mr Wiederrecht, whose incredibly ingenious complication beautifully complements this elegantly simple piece.
