JCK Tucson: The Premier Jewelry Show Two Notable Watch Companiesby John H. Grow (CAN)

JCK Tucson, held from February 1 to 4, 2017, at the JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort & Spa, is an industry-only event. Verified pre-registration is required to gain entrance. The exhibits include

high-end, one-of-a-kind masterpieces from jewelry designers like Lord Jewelry in Los Angeles, CA.

Among all the jewelry, there were two notable watch companies that got my attention. The first was Steve Soffa, an artistic designer with a unique line of luxury timepieces and jewelry, located in Las Vegas, NV. The other was Abingdon Co., with its founder Chelsea Abingdon Welch, also located in Las Vegas.

Steve Soffa: Luxury Timepieces & Custom Jewelry

Traveling all over the world, I get the chance to see many watches and companies. Steve Sof-fa’s designs caught my attention because they were hard-hitting, real, and unique. His vision of custom watchcases with great movements is unmatched. Warning: This is not for faint-of-heart

watch wearers. His designs are out there. These are not watches that you would wear to the boardroom. His models have names Black Widow, Twisted Love, Calaveras de Azucar Col-lection, Ace of Pain, Suicide King, and Lost Skulls. It is not only the timepiece that grabs anyone’s attention but the timepiece case is also a work of art. To match his line, he has rings, pen-dants, and bracelets mod-eled in the same manner.

Steve is an artist with an industrial design back-ground. He wanted to pursue a different market-place, a different type of watch owner, that was not being addressed by any watch company. He also does many private-label watches for major corpo-rations. Like him or hate him, his designs do get the attention they deserve.

Figure 1. Steve Soffa, left, and John Grow (Prestige Evaluation Inc.).

Figure 4. Suicide King watch.

Figure 2. Lost Skulls watch. Figure 3. Lost Skulls case.

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Abingdon Co.: Tough Watches for Determined Women

Founder Chelsea Abingdon Welch, a pilot and all-round woman of action, believed that women of action (from many walks of life) did not have a suitable watch. Most military/aviation watches were geared to the man of action. Her first line of time-pieces were aviation watches for women. Using her expe-rience as a pilot, she created a line based on what she would look for in a watch. She then created a line for female divers.

The timepieces use Japanese movements, genuine leathers, surgical-grade stainless steel, and Swiss

manufacturing. One feature appreciated by many is the changeable band. Using EZ squeeze pins, the band can be changed from stainless steel to leather, or to another style of band. So, one watch becomes many different types with a fast change. This is perfect for the working woman; all she has to do is change the strap and it becomes an evening style watch. Whatever line of work your woman of action is in, there is an Abingdon Co. watch that will suit her style.

About the Author

John H. Grow, ISA-AM, is a partner in the full-ser-vice appraisal firm of Prestige Evaluation Inc. The firm specializes in antique jewelry, jewelry antiquities, watches, clocks, fine art, and antiques in general. Grow works with clients worldwide and has been fea-tured on radio and television shows as well as charity appraisal fairs. Prestige Evaluation Inc. can be found at http://prestigeevaluation.com and Grow’s email is prestigeevaluation@gmail.com.

Figure 5. Chelsea Abingdon Welch, right, with Suzanne Charlebois (Prestige Evaluation Inc.).

A Cool Watch for a Charitable Causeby Elizabeth Doerr, Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of Quill & Pad

H igh-profile musicians and special-edition watches go well together; even more so when the collaboration takes place for a good

cause. Proceeds from the sales of Hublot Depeche Mode watches raise funds for the non-profit orga-nization charity:water (www.charitywater.org), which brings clean drinking water to developing countries.

Fusion

When LVMH watch division head Jean-Claude Biver picked up the classic Hublot back in 2004, dusted it off, and entirely revamped it, he implemented what he called the fusion element to create the Big Bang, a timepiece that he continues to use as a showcase for various materials and ideas that have not yet been used in Swiss timepieces.

This Depeche Mode timepiece powered by Hublot’s own Unico movement containing an integrated col-umn-wheel chronograph is a great example of the chameleon-like art of fusion as practiced by Biver.

Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from an article orig-inally published by Elizabeth Doerr in Quill & Pad: Keeping Watch on Time. Used with permission. To read the complete article, please go to: http://quil-landpad.com/2017/04/20/hublot-big-bang-unico-depeche-mode-cool-watch-charitable-cause/

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372 • July | August 2017 • NAWCC Watch & Clock Bulletin www.nawcc.org