In order to promote the region’s horological history and culture, and contribute to Macau’s historical heritage, collector Fong Wing Ngai created the Macau Timepiece Museum, which is now free and open to the public
The Macau Timepiece Museum is the first and only timepiece museum in Asia. The spoil features a range of private collections from watch connoisseurs, including Mr Fong Wing Ngai, who is also the curator of this museum. Influenced by his father, Mr Fong has had an enthusiasm for timepieces since he was young. “When I got my first job, I used the salary to buy a watch and started my collection,” he said.
Fong started to prepare for the opening of this museum in March 2018. Six months later, it was officially inaugurated, very close to Macau’s landmark Ruins of St. Paul’s complex. “At the beginning, I didn’t promote it, because it is the first timepiece museum in the world and we didn’t have much experience,” said Fong. “I worked in the watches’ placement for a long time, and now it is the best and most sensible arrangement.”
Now, the museum is showcasing more than 100 precious timepieces and chronometers, and welcomes around 700-800 tourists a day. The two-story building consists of five sections, Panerai, antique clocks, contemporary watches, collectors’ private collections and an interactive area. Guests can discover an array of very rare, limited watches here, such as the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph Shaquille O’Neal Special Edition, the Gérald Genta Octo Tourbillon Retrograde Hours, the De Bethune DB28, and more.
“The maintenance of watches was the initial problem and my main concern, because I am not a specialist of clock and watch repairing. I invited my friend and mentor, MrHuo Feile, a local Macau watchmaker and a veteran antique timepiece restorer and collector to be the consultant of our museum,” explained the collector. The museum also displays Mr Huo’s work, Huo’s Opus One, the only floating tourbillon wristwatch in the world. It was first designed in 2002, and the original tourbillon movement was made in 2005, then modified into a new floating tourbillon, which was patented in 2017, and finished it in 2018. It’s a new type of tourbillon, a worldwide first design that has obtained the China and International PCT patent, frameless, without the tourbillon cage and traditional bridge, offseting errors caused by gravity. “American watchmaker Richard Wyckoff is also our consultant and helps us to maintain the antique clocks and watches,” Fong continued.
The museum is not only suitable for people who have deep knowledge of timepieces, but also for visitors who want to explore the history of Macau and China’s horology. Macau is a meeting place for Eastern and Western culture, and it is where Italian missionary Matteo Ricci brought the first chiming clock to Chinese Emperor Wanli. In order to let more people remember this history, Mr Fong also exhibits a range of antique clocks and pocket watches.
“In the old days, clocks were the mandatory item to help missionaries preach in Mainland China. You can find the cross and bible on the antique clocks and watches,” he explained.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Macau’s return to China, MrFong worked with Mr Huo to create two watches, planed to launch in October. “The price is reasonable and I hope more people can get the watch.”
Among many items, there is an area with an emphasis on luxury Italian watch manufacturer Panerai. As a die-hard fan of Panerai, Fong has some 60 watches on display at the museum. “Panerai is a special brand. In 2000, I made a lot of changes in my collection and started to buy big dial watches. Panerai is the pioneer manufacturer of this type of watch. They used to make watches for the navy; it’s a mysterious brand,” said Fong.
The depth of the collection can be seen on the Panerai Historical Archive. “The brand made their first watch in 1936. I was very curious about the time before 1993, when the brand started to sell watches,” he revealed.
Panerai lovers can look back into the history of the brand from the very rare Panerai Reference 3646 Type C and Type D, which are the first-generation aluminium sandwich dials created by Panerai for the Italian Navy. Reference 3646 was made by Rolex for Panerai, in production from 1938 until the 1950s, supplied to the Italian Royal Navy and German Navy, and produced in several versions classified from Type A to Type G; only 211 pieces are known to this day.
The curator designed the interactive area for events with watch brands and auction houses. Recently, Panerai held a private event here and received positive reviews. “I am very happy to be the platform to introduce more people to Panerai,” Fong said.
“It is an opportunity to promote this very interesting museum. It’s very educational and it helps us know a little bit of our history. It’s quite a nice environment to invite our guests,” said Julio Sato, Panerai’s Managing Director of NEA.
The Italian high-end watchmaker
The mysterious brand renewed its Galaxy Macau boutique with an updated concept. Inspired by the world of the sea, the elegant boutique entrance was decorated with a deep blue carpet. Complete with oak, burnished brass and bronze, the Panerai store showcases technical codes of the Italian watchmaker. The brand now has 57 boutiques throughout the world, three of which are in Macau.
“Under the leadership of our CEO, Mr Jean-Marc Pontroué, Panerai’s business is expanding in a solid direction. Panerai has a strong link to its historical core values of our ‘laboratorio di idee’ (laboratory of ideas), as an innovative brand that explores today the attributes of tomorrow, from many technical patents, unique materials like the eco-titanium and the Lab-id concept that we launched two years ago with a 50-year warranty. In conclusion, it’s a unique brand with an iconic Italian design and Swiss manufacturing that is constantly working towards the future, so we can always offer outstanding watches and unforgettable experiences to our clients,” said Sato.
“Macau is a very important market for Panerai. It is particularly special for us, because we see the potential of the brand for high supply and we explore that in a solid way. We have a huge amount of Mainland Chinese clients and it’s still growing. We have also developed some very interesting collectors locally, which is quite amazing. Some of them even own our top piece. So it’s a very exciting market, but we have a lot to do. We have one of the best sales worldwide and Macau is very following that trend. This year, we focus on the Submersible collection,” he explained. “We want to have a prominent distribution in this very key location. In order to provide our clients with the best service and the best experience, we have some small exhibitions. We can offer clients the best environment and experience.”
