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Perman, Stacy

Perman, Stacy

East Regional

Adult Non-Fiction

East Regional - Adult Non-Fiction

"New York Times bestselling author Stacy Perman chronicles the thrilling pursuit between two ambitious men in the early 1900s to possess the most complicated timepiece in history. In 1999, at a monumental auction held at Sotheby's in New York City, an eighteen-carat gold pocket watch delivered in 1933 shattered all known records when it was sold for $11 million. Secretly commissioned by the wealthy financier Henry Graves, Jr., the timepiece contained twenty-four "complications," including a celestial chart over Manhattan. Considered the Mona Lisa of timepieces, it had been the coveted victor in a collecting duel that spanned three decades. In A Grand Complication, Stacy Perman takes us back to the early twentieth century to tell the incredible story ofhorological rivals: Wall Street and high society figure Henry Graves, Jr., and James Ward Packard, the brilliant inventor and automobile tycoon behind the elegant Packard Motorcar. These archetypes of American success went head to head, driving the finest watchmakers to push the boundaries of mathematics, astronomy, craftsmanship, and technology, all to win a personal race against time. With fascinating historical details that recreate the rich lives of these players and their families, Perman transportsus from the clubby world of New York high society to the birth of the American auto industry and its apogee of style in the Packard line, and into the ateliers of the greatest Swiss watchmakers. Theirs is the story of consuming passion, money-fueled epochs and economic collapse, the obsessive world of watches, and how it influenced the expression of wealth and luxury through gadgets and toys that have become symbols of status"-- "The race between two ambitious, complicated men in the early 1900s to create the most extravagant, complicated timepiece ever"--

Book

Books

8e97e3c1-f3fe-da75-1f1f-321fe213f4e4

9781439190081

2024-05-03T07:14:55.599Z

-1

Non Fiction

Non Fiction

338.092 PERMA

Wake County Public Libraries

East Regional

9781439190081

2013

Atria Books

grouped_work

Clocks and watches -- History
Graves, Henry, -- 1868-1953
Industrialists -- United States -- Biography
Packard, James Ward, -- 1863-1928
Pocket watches -- Design and construction -- History -- 20th century
United States -- Social life and customs -- 20th century

A grand complication : the race to build the world's most legendary watch

A grand complication : the race to build the world's most legendary watch / Stacy Perman

A grand complication

the race to build the world's most legendary watch

Clocks and watches
Design and construction
Graves, Henry
History
Industrialists
Packard, James Ward
Pocket watches
Social life and customs