Geneva Watch Auction XXIII | Pocket Watch Special! | Johnny and Dan go back in time!

Pocket watches starred at the May 2026 XXIII Geneva Watch Auction, with many exceptional creations breaking out and achieving eye-watering results at the end of several intense bidding battles. We decided to take a closer look at a small selection of those pieces which particularly caught our attention, and for this In The Metal Pocket Watch Special, Johnny McElherron is joined once again by the bona-fide legend, and master of the two seemingly disparate universes of haute horlogerie and trash metal that is Dan Spitz. In this special episode, it's not just about the big numbers these classical pieces of horological history are hitting, but also an appreciation of the craftsmanship, innovation and ingenuity of Master watchmakers of almost two hundred years ago. We look at masterpieces from Louis Richard, Louis Audemars & Co, Paul Ditisheim, Charles Frodsham and Karl Geitz; watchmakers whose careers span the century between the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s, in a time before the rise of the popular wristwatch. How did they manage to do what they did before the advent of electricity, powered machinery and of course modern-day IT and technology. Dan gives us his thoughts as we pay homage to some of the pioneers, upon whose inventiveness and dedication to the science of mechanical engineering the foundations and technical fundamentals of contemporary watchmaking were laid down. Thanks to Irish heavy blues band @CrowBlackChicken for their permission to use their banger Rumble Shake in our title. Thanks also to Phillips in association with Bacs and Russo for their permission to acess and use their images for this episode.