MARC Record from Library of Congress

LEADER: 03433cam a2200421 i 4500
001 2012034555
003 DLC
005 20140305075505.0
008 121126s2013 nyu b 001 0deng
010 $a 2012034555
020 $a9781439190081 (hardback)
020 $a1439190089 (hardback)
040 $aDLC$beng$cDLC$erda$dDLC
042 $apcc
043 $an-us---
050 00 $aTS543.U6$bP47 2013
082 00 $a338.092$aB$223
084 $aHIS036060$aBIO013000$aTEC056000$2bisacsh
100 1 $aPerman, Stacy.
245 12 $aA grand complication :$bthe race to build the world's most legendary watch /$cStacy Perman.
264 1 $aNew York :$bFree Press,$c[2013]
300 $aviii, 343 pages ;$c24 cm
336 $atext$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$2rdamedia
338 $avolume$2rdacarrier
520 $a"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 $11 million. Secretly commissioned by the wealthy financier Henry Graves, Jr., the timepiece contained twenty-four "complications," including a celestial chart over Manhattan. Considered the Mona Lisa of timepieces, it had been the coveted victor in a collecting duel that spanned three decades. In A Grand Complication, Stacy Perman takes us back to the early twentieth century to tell the incredible story of horological rivals: Wall Street and high society figure Henry Graves, Jr., and James Ward Packard, the brilliant inventor and automobile tycoon behind the elegant Packard Motorcar. These archetypes of American success went head to head, driving the finest watchmakers to push the boundaries of mathematics, astronomy, craftsmanship, and technology, all to win a personal race against time. With fascinating historical details that recreate the rich lives of these players and their families, Perman transports us from the clubby world of New York high society to the birth of the American auto industry and its apogee of style in the Packard line, and into the ateliers of the greatest Swiss watchmakers. Theirs is the story of consuming passion, money-fueled epochs and economic collapse, the obsessive world of watches, and how it influenced the expression of wealth and luxury through gadgets and toys that have become symbols of status"--$cProvided by publisher.
520 $a"The race between two ambitious, complicated men in the early 1900s to create the most extravagant, complicated timepiece ever"--$cProvided by publisher.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
650 0 $aPocket watches$xDesign and construction$xHistory$y20th century.
650 0 $aClocks and watches$xHistory.
600 10 $aPackard, James Ward,$d1863-1928.
600 10 $aGraves, Henry,$d1868-1953.
650 0 $aIndustrialists$zUnited States$vBiography.
651 0 $aUnited States$xSocial life and customs$y20th century.
650 7 $aHISTORY / United States / 20th Century.$2bisacsh
650 7 $aBIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Rich & Famous.$2bisacsh
650 7 $aTECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / History.$2bisacsh
856 42 $3Cover image$uhttp://www.netread.com/jcusers2/1247/081/9781439190081/image/lgcover.9781439190081.jpg