Maximilian Büsser & Friends - The Smelling Salts of the Watch World...Wake Up and Smell The Space Pirate!

We all know there are cool watches, classic watches and collectible watches -- but then you get to the world of Horological Machines -- in a class of their own.  If that doesn't make sense to you, MB&F watches are quite honestly the Umami, that savory taste you can't quite put your finger on but you know you gotta have it. Without naming names, you very well know what watches are sweet, sour, bitter and most definitely salty!  But what you don't know, that UMAMI is the taste that doesn't get old, it only gets better with each bite!

Horological Machine No.6 - now in limited "SV" editions, in sapphire crystal combined with streamlined red gold or platinum. The sapphire crystal alone requires 350 hours of careful machining and polishing, just for a single case - the equivalent of 2 months' worth of working days...

Learn more about this performance art piece . . . mbandf.com/machines/horological-machines/hm6

CELSIUS X VI II MICRO-MECHANICAL REMONTAGE PAPILLON TOURBILLON MOBILE PHONE - APPROX $275,000 EACH

If you won't be in Switzerland next week for the Baselworld watch fair for the world's first public viewing, don't worry, The Watchismo Times has an exclusive sneak peek of this über-gadget, the CELSIUS X VI II micro-mechanical tourbillon cell phone!

Celsius is a French company founded in 2006 by four young entrepreneurs. In March 2010, after three years of research and development with icons like Richard Mille and controversial movement maker "Confrerie Horlogere Hublot" (formerly BNB Concept), Celsius X VI II are launching a range of high-end micromechanical phones featuring some exceptional patented mechanical complications.

The first creation, a cell phone merged with a tourbillion watch featuring a patented Remontage Papillon mechanism, heralds a new generation of objects with high emotional value. CELSIUS X VI II reinvents micro-mechanical applications to humanize the future of communication: pushing the boundaries of established watchmaking, each creation will be a significant step towards the dream of a completely mechanical mobile phone: a phone in which every function will operate mechanically, solely through human energy.

Celsius X VI II has developed its first papillon item as an accessory for the contemporary aesthete. The successive design sketches reveal a quest for perfect elegant - skilfully contoured lines, fine materials and subtle details - through a functionalist approach, beauty without excess. The quality of the manufacture hints at a fine watchmaking influence. The pieces of the case are of the best workmanship, and most of the roughly 547 mechanical components are hand-finished. The aesthetic design plays with transparency to reveal the magic of the technology, to an even greater extent than would be allowed by the butterfly design alone.

The fact nonetheless remains that, tucked away inside its hinge, the item conceals a patented system that is activated when the wings are unfolded. Based on complex micromechanics, this innovation has its name - "Remontage Papillon" (butterfly rewinding) - spelled out on the top wing. Its presence has much to do with making this creation a favorite among enlightened enthusiasts. This ultimate appeal is an asset that opens up new horizons, as Celsius X VI II begins to explore mechanical functions that will revolutionize the world of communications, things never before seen or heard that in the future will become a major sector of the prestige market.

Celsius X VI II is fundamentally an innovative brand that combines mobile telephony with prestige watchmaking in creating nomadic objets d'art.

A dream that embraces a concept that is still impossible today but may one day come true: an entirely mechanical cellphone!

It will be unveiled next week at Baselworld 2010, starting price will approximately €200,000 ($275,000)

http://www.celsius-x-vi-ii.com


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Gerald Genta Arena Metasonic - Limited Edition of Ten at $900,000 Each!

Limited Edition of 10 Pieces (MSRP (US$900,000 ea)

An alliance of tradition and engineering for the ultimate Grande Sonnerie, the most complicated of its kind in the world for over 15 years

The latest evolution of the Arena Grande Sonnerie, the Arena Metasonic raises the exclusive work of Gérald Genta to the realm of perfection. Launched as a wristwatch in 1994 and regularly improved ever since, the noble proprietary complication that was already considered beyond compare further enhances its pedigree by appearing in a revolutionary new case. An original material and unprecedented construction combine to ensure an enchanting chime, embodying progress stemming from in-depth acoustic and vibratory research that simultaneously overturns certain preconceived ideas.

Striking watches
Striking watches are classified into quarter, five-minute and most frequently minute repeater models, and Grande Sonnerie or “grand strike” variations can be triggered up to 35,040 times a year. They strike the hours and quarters automatically or “in passing”, as well as being systematically equipped with the minute repeater which strikes the hours, quarters and minutes on request. The watch then successively chimes the hours on a low-pitched gong, the quarters on two, three or four gongs, and the minutes on a high-pitched gong. Grande Sonnerie watches are a long-established speciality at Gérald Genta. It has introduced a number of exceptionally complex wristwatch models since 1994. With their four hammers and their Westminster chime playing a different tune for each quarter, they represent 15 years of peerless accomplishments and are all the more remarkable in that they are developed on tourbillon movements. The Grande Sonnerie models comprise approximately 850 parts for the hand-wound models, 950 for the self-winding versions, and 1,100 for those equipped with a perpetual calendar. It takes around a year’s work to craft just one such watch, and only 61 in all have emerged from the Gérald Genta workshops since 1994. Connoisseurs, and especially master-watchmakers, unanimously confirm that it is not the accumulation of functions that makes a watch complicated, but instead the intrinsic complexity of the movement to be assembled and cased up.

Traditional movements
While Gérald Genta is a brand famed for its daring approach to watch exteriors, it is nonetheless extremely respectful of traditional horology, as is confirmed by the superlative workmanship displayed in its authentic Haute Horlogerie movements featuring a wealth of hand-crafted decoration and finishing. Among them are striking watches, which can be viewed as the last bastion of pure watchmaking artistry. Whereas virtually any other movements can now be industrially made and thus identically reproduced according to predefined criteria, a striking mechanism necessarily calls for manual intervention. The watchmaker adjusts the length of the gongs or their point of attachment in order to achieve the desired notes. This delicate exercise is generally performed by ear, with the inherent risk of never achieving the same result twice, even when the same person is involved. Gérald Genta therefore decided to solve this particular problem and its striking watches have now been effectively standardised to measurable norms for the past four years.

Standardised striking watches
Based on research conducted in cooperation with an acoustic laboratory, Gérald Genta has an exclusive software programme enabling it to measure the sounds produced in particular by its Grande Sonnerie watches. Three main criteria have been established. First of all, the intensity or the force of the notes: to earn approval, they must demonstrate a level of intensity sufficient to ensure they are clearly audible, but not excessively high in order to preserve their harmonic quality. The harmony or the correct pitch of the notes is then checked to ensure a sol (G) is consistently sounded for the hours, do, re, mi and sol (C,D,E and G) for the various combinations of quarters – more specifically mi-re-do-sol (E-D-C-G), re-sol-mi-do (D-G-E-C) + mi-re-do-sol (E-D-C-G), mi-do-re-sol (E-C-D-G) + re-sol-mi-do (D-G-E-C) + mi-re-do-sol (E-D-C-G) – and re (D) for the minutes. All are the notes are within the fifth and sixth octaves, ensuring they are low enough to be truly melodious. Finally, the cadence or regularity in milliseconds is verified according to defined intervals between each hour (628 ms), each quarter (427 ms) and each minute (509 ms). The goal is to ensure an harmonious sequence with clearly perceptible sounds. Thanks to these measurements, each completely independent of the others, Gérald Genta Grande Sonnerie models are now all of reliable equal quality. Fine-tuning by the watchmakers is still indispensable, but now converges towards common criteria guaranteeing a unique tune. It takes an average of 12 successive controls to achieve the desired result.

Superior quality
Each Grande Sonnerie watch reacts in its own way, according to the volume occupied by the movement within the case and the corresponding empty spaces; the materials selected and their treatment; the strength of the hammer; as well as a whole host of details such as the quality of the screws, joints and weldings. All these aspects have been meticulously reviewed by Gérald Genta in order to achieve the current degree of perfection based on these trade secrets which it is determined to safeguard. Nonetheless, one feature that can be revealed is that the gongs are now fixed to the side of the case and no longer to the movement, thereby considerably increasing the sound level. The improvements have been made both to the self-winding Grande Sonnerie model belonging to the Octo collection since 2003, and to the hand-wound Grande Sonnerie, an Arena watch introduced in 1999 and bearing the prestigious Poinçon de Genève quality hallmark. The latter is distinguished by its movement beautifully highlighting the striking mechanism through a broad dial opening on the left of the off-set hour and minute display. The back enables one to admire the tourbillon and follow the evolution of the two separate power reserves – 48 hours for the movement, 24 hours for the striking mechanism. A security system locks the crown each time the watch is in the process of chiming, so as to avoid accidentally damaging the striking mechanism.

The key assets of the Arena Metasonic
Having reached the peak of its art in mastering its Grande Sonnerie mechanism, Gérald Genta wished to provide it with a tailor-made case specifically developed to exalt its musicality. To achieve this, it cooperated with a French university in developing a software programme capable of analysing all kinds of materials. Gérald Genta has thereby created a testing system that evaluates a given material’s density, elasticity modulus and loss coefficient, a set of crucial physical parameters that determine the quality of the sound transmission and must be as low as possible.

Material Density(g/cm3) Elastic modulus (GPa) Loss coefficient 100 Index Acoustic Pressure (Force) 100 Index Acoustic Pressure (Melody)
Magsonic® 2.7 71 0.000080 100.0 100.0
Titanium 4.2 110 0.000027 77.6 44.7
Bronze CuSn8 8.2 100 0.000125 63.8 24.8
White gold alloy 15.7 107 0.000100 48.4 35.1
316L steel 8 200 0.000350 37.6 33.1

The first parameter that must be taken into account is density, which must be lower than 5 g/cm3. Among the metals most commonly used in watchmaking, only titanium meets this standard. It is only half as dense as steel, which itself is only half as dense as white gold. In terms of elastic modulus, which is considered to be of superior quality when nearing values below 100 GPa (gigapascals), white gold and titanium come very close to this threshold, whereas the values reached by steel are twice as high. As for the sound transmission loss coefficient, it is precisely measured in laboratory conditions – using calibrated bars that are made to vibrate by laser technology in a vacuum, thus ensuring the absence of any contact as well as free decay of the vibrations - and falls well below the maximum desirable level of 0.0002 as far as white gold and titanium are concerned, but not for steel. Results clearly prove that titanium and gold perform far better than steel, which is not particularly dense but is definitely more sound-absorbing than any other material (high loss coefficient).

Based on the objectives defined for each parameter, Gérald Genta decided to target excellence by creating an alloy of which the composition will remain a closely guarded secret. Duly patented under the name Magsonic®, it displays winning performances with a density of 2.7 g/cm3, an elastic modulus of 71 Gpa and a sound transmission loss coefficient of 0.00008 – meaning respectively 50%, 30% and 60% better than the parameters that were set as objectives. This material is therefore used for the case middle of the brand’s latest Grande Sonnerie model, the Arena Metasonic. The case middle is a crucial element in striking watches, since the sound tends to be diffused in a sideways direction. It is important to choose an appropriate material and to make it as thin as possible. Future owners will be delighted to note that the quality of the sound is even better when the watch is worn, a position in which its back rests against the wrist.

Moreover, Gérald Genta was able to measure the sound intensity (acoustic pressure index, force and melody) produced by various materials by using specific experimental containers. Results show that Magsonic once again surpassed the others, both in force (global sound intensity) and melody (effective intensity of the desired notes: do, re, mi and sol – C, D, E and G).

In addition to the major role played by the Magsonic alloy, this new model also features an original case based on a patented construction inspired by the side drums in a drum kit. The case middle is framed on either side by a bezel and back in grade 5 titanium secured from outside by means of specially designed pillars. This means the sound diffusion is undisturbed by any screws, and results in a highly original creation entirely in tune with the spectacular design characteristic of Gérald Genta models. The entire construction has also been rendered water resistant, because contrary to popular belief, non- watertight watches do not emit a better sound. The latter can even be perturbed by being forced through the bottlenecks created by the passage of air around the winding pushers. Some historical pocket-watches solved the problem by featuring openings spread all around them – a solution naturally unsuitable for wristwatches. The innovations presented here by Gérald Genta are a contemporary response to a desire to raise the bar as never before. They are the first fruits of a particularly ambitious research and development programme, and all-new striking mechanism designs are likely to be introduced in the near future.

A deliberately contemporary style
Measuring 46mm in diameter at the case middle and 50mm overall, the Arena Metasonic features a combination of vertical-polished and horizontal satin-brushed surfaces. It is fitted with an ostrich leather strap. The crown bears the individual watch number, while the striking mechanism controls serving to switch between Grande Sonnerie (grand strike), Petite Sonnerie (small strike), Minute Repeater and Silence modes are within easy reach on the opposite side. Gérald Genta has adorned the movement with an innovative wave-patterned motif as a nod to the propagation of sound. The jewels are in white sapphire to ensure an ideal visual match with the overall mechanism which exceptionally does not feature the “old gold” surface treatment characteristic of the brand’s signature “Potter finish”. This exceptional watch is also presented in a glass security box which renders it invisible until the owner pushes the biometrically programmed button that will respond to no other touch… The interior then lights up and the watch base is raised to bring it within reach. True magic for a watch blending the best of noble traditions and cutting-edge technologies.

Gerald Genta Website


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Jaeger-LeCoultre Hybris Mechanica 55 - The Most Complicated Trilogy of Watches Ever Produced!

Days ago at the Venice Film Festival, Jaeger LeCoultre presented (in a custom 2600 pound German Doettling vault shown above) by JL CEO Jérôme Lambert, the most complicated watches ever produced, the Hybris Mechanica 55 Trilogy.

via Perpetuelle

Regular readers of Perpetuelle Blog may recall that back in June First In Watches gave you the first look at the Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Hybris Mechanica Grande Sonnerie – a piece deemed at the time as the new “King of Complications” for its tally of 26 functions and 1300 components in one – yes one – single watch (if you missed this article go check it out now!). At this time we previewed not only the Grand Sonnerie but also the 2 other grand complications (the Gyrotourbillon and the Reverso a Tryptique that Jaeger-LeCoultre would be offering as a part of a 3-piece, $2.5 million set, complete with a 2,600 pound German-made Doettling safe (which by the way has a special sound system installed that enables the actual chiming of the Grand Sonnerie to be heard outside the safe even when it is securely locked!). The set was created in part to showcase Jaeger-LeCoultre’s greatest achievements over the brand’s long history.

At the time of our original article it was not clear to us what the significance of the number “55″ in “Hybris Mechanica 55″ was – but now we know. 55 is the total number of complications represented in this incredible trio of watches.

The Grande Sonnerie Movement

Now, as for those “26″ complications in the Grand Sonnerie (the left-most watch in the above photo)- we have seen Jaeger-LeCoulter’s official listing, which we present to you here:

1. Westminster Carillon

2. 4 crystal-gongs

3. Grande sonnerie

4. Petit sonnerie

5. Silence

6. Minute repeater

7. and 8. Flying tourbillon

9. and 10. Perpetual and instant calendar

11. Days

12. Retrograde days

13. Months

14. Retrograde months

15. Date

16. Retrograde date

17. Jumping hour and minutes

18. Regulation device with inertia-blocks

19. Strike power reserve indicator

20. Watch power reserve indicator

21. Secured incremental hours setting

22. and 23. Secured incremental minutes setting forward and backward

24. Striking mode selector

25. Instant minute repeater activation

26. Automatic modes’ switch

With such an amazing set of watches, there is so much to say, so little time to say it – but thankfully Jaeger-LeCoultre created a really cool website dedicated to the Hybris Mechanica 55 trio that says a lot already! The site is full of close up photos and explanations of the various components of thewatches, in particular the Grand Sonnerie – and so I highly recommend you check out it out by clicking here: Jaeger LeCoultre Hybris Mechanica Trilogy Website

via;
Perpetuelle First in Watches
Kronos

Related Posts at The Watchismo Times;
All Jaeger LeCoultre Stories


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Barbed Wire & Butterflies - MB&F HM2 Piece Unique by Artist Sage Vaughn for Only Watch 2009

There is a butterfly trapped in the movement of the latest watch to emerge from MB&F (Maximilian Büsser & Friends). And it has no hope of escaping, because the complicated movement is wrapped in barbed wire. This emotionally charged piece, a one-of-a-kind interpretation of MB&F’s Horological Machine No.2, is signed by the American artist Sage Vaughn.

Video from the New York WENY presentation (July 16th, 2009)

It will be auctioned at Only Watch, the charity auction to benefit research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy to be held in Monaco on 24 September 2009 under the patronage of HSH Prince Albert II.


The auction is held every two years and brings together the cream of Switzerland’s haute horlogerie watchmakers. Each contributes a unique watch, or the number one from a limited series, to be auctioned without a reserve price. All the proceeds from Only Watch go to enabling the Monegasque Association against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (AMM) to support international research projects into that disease – a field in which the Association has been actively involved since 2005.

HM2 Movement

"State Penn" by Sage Vaughn

The inspiration for the watch

Büsser and his team were, as he says, “shocked into” creating a piece of horology for the Only Watch event, and were determined that their timepiece should convey that emotion. But horology has its limits. How could it be used to express the beauty and vulnerability of childhood, and the valiant struggle of a child who may well be in a wheelchair before he is twelve?

There are no coincidences in life, and at the time, a new gallery in Geneva was given over entirely to the work of Sage Vaughn, an American painter and former graffiti artist whose solo show in New York last summer had been one of the art world’s most talked-about events. This young artist has fought and conquered his own demon – a seven-year heroin addiction – and the pain of that struggle is felt in the emotional power of his work. The images of gaily-dressed children or bright birds or butterflies putting on a brave front against bleak urban backgrounds had haunted Max Büsser. He had bought one of the art works, a baseball bat adorned with a collage of butterflies, pinned down by nails. Here was the tension between light-hearted innocence and something darker that he was seeking.

Sage Vaughn in his studio

The result

A trip to the US proved him right. Sage Vaughn understood the mission at once and immediately proposed to donate his time and talent. Max Büsser came back with the initial sketch for the watch, and the result is faithful to it. The entire upper face of the watch – the surface of the rectangular case and the two projecting portholes – is crafted in sapphire crystal, revealing the HM2’s complex engine. The hundreds of minute components display the meticulous hand finish that is MB&F’s hallmark. But they are imprisoned in barbed wire. A blue butterfly struggles to escape from the same fate, but its wings are clipped. In the finished work, the barbed wire is handcrafted in blackened gold and the butterfly in blued gold. But the scene has all the emotional power of the first rough by Sage Vaughn – a pencil sketch of the movement criss-crossed by barbed wire drawn in red pencil.

The watch is a unique interpretation of Horological Machine No2, launched as limited series in 2008. HM2 typifies the radical approach to high-end horology taken by Max Büsser and his Friends. It is a high-tech time machine of the twenty-first century and an incredibly sophisticated micromechanical work of art. It houses the world’s first mechanical movement – “engine” in MB&F language – to offer an instantaneous jumping hour, concentric retrograde minutes, retrograde date hand, a bi-hemisphere moon phase and automatic winding. The case alone contains more than 100 parts – more than many complete movements – and is the most complex case in watchmaking history. Altogether the watch has over 450 components.

"Reseda Butterfly" by Sage Vaughn

About Sage Vaughn

Sage Vaughn was born in Jackson, Oregon in 1976 and grew up in Reseda, California. He now lives and works in Los Angeles.

As a child he developed his talent for art in the company of his father, the artist Richard Smitty Vaughn Junior. His father would take him to the Los Angeles zoo, where they would sit all day, sketching the animals. His hippie parents had little money for toys, but they encouraged him to draw and to develop his own style. Later, he became an avid participant in the graffiti culture.

Today he favours painting, but the city of his graffiti days is ever present in his work. It is shown in its least flattering light, in the grey walls and stylised cityscapes and freeways that form an austere backdrop to his vibrant foreground figures. He has also preserved the same free and easy touch and energy. This is most visible in the paint runs used in certain areas of his work.

“I try to utilise animals in the same way that Aesop did in his fables”

Sage Vaughn’s paintings question the human condition and the difficulty of living in a contemporary environment. The bright birds and insects serve as an affirmation of life, but they also remind us of our strategies for survival in a modern society. Imperceptible at first glance, black tattoos in the birds’ plumage spell out the names of gangs or codes. They evoke the individual’s need for recognition, but also a subculture, linked in the collective conscience to violence and rebellion in the streets.

“It is easier for an observer to project into the countenance of a child”

Sometimes, children replace the birds in the foreground. Not yet formatted by society, they seem to have the energy to survive and reinvent the world. Sporting masks and brightly coloured costumes, they look like superheroes. Yet there is nothing joyous or innocent about them. Each is desperately alone, abandoned in a hostile setting.

The message could thus be seen as a bitter one: the American dream of bucolic happiness is shattered.

Sage Vaughn likes to cloud the issue, however, and scramble what might be seen as clear cut. His paintings do not stop at that admission of failure. To live is, of course, difficult but the simple fact of being alive brings hope. In the wake of Melville, whose novels the painter admires, Vaughn knows that even during war, birds do continue to sing and children to play.

Being Maximilian Büsser And Friends

The founder of MB&F says that he created a business model around his neurosis. He was an only child who grew up longing to surround himself with people that he could admire. His parents – his father Swiss, his mother Indian – were “too much in love” to provide the company that he craved, and, left to himself, he developed a rich imaginary life. This led to constant injunctions, at home and at school, to be more reasonable and responsible, and the little boy grew up imbued with his father’s rigorous principles and sense of duty.

It was only when his father passed away, seven years ago, that he felt free to become unreasonable again. “There are two occasions when you become conscious of mortality”, he says. “When you have a child, and when a parent dies.” That prompted him to leave what he admits was a dream job, as head of Harry Winston Timepieces, and form MB&F (Maximilian Büsser and Friends), a company dedicated solely to designing and crafting small series of radical concept watches in collaboration with talented professionals. Or, as he says: “Letting my guts speak instead of my head”. That spirit is shared by all the independent craftsmen, engineers and watchmakers who collaborate on his projects.

Joining the battle to save children from muscular dystrophy

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is a serious genetic disorder that affects one in every 3,500 boys. It is characterised by a progressive weakening of the muscles, resulting in respiratory and cardiac problems that become fatal as the child gets older. In Europe there are around 30,000 sufferers of the disease.

As yet there is no cure for the disease, but considerable progress is being made. One of the most important breakthroughs is the development of Saut d’Exon – a surgical technique that enables the cellular machinery to “forget” to read that part of the gene that carries the abnormality of the illness. This technique was developed by Luis Garcia, Head of Research at CNRS, and his team. Mr Garcia is a key player in the field of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. He and his group are among the 20 research teams that have benefited from AMM’s financial support.

The role of childhood in MB&F’s creations

Maximilian Büsser knew that he would participate the moment he spoke to Luc Pettavino, the President of AMM. “At my age,” he says, (he is 42), “if I contract a serious illness I can say that I have already lived a full life, but for a child just starting out, it is a tragedy”.

Whilst he would never claim to understand the suffering of a child with this disease, childhood holds a special importance for him. For all their sophistication, the lovingly crafted time machines that he dreams up and creates with his Friends have their roots in his earliest years.

The case of Horological Machine No2 is the most complex case in the history of watchmaking, but its modular structure is inspired by the meccano model kits that were his toys. The 22-karat gold automatic rotor has the jewel-like hand-finish reserved for the elite of traditional watch movements, but it owes its iconic sickle shape to the double-headed battleaxe wielded by his childhood comic hero, Grendizer. All the great sci-fi TV series – Star Trek, Thunderbird, Dr Who and Star Wars – have played a role in MB&F’s creations. It is the tension between fascination with that imaginary world and a love of high-end horology at its purest that gives the machines their vitality.


Technical Specifications

Movement:
Jean-Marc Wiederrecht/Agenhor designed functionality regulated and powered by a Girard-Perregaux oscillator and gear train.
Blued 22K gold Battle Ax automatic winding rotor
Balance oscillating at 28,800 bph

Number of components: 349 including 44 jewels

Functions:
Left dial: Retrograde Date and Bi-Hemisphere Moon Phase
Right Dial: Jumping Hours and Concentric Retrograde Minutes

Sage Vaughn sculpture:
Blackened 18K gold barbed wire which imprisons the movement, symbol of the illness capturing the body.
Blued 18K butterfly on movement bridge, symbol of innocence and childhood.

Case:
Piece unique – 18K white gold/titanium with sapphire “double dome” glass
Dimensions (exclusive of crown and lugs): 59mm x 38mm x 13mm
Water resistant to 30 meters (3 ATM)

Sapphire crystals:
Dial side with anti-reflective treatment on both faces. Display back signed by Sage Vaughn.

Dials:
Brushed sapphire for minutes and date, Black disks for hours and moon phase.

Number of parts (Movement & Case): 439 parts

Strap & Buckle:
Black hand-stitched alligator with 18K gold and titanium custom designed deployant buckle.

Presentation box:
Sage Vaughn piece unique painted wooden “coffret”.

How does Only Watch work? Swiss haute de gamme watch companies each produce a unique watch or the first (No 1) of a limited series to be offered (without a reserve price) at this exceptional auction. Patrizzi & Co Auctioneers will be taking these watches on a promotional preview tour during late summer/early autumn 2009.

The Only Watch auction will then take place on 24 September 2009 in Monaco during the 19th Monaco Yacht Show. Participating watch brands 2009 Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, BNB Concept, Bovet Fleurier, Breguet Montres, Cartier, Corum Montres, De Bethune, Delacour, Franck Muller, Frederique Constant, Glashuette Uhrenbertrieb, Hermes, Hublot, Jaquet Droz, Louis Vuitton, Maximilian Buesser & Friends, Mont Blanc, Omega, Patek Philippe, Piaget, Richard Mille, Swatch, Tag Heuer, Tourneau Timepieces, Ulysse Nardin, Urwerk, Vacheron Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels, Zenith International. Source: Patrizzi & Co Auctioneers www.patrizziauction.com

MB&F website->LINK

Related MB&F, Max Busser, and Horological Machine Posts-->LINK

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Real Life Photos of the Concord C1 Quantum Gravity Tourbillon

Finally, no more slick CAD teasers, the real deal, Concord's C1 Quantum Gravity live in Basel.

Thanks to Watchluxus

Video Link of the new tourbillon bi-axial from BNB Concept for the Concord C1 Quantum Gravity timepiece is placed and alive.

The original CAD renderings

Read more-->LINK

For More information;

Link: The Making of the C1 Concord Quantum Tourbillon

Link: C1 Concord Main Site

Related Posts;
All Concord Stories
Independent Watch Brands
Alternative Displays


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Christophe Claret Introduces his DualTow Display Belt Single Pusher Planetary Chronograph with Striking Mechanism

Christophe Claret's Dual Tow watch introduced today at Baselworld

Two conveyor belts rotate displaying the time. (there seems to be a theme this year!)

From the press release (via Horomundi):

2009 is a jubilee year in the history of Christophe Claret SA, a milestone that its owner wished to symbolize by releasing an exclusive timepiece produced under the company brand name and distributed by the finest retailers worldwide.

The DualTow is a faithful reflection of the watchmaking philosophy inherent to Christophe Claret. Housing several inventions including one patented innovation, this single-pusher planetary-gear chronograph with striking mechanism and tourbillon expresses a combination of technical excellence and sophisticated aesthetics.

It also embodies the merging of the wide variety of skills united within the company, since almost all operations involved in making it – from movement development to the machining of the sapphire dial-bridge – have been performed in-house.

Representing a horological embodiment of power and energy, the DualTow is an ultra-refined machine for measuring time. With its original “belt” display of the hours and minutes, the model features an ultra-technical and classically elegant appearance.

Technically speaking, the mechanical hand-wound CC20A movement boasts an impressive number of innovations and stylistic refinement.

One particularly striking example is a gong that sounds each time the chronograph pusher is activated, in a playful allusion to the expertise of the Manufacture in the field of striking watches.

DUALTOW Specs:

SINGLE-PUSHER PLANETARY-GEAR CHRONOGRAPH WITH STRIKING MECHANISM MOVEMENT:

Number of parts: 582

Number of jewels: 73

Power Reserve: Over 50 hours

Barrels: Twin barrels placed in parallel

Tourbillon: - Swiss lever escapement
- Balance oscillation frequency: 3 Hz (21,600 vph)
- Tourbillon rotation frequency : 1 revolution/minute

Functions: - Hour and minute display on belts
- Single-pusher planetary-gear chronograph
- Mechanical striking mechanism sounding each change of function (start, stop and reset)
- 12-hour, 60-minute and 60-second chronograph counters
- Operating mode indicator
- Mechanical hand-wound movement
- Power-Reserve display

EXTERIOR:

Case: - Watch glasses specially designed and manufactured to ensure an ergonomic fit
- Rectangular, curving; fitted with exclusive mobile lugs enabling a perfect fit on the wrist
- Dimensions : 42.75 x 48.20 mm (not counting the lugs)
- Water Resistant: 3 ATM or 30 meters

Display belts: In rubber with transferred hour and minute numerals

Flange: Flange with chronograph seconds markers cut from five different stones

Dynamometric crown and pusher: Rubber-molded

Dial: Sapphire crystal serving as a bridge for the chronograph counters and featuring transferred chronograph hour and minute counters, chronograph operating mode, Christophe Claret brand name and ‘Swiss Made’ indication

Buckle: Triple-blade folding clasp with decorative covers and an innovative system enabling comfort-enhancing 10 mm wrist extension

Series: Limited edition of 68 timepieces; each unique

Christophe Claret website

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THE OPUS 9 REVEALED TODAY AT BASELWORLD! Jean-Marc Wiederecht & Eric Giroud for Harry Winston Rare Timepieces

2009 Harry Winston Opus 9

In Opus 9, diamonds are not merely a decorative element, but the functional element of time telling. Teamed up for the 9th Opi is master watchmaker Jean-Marc Wiederecht and haute designer Eric Giroud.

Replacing the traditional watch hands and cyclical dial, time is displayed by two parallel diamond chains, for hours and minutes.

Sleek and scintillating, each chain is adorned with 33 baguette-cut diamonds, Harry Winston’s signature shape.

Vivid mandarin garnets are strategically positioned to indicate the hours and minutes.

Meticulously calibrated, each stone is perfectly set into the links, to ensure movement, while maintaining their brilliance. The chains are designed to maximize mobility while minimizing friction.

Recalling Harry Winston’s iconic, invisible settings, the gemstones appear as floating lines of light, seamless unfolding across the dial.

Limited edition of 100 pieces

Harry Winston presentation today at Baselworld
Photography and report by Ian Skellern for Horomundi

History of the Opus Series 1-8

First presentation of the dial

Presentation of the sketches and renderings

The exposed diamond time chain

Opus 9 on the wrist

First public viewing for the watch

The Opus 9 Box

Specifications:

• Movement: Automatic self-winding using a chain system.
• Functions: Linear display of hours and minutes.
• Power Reserve: 72 Hours
• Case: White Gold
• Dimensions: 56mm x 48mm x 20mm
• Dial: Baguette diamond chain indicating the hours on left, the minutes on the right. The indicator is a Garnet.
• Water Resistance: 30 meters (3ATM)
• Carat Weight: 66 baguette diamonds, total carats: 2.148 cts. 6 Garnet, total carats: 0.222 cts.

Related Stories:

OPUS 8
OPUS 7
OPUS 6
OPUS 5

Harry Winston Website

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New Releases from Greubel Forsey - Invention Piece No. 3 & Double Tourbillon Technique

Double Tourbillon Technique

• Mechanical hand-wound movement,
• Calibre GF 02s Double Tourbillon 30°,
• Hours and minutes display,
• Outer Tourbillon 4-minute rotation indicator,
• Inner Tourbillon 60 Second rotation indicator, power-reserve indicator.

Photo - Ian Skellern via Horomundi

Invention Piece 3

• Mechanical hand-wound movement,
• Calibre GF 01n
• Tourbillon 24 Secondes Incliné,
• Hours and minutes display,
• Seconds display and power-reserve indicator.

Photo credit - Watchprosite

Greubel Forsey Website

via Horomundi (photos courtesy of Ian Skellern)

Related Stories at The Watchismo Times:
The Greubel Forsey Invention Piece No. 1
All Greubel Forsey Posts on The Watchismo Times
All Independent Watchmaker Posts

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New Model - Maîtres du Temps Chapter One Black Dial White Gold Moonphase/Day Roller Tourbillon Watch

Video-->Link

LA CHAUX-DE-FONDS, Switzerland – Building on the launch of the Chapter One in 2008, Maîtres du Temps now presents a limited edition of 11 watches with jet-black dial, moonphase and day of week rollers set in a white gold case.

Video - Traditional Watchmaking - Chapter One by Maitres du Temps

It explains the development of a $400,000 watch by a team of three master watchmakers: Peter Speake-Marin, Roger Dubuis and Christophe Claret.

Press Release;

Timeless elegance is evoked by the juxtaposition of elegant white gold hands against the black dial and of the bright red of the counterpoised chronograph second hand against the engine-turned sun-ray guilloche of the sub-dials. The ethereal beauty of the moon and stars against a dark night sky belies the high-tech nature of its anodized aluminum roller—a roller visually and technically balanced by the day of the week roller at the opposite end of the long, sweeping compound curves of the stunningly finished case.

The highly polished tourbillon literally explodes from the dark dial in a highly reflective burst of light, some of which streams in through the opening to the day roller and sweeps up from under the tourbillon, adding to the three-dimensionality of the spectacle. Amid the indication-rich nature of the dial, the tourbillon cage and bridge stand out as if under a bright spotlight on a semi-darkened stage.

Moonphase Roller

“To my eye, where the silver-dialed Chapter One leans in the direction of a more classic look, this black-dialed version feels sportier, faster. And I particularly like the way that the black of the dial continues into the dark night sky of the moon roller above and the black day roller below,” says Mr. Steven Holtzman, founder of Maîtres du Temps.

Day of Week Roller

Developed by a collaboration of three of the world’s greatest watchmakers, Mr. Christophe Claret, Mr. Roger Dubuis, and Mr. Peter Speake-Marin, Chapter One features a world-first combination of complications: tourbillon, mono-pusher chronograph, retrograde date, retrograde GMT, and two rolling bars at 6 o’clock and 12 o’clock, indicating the day of the week and phase of the moon, respectively. The dial reveals central coaxial hours, minutes, and chronograph 60-second

counter; tourbillon and day of the week roller at 6 o’clock; retrograde GMT at 9 o’clock; 60-minute chronograph counter and precision moon phase roller at 12 o’clock; and retrograde date at 3 o’clock.

Chapter One is imbued with the intoxicating fusion of Mr. Claret’s undisputed mastery of high-end complications, Mr.Dubuis’ rich lifetime of experience in haute horlogerie, and Mr.Speake-Marin’s unparalleled ability to bridge the very best of both traditional and modern watchmaking.

The ease of both reading and adjusting Chapter One’s many indications disguises the fact that this is an extremely complex movement that has been handcrafted and meticulously assembled from 558 components. Efficiently transmitting power to the two rollers and ensuring that they work simultaneously with the time, date, GMT, and chronograph was just one of the immense technical challenges met and conquered.

About Maîtres du Temps

Maîtres du Temps is a pantheon where teams of independent master watchmakers at the very pinnacle of haute horlogerie collaborate to develop innovative, interesting, and very exclusive timepieces. Founded by Mr. Steven Holtzman and based in Switzerland, Maîtres du Temps crafts limited-series mechanical masterpieces, each the synthesis of the experience, art, and techniques of the Masters who create it. For more information, please visit www.maitresdutemps.com.

Maîtres du Temps Website

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