Tag: art

Most Complicated Watch

no technology ever dies. this is perhaps the most complicated mechanical device ever.

To celebrate its 260 years of uninterrupted history, Vacheron Constantin has revealed the Vacheron Constantin Reference 57260 pocket watch is the most complicated watch ever made. Commissioned by one of the top collectors in the world and the result of 8 years of research, development, prototyping, manufacturing, and assembly all performed in Vacheron Constantin’s Atelier Cabinotiers haute horlogerie workshop, this unique piece was conceived to be the most complex mechanical timepiece ever created – taking the title from another pocket watch, the Patek Philippe Caliber 89 pocket watch and its 33 complications and 1728 components.

We should mention that there is not one definitive rule as to what can and cannot be called a complication. Theoretically, everything beyond the simple timekeeping functions (hours, minutes, seconds), all functions could be called that, but some argue that features such as retrograde date displays or even the tourbillon do not count as such. Nevertheless, we will refer to these functions cumulatively both as complications and features – and when you count all of them, you will find that the Vacheron Constantin Reference 57260 pocket watch has a record-setting 57 complications.

Art by powerwashing

Poland’s Solina dam, completed in 1969 and the tallest dam in Poland, has been collecting dirt and grime on its walls for decades. But when it came time for the 82m dam to get a good powerwash, the energy company Polska Grupa Energetyczna had an idea.

PGE worked with emerging comic book artist Przemek “Trust” Truściński to design a giant eco-mural honoring the wild and plant life found in the Bieszczady Mountains in southeast Poland, where the dam is located. 90m wide and 54m tall, the mural is painted with a technique called “reverse graffiti.”

Inferior Copies

It was a brilliant idea: Buy the original, then commission and sell forgeries. It almost worked

To make sure he couldn’t be caught, Ely Sakhai bought the original first—a Rembrandt of enormous value. This “incredibly brazen” con almost worked, writes Anthony M. Amore. The authenticity of his Rembrandt, The Apostle James, was not questioned. Nor was the fact that it was purchased by Ely Sakhai from a reputable source. So when he would offer what he purported to be the painting for sale, it didn’t raise questions about authenticity, if only because those interested in the painting perhaps failed to imagine the nefarious scheme of the seller. Thanks in large measure to his travels in the Far East with his wife, Sakhai made it his mission to establish a steady clientele in Tokyo and Taiwan too. and in June 1997, he sold his Rembrandt to the Japanese businessman and art collector Yoichi Takeuchi.