Antiques & Collectibles

Bourgeois scholarship as disguise: “Fake books“ are objects that simulate the most important carriers of knowledge and culture by subverting fundamental functions such as visualisation, information or entertainment. Most of these “book simulators“ are beautiful containers, which serve for storing – or hiding – approximately everything. The viewer is always confronted by the discrepancy between appearance and being, between form and function. Armin Müller has collected book dummies of very different sizes, styles and provenances from different eras: art-historically valuable, technically sophisticated and historically exciting pieces, but also kitsch of all kinds. The imaginative and creative richness of camouflage and illusion seems to be inexhaustible.

Passion, tradition, perfection and the highest levels of technical sophistication – all this is represented by the name of IWC Schaffhausen. Its head office and principal production site in Schaffhausen are the result of one of the most interesting stories about the foundation of a company in the watchmaking industry. Now you may read it in a sumptuously produced book with over 500 illustrations. A luxurious volume with outstanding photographs and a lively text, containing a wealth of background information and fascinating incidental facets, which will appeal not only to collectors and specialists but to all watch enthusiasts. And let yourself be carried away into an enthralling world of time written by bestselling author Paulo Coelho exclusively for IWC and illustrated by the gifted drawing artist Enki Bilal.