McGonigle Ogma

[Ichiran]

https://quillandpad.com/2023/08/25/n...mal-no-photos/

Stephen McGonigle (who lives near Neuchatel, Switzerland) and his brother John (who lives in Ireland) founded McGonigle Watches in 2006. John left the brand and in 2020 launched his own brand Oileán (Gaelic for island). Their first watch was a tourbillon, which was followed by a minute repeater, and in 2010 they launched their time-only Tuscar.

Now Stephen, who honed his talents working on complicated watches for brands including Christophe Claret, Breguet (where he worked on the restoration of the Pendule Sympathique), Franck Muller, and has now released the successor to the Tuscar: the Ogma. In Irish Mythology, Ogma was the God of Language, Literature and Eloquence, and of Ideas and Knowledge.

While the case of the Tuscar was 43 mm, the new Ogma is a much more wearable 39.5 mm tantalum case, and it also has a power reserve display. The Ogma features the distinctive pincer balance cock with concealed stud and screw as the Tuscar.

Delivery of the first Ogmas is scheduled for autumn 2024 and all 20 pieces are expected to be completed by late 2025. Price is CHF 79,000.

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All 20 pieces are all sold and congrats to Jay and Chronowonders.

My view of the Ogma is it is visually different from the other Swiss watches for which I appreciate as it adds to the variety. Instead of a big balance bridge adopted by other manufacturers, Stephen uses a pincer-like balance plate. The crown does look unique too. In the 2nd pic above, the hand-finishing appears to be better than the Tuscar. I look forward to Stephen's future works.

[yoast]

I do respect the craftmanship, but to me as a semi interested in indies person, I find all of them to have similar design language (breguet tradition) and very little innovation.
They all use similar complications and more or less look the same. What I am missing here are innovative things like, sound, unigue design language - something to distinguish themselves from the others.
Maybe I'm alone in this but they just do not appeal to me regardless of finishing levels.

[WatchEater666]

I think the design is pretty unrefined. Maybe a v2 will be more interesting.

[ChetBaker]

The more of these independents come out, the less interested I find myself in them. And the more I wonder about longevity of these brands once the current hype around independents cools off. In all fairness the price of this watch will buy you a nice little vintage Rolex collection that will certainly have relevance 10 years from today.

[Ichiran]

I'm completely opposite. Can't wait to see the next Rexhepi, Simon Brette, Petermann Bedat, etc and their new creations. Not excited for an annual update of bezel insert colours of the Rolex GMT and Sub anymore.

[llngoc]

Originally Posted by yoast

I do respect the craftmanship, but to me as a semi interested in indies person, I find all of them to have similar design language (breguet tradition) and very little innovation.
They all use similar complications and more or less look the same. What I am missing here are innovative things like, sound, unigue design language - something to distinguish themselves from the others.
Maybe I'm alone in this but they just do not appeal to me regardless of finishing levels.

The design language is quite unique and it feels more British than French. He still has the minute repeater if it is what you are looking for.