These are difficult times for watchmakers. Technology giants are developing more and more innovations that dominate our lives and make many products obsolete and unnecessary. It is not a question of if, but when we will replace traditional products with the latest technology, and the past will become antiques. But is this really the case?
Creating a unique watch is no easy task. Three months of intricate work with no room for error is a daily test for these young artists. But the motivation to create a perfect watch every time is what drives them forward.
When we imagine hand-made watches, we can't help but think of the white mountains and clear lakes of Switzerland. A country where watchmaking is more part of history than anything else. Finding the few who make watches the traditional way somewhere else is like looking for a four-leaf clover in a meadow a few kilometers outside of Zurich. And when you come across watchmakers Molnar Fabry in the heart of Slovakia, in Banská Bystrica, it's like finding a long-lost royal jewel.
Speaking of jewelry, Michal Molnár and Igor Fábry have a wealth of experience creating exceptional pieces as trained master jewelers. It's been almost a decade since they decided it was time to take on a new challenge and make their own watches.
A piece of jewelry just has to look good, but a watch also has to work. If you want to make a watch yourself, you have to master four or five professions. You have to be a good goldsmith and a good watchmaker. At the same time, you have to learn everything yourself, there is no school that would prepare you for this job.
Every single watch from Molnar Fabry is hand-built from start to finish. One craftsman complements the other and each brings their own touch to the process. This way, every step in the production process can be brought to perfection. Whether it is the first drawing, which is also hand-drawn, or the setting of precious stones.
And it is precisely this attention to detail that is visible from the first moment you step into the studio of Mr. Molnár and Mr. Fábry. Everything here looks exceptional, even the table they seat you at. It underlines the entire philosophy behind their work.
We care about the details, that's what this job is all about. We want our watches to have weight and value in the watchmaking world a hundred years from now, which is why we spend so much time on them.
A watch must be a watch first and foremost, so everything we make is built to be worn every day. That's why quality comes first for us.Product quality is one aspect of their work, but an equal amount of effort goes into the design itself.
It is very important to us that harmony is achieved in watches, only then can they have their own soul. Watches must not only function flawlessly, but also look beautiful.
It would seem that the only parallel to Switzerland is the mountainous scenery behind Banská Bystrica. However, Mr. Molnár and Mr. Fábry have very good relations with the best people in the watch industry. Their movements come exclusively from Switzerland and they are very proud of their collaboration with Mr. Christophe Claret, a legend in the industry, which only proves the high level of their work.
Each watch is made for a specific customer and you will never see two identical pieces leave their studio. According to Mr. Molnár, this is one of the most fascinating parts of the entire journey, at the end of which stands a beautiful finished watch.
A watch that when you hold it in your hand, you feel sadness. Sadness for the moments you could have spent behind the master's back, watching over his shoulder as the watch was created under his hands. Because the pure beauty of the workmanship will take your breath away.
And it's at this very moment that you'll understand why watchmakers like Molnar Fabry have no reason to fear technological Goliaths. Apple may make small machines that tell the time, but Molnar Fabry creates works of art that will go down in history. We don't doubt for a second that Alain Delon is one we'd put on our wrist.
