Watches and Politics

About Watches and Politics

Watches and Politics is a limited-series podcast exploring the surprising connections between horology and history. Hosted by political scientist Edi Shipoli, each episode uncovers how watches have shaped war, diplomacy, industrial revolutions, and global power. This is the story of timekeeping as a political force—from Calvinist Geneva to Cold War summits, from luxury diplomacy to digital disruption. Smart, stylish, and historically rich.

Publisher

Edi Shipoli

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

24 Jun 2025

Latest episode

30 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

65 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   30 Sept 2026

   Jaeger-LeCoultre — The Story of the Grande Maison

   Some watch manufactures build watches. A few build the foundations of modern horology. In this episode of Watches and Politics — Series 3: WatchBooks, I explore The Story of the Grande Maison, one of the most important books dedicated to the history of Jaeger‑LeCoultre. Known throughout the industry as “La Grande Maison,” Jaeger-LeCoultre earned this title because of its extraordinary technical depth. Over nearly two centuries, the manufacture has developed over 1,200 calibres and hundreds of patents, supplying movements not only for its own watches but historically for many other prestigious brands. This book tells the story of that remarkable institution. In this episode, we discuss: • the origins of the manufacture in the Vallée de Joux and the early work of Antoine LeCoultre• the development of precision instruments and innovations that shaped Swiss watchmaking• why Jaeger-LeCoultre became known as “the watchmaker’swatchmaker”• the birth of iconic models like the Reverso• the extraordinary diversity of complications developed by the manufacture• how the book presents the evolution of the Grande Maison across generations of watchmakers This episode connects directly to: ▶ Series 1 — watches as cultural symbols and historical artifacts▶ Series 2 — conversations with industry insiders and collectors▶ Series 3 — the books that form the intellectual library of horology Series 3 is the library of Watches and Politics — where watches are explored not only as objects, but as institutions of knowledge, craftsmanship, and tradition. 📌 Subscribe for weekly watch book episodes📌 Comment with your favorite Jaeger-LeCoultre watch📌 Share with the friend who believes the most interesting watches are made in the Vallée de Joux #WatchesAndPolitics #WatchBooks #JaegerLeCoultre #GrandeMaison #Horology

2. 

   23 Sept 2026

   Vacheron Constantin — Calibres 2253 & 2260

   Most watch books tell the story of a brand. Some tell the story of a watch. This one tells the story of two movements. In this episode of Watches and Politics — Series 3: WatchBooks, I explore Calibres 2253 & 2260, a rare and highly technical publication from Vacheron Constantin. These two calibres represent some of the most ambitious modern watchmaking undertaken by the Geneva manufacture. Both movements are associated with the legendary Tour de l’Île wristwatch — a timepiece created for Vacheron Constantin’s 250th anniversary in 2005, featuring multiple complications and a movement architecture designed to support an extraordinary mechanical program. In this episode, we discuss: • why the Tour de l’Île became one of the most complex wristwatches ever produced• the role of Calibre 2253, the movement powering the original anniversary masterpiece• the development of Calibre 2260, designed for later interpretations of the concept• how modern haute horlogerie movements integrate traditional craftsmanship with contemporary engineering• why Vacheron Constantin publishes books dedicated to individual movements• who should read this book — and why it appeals particularly to collectors interested in technical watchmaking This episode connects directly to: ▶ Series 1 — watches as symbols of prestige and intellectual craftsmanship▶ Series 2 — conversations with industry insiders and collectors▶ Series 3 — the books that document the knowledge of horology Series 3 is the library of Watches and Politics — where watches are explored not just as objects, but as mechanical ideas and intellectual achievements. 📌 Subscribe for weekly watch book episodes📌 Comment with your favorite ultra-complicated watch📌 Share with the friend who believes the movement is always more important than the case #WatchesAndPolitics #WatchBooks #VacheronConstantin #HauteHorlogerie#Horology

3. 

   19 Sept 2026

   Who Writes Watch History? Collectors, Auctions & Power | Alexandre Ghotbi

   Who writes watch history? The brands that make the watches? The scholars who document them? The collectors who discover them? Or the auction houses that eventually place certain objects before the world and declare them worthy of attention? Alexandre Ghotbi has occupied almost every side of that question. Originally trained as a lawyer, he became part of the emerging internet watch culture when he co-founded The Purists in 2001 — at a moment when collectors were beginning to create their own spaces for knowledge, debate, and scholarship outside traditional watch institutions. He later joined Vacheron Constantin, working at the intersection of heritage, technical scholarship, and collector engagement, including the creation of The Hour Lounge. Today, he is Deputy Chairman, Watches and Head of Watches, Europe & Middle East at Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo. His career therefore traces a remarkable transformation in modern horology: the gradual redistribution of authority from brands and traditional publications toward collectors, online communities, independent scholars, and eventually a global auction ecosystem. In this episode of Watches & Politics, we explore how that authority works. Do auctions simply recognize historically important watches — or can they help create historical importance? When does provenance transform an expensive object into a cultural artifact? How do cataloguing, research, and scholarship determine what future generations will remember? And what happened when collectors stopped being passive consumers and became researchers, tastemakers, advocates, and custodians of horological history themselves? We also discuss the extraordinary rise of independent watchmaking, the globalization of collecting, and how the internet changed the relationship between knowledge and authority long before contemporary social media arrived. Because history is never simply a collection of objects from the past. It is a process of selection. Some watches are researched. Some are rediscovered. Some are published, exhibited, discussed, collected, and eventually canonized. And behind every one of those processes are people and institutions making judgments about what deserves to survive. This is a conversation about knowledge, legitimacy, markets, and memory — and about the people who ultimately decide what watch history remembers. Watches and Politics, Alexandre Ghotbi, Phillips Watches, watch auctions, watch collecting, ThePurists, The Hour Lounge, Vacheron Constantin, watch scholarship, watch provenance, independent watchmaking, vintage watches, watch history, collector communities, watch auction market, horological history, watch collectors, rarewatches, horological scholarship

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

9 ratings

Contact Watches and Politics

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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