She has been restoring watches for twenty-four years. She is losing her depth perception. His name is on every certification letter.

Page 4

Lena Krauss, exhibitor.

He looked at it for a full second.
Then he folded it and put it in his pocket on top of the first one.

He turned off the display table lamp.
He left.

The staking set sat on the table with two punches in the wrong positions.
The lid at forty-four degrees instead of forty-five.
The difference not visible unless you knew what forty-five felt like.
The authentication was at ten o’clock in the morning.

—

The authentication room on the third floor smelled of metal polish and the particular neutrality of hotel air.

Dr. Margaret Weld arrived at nine-forty-five.
She set her loupe case and macro camera on the side table.
She plugged in the auxiliary lamp.
She did not speak to the people watching from the chairs at the perimeter.
She worked without ceremony.
She had done this for thirty years.

The Audemars Piguet grande sonnerie was the fourth piece.

She opened the case.
She set the movement on the velvet.
She attached the loupe.
She tilted the movement under the auxiliary lamp.

She held the loupe there for twenty seconds without speaking.

She removed the loupe.
She picked up the macro camera.
She took three photographs of the screw head array.

She said: “Is the restorer of record present?”

Philip said: “The Homann-Krauss atelier submitted the piece.”

She looked at the camera display.
She said: “I’m asking about the person who blued these screws.”

Philip said: “Our atelier performs all restoration work —”

She set the camera down.
She took her tablet from the side case.
She opened the NAWCC Bulletin archive.
She typed: Krauss, Lena.
The 2021 entry appeared.
She read the title aloud.
She read the first two sentences of the abstract.
She said: “The bluing temperature documented in this note is 287 Celsius, plus or minus two degrees. The visual indicator is a violet-to-cobalt transition, distinct from the standard 290 to 295 range, reproducible across stainless-steel and carbon-steel screws.”
She looked at the movement.
She looked at Philip.
She said: “What temperature produced this?”

Philip looked at the movement.
He said: “The process uses a calibrated alcohol flame —”

She said: “The temperature.”

He said: “I would need to refer to our technical documentation.”

Rachel Tung from Sotheby’s Geneva stood to the left of the authentication table.
She had been there since the session opened.
She had her phone out.
She had been photographing since Dr. Weld first said is the restorer of record present.

Geoffrey Marsh was behind Dr. Weld.
He had purchased three Homann-Krauss restorations over four years.
He had paid, in total, across those three pieces, more money than Lena had been paid in salary over the same period.
He was very still.

An older collector near the window — Lena did not know his name — stepped forward to look at the movement photograph on Dr. Weld’s camera display.
He said nothing.
He stepped back.
The room had the particular quality of silence that forms when several people are deciding how to be present in a moment they did not expect.

Lena stepped forward from the back of the room.

She said: “287 Celsius. The thermocouple clip is calibrated to half a degree. The violet-to-cobalt transition is the visual confirmation. I verified it against a reference sample before packing this piece.”

She said: “The base methodology is from Ernst Voss, NAWCC Bulletin, 1973. He established 287 as the optimal temperature for carbon steel. I extended it to stainless in 2021.”

She said: “The note is Vol. 63, No. 2. My name is in the byline.”

Dr. Weld looked at her.
She said: “You’re Lena Krauss.”

Lena said: “Yes.”

Dr. Weld looked at the movement.
She looked at Philip.
She looked at the movement again.
She put the loupe back on and held it to the screw heads.
She held it there for a long moment.
She removed it.
She said to the room: “The bluing signature in this movement is consistent with the Krauss 2021 methodology. The violet-to-cobalt transition at this temperature range is not standard practice. This is a documented individual technique, not a house style.”

Rachel Tung lowered her phone.
Geoffrey Marsh said: “How many restorations have you done at this temperature?”

Lena said: “Forty-seven complicated movements. Seven years.”

He said: “All at this house?”

She said: “All of them.”

He said nothing else.
He took a card from his jacket pocket.
He held it toward her.
She took it.

Philip crossed the room to Lena’s side.
He moved under the pretext of looking at the camera display on the authentication table.
He bent close to her ear.
His voice was low.
He said: “A certification letter with your name instead of mine does not add ten thousand dollars to the hammer price. One with the atelier name does. You know that.”

He stepped back.
He picked up the rolling case from the corner.
He set it on the table.
He began organizing the portfolio.
He did not look at anyone.

Dr. Weld made her final notes.
She said: “The authentication log for NAW-AUT-2026-0312 will reflect: Restorer of record — Lena Krauss. Technique: heat-bluing at 287°C per Krauss 2021 / Voss 1973.”
She looked at Philip.
She said: “The certification letters on record for previous Homann-Krauss restorations may require review. I’ll flag the relevant files to the committee.”
She closed her tablet.
She moved to the fifth piece.

Geoffrey Marsh stepped around Philip without speaking.
He came to stand near Lena.
He looked at the Audemars Piguet in its velvet stand for a moment.
He said: “I have three of your restorations.”
She said: “I know.”
He said nothing else.
He returned to his seat.