After a long and eventful journey through two centuries of European cultural history, a highly
unusual masterpiece of Italian blacksmith art has passed through the gates of the Döttling
manufactory and has been lovingly restored after 19 months of delicate work. Now this jewel of a safe is waiting to crown the exclusive home of a discerning connoisseur.

The safe, built in 1872 by the famous Morosini brothers in Milan, was apparently commissioned by Victor Emmanuel II, who reigned from 1861 to 1878 over the Kingdom of Italy. Its royal origin is visible on both inner doors of the safe, on which the fittings of origin are encased with ornate brass ornaments culminating at the top with the royal coat of arms of the House of Savoy with the crown.

The fact that the Morosini brothers’ safe was forged for the amorous correspondence of the king with his long-time mistress and later wife is indicated by two wonderful details on the inner doors that were engraved as a secret code. Hidden under the royal crown and lettering, both inner door fittings are engraved with a rose, surrounded by a heart-shaped crest which opens upwards. “Rosa” the first name of the king’s great love, means “rose” in Italian.

It can be assumed that the two Medusa-like medals on the outside of the safe depict the king’s mistress in her younger years. In any case, access to the interior of the safe is granted through one of the two. Only after activating a secret mechanism does one of the two medals move to the side, exposing the keyhole behind it.

How the safe found its way to Southern Germany, where Döttling scouts secured it in the aftermath of a house demolition, is unfortunately not known. What is certain is that after many months of detailed work, the Döttling manufactory has been able to restore it to the freshly radiant testimonial of a great royal love.

There are people on this world that have enough money to spend it on the most beautiful items. They buy special cars, build incredible houses and have a great watch collection. Buben & Zörweg notes the demand for secret safes to keep the valuable watch collections safe. 

A good example is the client recently commissioned Buben & Zörweg to install three of its 580kg, 2 metre high X-007 safes deep under the floor of his palatial European home, insisting they are completely concealed from view. The safes and the floor openings themselves, almost like a trap door on the stage of a theatre, only come into view when the owner remotely activates them. Thanks to a double lift system, the entire safe then dramatically elevates, revealing a 360 degree bullet-proof glass showcase, which itself then elevates to allow access to the contents of the safe. 

One client has recently kept Buben & Zörweg busy with demands for a high security fence outside his villa plus two high-security, double-lock doors leading up to the room where his three safes are located.

Another client, with a residence in London’s One Hyde Park apartment block, a building popular with international billionaires, wanted reassurance that the entire team installing his safe would never have any way of finding out the floor or number of his apartment. A top secret installation saw every last inch of the lift at One Hyde Park covered up with cardboard throughout the installation process. 

The really wealthy people do everything to keep their valuables safe. Their automatic watch collection is safe with Buben & Zörweg, as they combine state of the art German engineering technology, perfect hand craftsmanship, forward-thinking design and security systems originally masterminded for Swiss bank vaults to conceive and manufacture their world-class luxury safes and private museums.

When it comes to represent luxury, people want to surround themselves with beauty and tangibles. There is no longer high-tech in first place, but more handcrafted materials and things in classic design. The Stockinger adapts love solid wood furniture and home accessories with exceptional quality, unique background and excellent workmanship.

With this new trend, also is growing the fascination for mechanical watches that are just not prepared with maximum efficiency, but with the highest skill and a lot of time.

To pay tribute to this trend Stockinger set a high value on their watchwinder cabinets. Their watchwinder technology offers an integrated database with the specifications of over 8.600 watch models to program each winder individually – just by using your smartphone or tablet PC. Programming is quickly done! The result is an optimum and very gentle winding that you might have never seen before.

Moreover, each Stockinger watchwinder cabinet can be finished in an infinite number of lacquers, or natural wood, or even brushed metal. We select the best wood out of ziricote, rosewood or smoked oak and work it with high technology and craftsmanship.

The great thing about Stockinger is that you can also choose between 2, 6 or 10 watchwinders. Just visit the Stockinger website and check out the most beautiful watchwinders. 

Some time ago we wrote an article about Modalo watchwinders. It's a good moment to see what Modalo achieved since then. Then we noticed beautiful watchwinders and a good looking Modalo website. But when we did take a closer look we noticed that Modalo doesn't share the most important information for consumers. There is no information about the motors Modalo use to wind automatic watches, and there is no information about the gearing. Both parts are incredible important when you decide to buy a good watchwinder. It's the same when want to buy a car and the seller doesn't inform you which engine type is under the hood. You certainly want to know, because there are so many differences in power, quality and reliability...and also price. 

The strange thing is that we wrote about this topic last year and also sent an email to Modalo. It's obvious they didn't use our advice:) 

But why would a brand avoid mentioning a good description of the most important parts? We are not sure, but we can guess......We really hope Modalo watchwinders will inform us, but more important informs the consumer. As the designs of the watchwinders are looking quite good it's a pity that there isn't more information available about the quality of the motors and gearing. 

When we check internet we see quite some negative experiences with Modalo regarding it's motors. Could be a chance for Modalo to improve their motors and share this important info with consumers.

Early last year we wrote about Avante watchwinders. This brand from Hong Kong produces since 2009 watchwinders in the higher price range. The first generation Avante watchwinders did have several nice features as world's most compact auto elevated watch winding system and a smart-card to set the watchwinder. We were curious about how Avante developed in one year. 

The Avante watchwinders are not that famous in Europe and the US. They focus on markets as Asia, Australia and Russia. We are not sure why they don't have any official dealers in Europe and the US as we expect they can be pretty successful. Avante watchwinders combine modern technique with good designs, which is an attractive combination for many watch adepts. 

Recently Avante presented its newest series; "Prestige". The Prince J4 and J6 are good examples of the craftmanship and features this Hong Kong brand does offer. 

We also did check their Facebook page and we see not much activity. Unfortunately, as we think Avante watchwinders are very interesting and we love to read more about this brand. We will follow this brand!