Indepth Interview Both Barrels

INDEPTH INTERVIEW BOTH BARRELS llk to the genius behind Frédérique Constant's Peter Gurunaker Lebeau-Courally 11 111 11111 111 11111 1111 111111111111f old & Son and Angelus Stas on Citizen's buy-out turns watch manufacture B:!:~~~~~~2e~!eJwiththeChronoworks 9 771479483021

1 Dr Sebastien Chaulmontetfirst rose to prominence as the pioneering head of movement design at the reinvigorated Arnold & Son. Now he's shaking up the • • • watch industry once again by breathing new life into Angelus. QP editor James Buttery attempts to get the measure ofthe man. <>

83 Dr Sebastien Chaulmontetfirst rose to prominence as the pioneering head of movement design at the reinvigorated Arnold & Son. Now he's shaking up the • • • watch industry once again by breathing new life into Angelus. QP editor James Buttery attempts to get the measure ofthe man. <>

83 IN- DEPTH

There are precious few occasions in any profession when rare, precociollS talent is given the opportllnity to shine-through. Watchmaking is no

different. If anything it is appeared on a regular basiswhile complications more difficlllt as there are were presented in unfamiliar ways - Arnold & Son's diaJ-side complications have become tew opportllnities tor the something of a brand signature. individllal to take centre QP caught up with Chaulmontet and Wenger in London, the pail' in town ta try stage and command the and expand their retail presence (they are attention of an audience currently available solely at Bond Street's Frost of Landon in the UK) and present celebrity chef in a pursuit that is, by and and new brand ambassador Jason Athcrton large, a group exercise. with a Time Pyramid. While parallels between watchmaking and On ly a handful of other creative endeavours are more often than watchmakers per Ilot til'esome and contrived, Chaulmontet appears to be onto something when he begins generation manage talking about Atherton's work in the kitchen. to balance enough "Everyday you have to have the quest for perfection, for precision," he says. "You cannat natural talent with a rely on what you've done yesterday, every watch fresh approach and the ChaLÙmontet's talent first came to be has to bedone perfectly. It's like a lot ofthings recognised by a wider circle when he led the done by hand, like cooking. Everytime you personal drive to become creative and technical charge atArnold &Son. cook it has ta be good. With a watch, ifyour a recognised name. Dr Tralned in law, Chaulmontetwas something chamferingwas good on Monday it has ta be of an enthusiatic amateur, having alrcady good on Tuesday too." Sebastien Chaulmontet, constructed his own watches and even taken Hard to argue with. Doubling down, 41, head of movement Qut patents on his creations by the time he Chaulmontet takes the analogy further. entered inta PhD studies. But during these he "We were dining at Pollen Street Social design at La Joux made the bold decision to follow rus passion last night. You look at the menu and a lot of Perret, Arnold & Son and attempt to make a living from the watch things sound farniliar but the way he serves it, industry. Rather than abandon his studies, it's totallynew. It's howwe like to dowatches; and Angelus, is one such Chaulmontet made those first, tentative steps we took ancient complications Iike the dead figure. in 2008, wOl'kingpart-time at mavement maker beatseconds, for instance, butwe made itvery La J oux-Perret after meeting company CEO three-dirnensional dial-side. It's a 200-year-old Frederic Wenger. complication, but we do it in a way that you 'Iwo years later La Joux-Perret's parent would never have found in a poeket watch." company, Prothor Holding. acquired Arnold & Fittingly the brand calJs the approach Son from British Masters SA, which had chosen neocJassic, but rather than hinge the success to Înstead focus its efforts on its main brand, of the company on sorne high-concept Graham. The acquisition wasn'taholtfrom the ideal everything is conceived with realistic blue for Chaulmontet as he and the tearn atLa commercial ambitions from the start: Joux-Perret had previously creatcd movements fol' Arnold & Son, but itdid rcpresent a sea làckling the history change for the brand itself - and also La Joux ChaLÙmontet'sworkondevelopingArnold Perret which had until then solelyproduced & Son into a brand rightly revered for its movement fol' other brands, something it progressive and - with 21 unique calibres ta continues to do. its name - prolific output does not depend on Under the watchful eye ofWenger and, with following 250-year-old design eues, but rather Chaulmontct's creativityunleashed, the brand moving them a10ng in a manner that might weil launched into Iife with extraordinaryspced and be given a reassuring nad From the legendary technical dexterity. New, unique movements watchmaker himself. <>--

84 .. IN- DEPTH

There are precious few occasions in any profession when rare, precociollS talent is given the opportllnity to shine-through. Watchmaking is no

84 .. "We are not a souvenir shop for any museum," he asserts. "We take inspiration from his work, we work on his complications, .1:'1 on his escapements, butwe alsa applymodern Arnold&Son technical solutions." Nebula The practice of naming cantemporary brands after long·dead watchmakers or inactive Priee: El0,BOO brands is nothing new, but it's not without its Material: stainless critics either. The argumentoften raised - not steel Calibre: A&S5101 least by us, as regulaI' readers will know - is that handwound, twin the heritage and reputation has been bought barrels, central hours and paid for. Wcngervisibly bristles at the and minutes and suggestion. smallseconds, 3hz/21,600vph ''Frankly 1 think it's without merit, this Oiameter: 41.5mm criticism," the CEO says. "Yon have ta be true Power reserve: 90hr ta the historical heritage. The people at the Water resistanc€!: helm of Breguet today, Breguet wasn't their 3Dm ancestor either. Theydidn't know him, he was 200 years aga. The people at Panerai today are not Mr Panerai, they have no link. We build modern daywatches; we don't pretend thatJohnArnold was our great, great, great grandfather, we never have. We don't pretend "A lot ofbrands do very to be English because we obviously are not. What we are saying is John Arnold is one of the nice vintage watches. most important watchmakers who ever lived We saw Aiigelus and we are very proud to draw inspiration from sOlnewhere else." what he did." To ensure that his work doesn't stray tao faI' from these ideals, Chaulmontet has issued himself and the design and technical teams he "We ce rtainly don't aspire ta be cheap," adds leads a rigid, traditional framework, saying: Wenger. ''But we certainly offer good value "we have no carbon fibre, no plastic, no funky, for money compared to other brands. It's also strange materials, no silicon. It's reallydone because we are very highly integrated that we based on tradition". can do that, we don't have big overheads. "We do a lot, we have many hats, not Technical design only myself and Sebastien, but sorne of our Chaulmontet takes off asteel Nebula cnO,BOO) colleagues work like a start-up, meaning one - newly launched at Basel this year - with day we do products, the next day it could be an open, tI-uee-dimensionai movement marketing or sales. architecture formed from German silver and '1f you look at Basel we're not in Halll with passes it over the table for inspection. He a big booth [the largest brands often spend has honoured the "absolutelynot Swiss, but eight figures on theirs], we're just in the Palace, English" one-wheel, one-bridge approach taken which is basically a tent. We'd prefer ta develop by John Arnold, with numerons triangulaI' a new movement rather than to have Ilice bridges lining the perimeter of the movement the museum laoking at watches and then we booths." within the new Nebula and its Royal Collection take something ancient and try to extract what stablemates, including the range-topping we like aboutit. It takes quite a few months Angelus revived Constant Force Tourbillon (f.l39,920). but once we are in a position wherewe like a Until as recently as lastyear Chaulmontet's Both of these watches make use of twin product, we go in-depth to validate 'is a dead other major horologicaJ passion was collecting, barrels, as originally employed by John Arnold, beat dial-side really feasible?', 'Can we hide all spccifically vintage Angelus chronographs. hawever Chaulmontet has added symmetry to the wheels we don't like andjust display it?'. Chaulmontetdescribes the brand as 'brave', the movements' architecture not only for visual But before we do that we design a watch and lauding its pioneering spirit that saw it achieve impact, but the hope that the logical, anti put all the elements on the dial where we want numerous world firsts, although he also c10ckwise progression of energyfrom winding them." believes this bravell' may have contributed ta stem, through to the barrels, gear train and the company's eventual downfall. escapementwill resonate with anyone weaI'ing A question ofvalue The renowned collector was the watches. Closer inspection of the Nebula brings eventually approached by someone Where a chronograph movement from up the question ofpricing. Just a ofteringthe longdead brand's sameone likeA Lange and Sohne is an handful of other watches sit below the inteUectuaJ property for sale. intricately complex warren of levers and Nebula in Arnold & Son's coUection Angelus appealed to Wenger as a wheels, Arnold & Son takes a logical, structured and yet the level offinishing, with business proposition for the same approach to its movementdesign. charnfered bridges and wheels reason that the brand had aJways Describing his method, Chaulmontet says: and white gold chatons does not appealed to Chaulmontet as a "We study a lot ofhist01l', spend a lot of time in suggest an entry-level watch. collector.

87 "We are not a souvenir shop for any museum," he asserts. "We take inspiration from his work, we work on his complications, .1:'1 on his escapements, butwe alsa applymodern Arnold&Son technical solutions." Nebula The practice of naming cantemporary brands after long·dead watchmakers or inactive Priee: El0,BOO brands is nothing new, but it's not without its Material: stainless critics either. The argumentoften raised - not steel Calibre: A&S5101 least by us, as regulaI' readers will know - is that handwound, twin the heritage and reputation has been bought barrels, central hours and paid for. Wcngervisibly bristles at the and minutes and suggestion. smallseconds, 3hz/21,600vph ''Frankly 1 think it's without merit, this Oiameter: 41.5mm criticism," the CEO says. "Yon have ta be true Power reserve: 90hr ta the historical heritage. The people at the Water resistanc€!: helm of Breguet today, Breguet wasn't their 3Dm ancestor either. Theydidn't know him, he was 200 years aga. The people at Panerai today are not Mr Panerai, they have no link. We build modern daywatches; we don't pretend thatJohnArnold was our great, great, great grandfather, we never have. We don't pretend "A lot ofbrands do very to be English because we obviously are not. What we are saying is John Arnold is one of the nice vintage watches. most important watchmakers who ever lived We saw Aiigelus and we are very proud to draw inspiration from sOlnewhere else." what he did." To ensure that his work doesn't stray tao faI' from these ideals, Chaulmontet has issued himself and the design and technical teams he "We ce rtainly don't aspire ta be cheap," adds leads a rigid, traditional framework, saying: Wenger. ''But we certainly offer good value "we have no carbon fibre, no plastic, no funky, for money compared to other brands. It's also strange materials, no silicon. It's reallydone because we are very highly integrated that we based on tradition". can do that, we don't have big overheads. "We do a lot, we have many hats, not Technical design only myself and Sebastien, but sorne of our Chaulmontet takes off asteel Nebula cnO,BOO) colleagues work like a start-up, meaning one - newly launched at Basel this year - with day we do products, the next day it could be an open, tI-uee-dimensionai movement marketing or sales. architecture formed from German silver and '1f you look at Basel we're not in Halll with passes it over the table for inspection. He a big booth [the largest brands often spend has honoured the "absolutelynot Swiss, but eight figures on theirs], we're just in the Palace, English" one-wheel, one-bridge approach taken which is basically a tent. We'd prefer ta develop by John Arnold, with numerons triangulaI' a new movement rather than to have Ilice bridges lining the perimeter of the movement the museum laoking at watches and then we booths." within the new Nebula and its Royal Collection take something ancient and try to extract what stablemates, including the range-topping we like aboutit. It takes quite a few months Angelus revived Constant Force Tourbillon (f.l39,920). but once we are in a position wherewe like a Until as recently as lastyear Chaulmontet's Both of these watches make use of twin product, we go in-depth to validate 'is a dead other major horologicaJ passion was collecting, barrels, as originally employed by John Arnold, beat dial-side really feasible?', 'Can we hide all spccifically vintage Angelus chronographs. hawever Chaulmontet has added symmetry to the wheels we don't like andjust display it?'. Chaulmontetdescribes the brand as 'brave', the movements' architecture not only for visual But before we do that we design a watch and lauding its pioneering spirit that saw it achieve impact, but the hope that the logical, anti put all the elements on the dial where we want numerous world firsts, although he also c10ckwise progression of energyfrom winding them." believes this bravell' may have contributed ta stem, through to the barrels, gear train and the company's eventual downfall. escapementwill resonate with anyone weaI'ing A question ofvalue The renowned collector was the watches. Closer inspection of the Nebula brings eventually approached by someone Where a chronograph movement from up the question ofpricing. Just a ofteringthe longdead brand's sameone likeA Lange and Sohne is an handful of other watches sit below the inteUectuaJ property for sale. intricately complex warren of levers and Nebula in Arnold & Son's coUection Angelus appealed to Wenger as a wheels, Arnold & Son takes a logical, structured and yet the level offinishing, with business proposition for the same approach to its movementdesign. charnfered bridges and wheels reason that the brand had aJways Describing his method, Chaulmontet says: and white gold chatons does not appealed to Chaulmontet as a "We study a lot ofhist01l', spend a lot of time in suggest an entry-level watch. collector.

87 IN-DEPTII

"Angelus has always been at the forefront of horology," the watchmakerexplains. "50 it has a lot ofworld firsts; first chronograph with date; nrstalarm with date; first automatic repeater; firstwaterproof repeater; first big date in a chronograph. "They were really interesting for us because they were cluonograph manufacturers, they were providing Panerai with eight clay movements; they provided Vacheron with clocks. Like Arnold, wc take the spirit and don't re-edit things from the museum ta make re editions of the classics." Angelus was relaunched at Baselworld in 2015 \Vith a debut watch thatwas unlike anythillg that rnight have been predicted. For a strutthe UlO Tourbillon Lumière was certainly not a chronograph, it was a conceptwatch made reru, a wild flight offancy in the metal. "tt wasn't a risk, itwas a statement," Chaulmontetexplains. "The industry has gone frorn making icons, which is good, to redoing everything. We wanted ta set ourselves apart and approach ourown historydifferently. You have a lot of very good brands doil1g very nice

"Angelus never did a split-seconds; don't ask me why, so we did a split"

vintage orientated watches. We reallysaw before, and a complication that Angelus has not OUI' Angelus somewhere else." offered before. We wantto complete the story, Chaulmontet admits that production not repeat the story." issues with the watch's seven complex Despite an aversion to retreading the past, sapphire crystals plagued the project titanium Chaulmo ntetdoes seem prepared to make a and delayed the lalUlch of the watch (and Callbre: A- 150 concession ta the stl'ong demand of heritage one ~ minute toubillon, by tw·n Angelus' relalUlch) by two years. inspired design. well as adding more outré doublecolumnwheel As T his illustrates just how far and how flvback chronograph, canceptwatches along the same ti nes as the quickly sapphire crystal manufacturers split-seconds. 45 ~ UIO and high end sports chronographs to the have pushed theil' own abilities as we've seen hourpowerreserve CUITent Urban collection, Chaulmontet also Dlameter: 47mm even morecomplicated use of sapphire since. offers a tantalising glimpse of a new collection of Angelus watches thatwill abide by a more Cu tting edge modernity traditional set affules. But the absence of a chronograph within a did a split," Chau]montet m odestly explains. "More traditional," he admits. "But still revmnped Angelus was somethingthat Ileeded The issue ofpricing rears its head again. no re-editions; new stuffbut more in the vein ta be addressed. At Basel this year Chaulmontet Had these modern haute horlogerie pieces of certain designs thathave existed, in a very revealed a trio of limited edition tourbillon originated Crom another manufacturer they evolved and uniqueway. With our technologies watches in more familiar round cases, which would certainly besix-figure watches.lt would wecan be much more three-dimensional, certainlysupports the notion that a watch also seem that the U3D will be the first ofmany much more fluid. It's very important to us brand cannat survive on the outré alone. such ambitious chronos from Angelus as the to use technology to make designs that were While undoubtedly al1 haute horlogerie brand starts to write its own history. impossible a few years back." statement pieces - the U20 and U40 "You will see many more chronographs The trick that both Chaulmontet and use lightweight materials, skeletonised from us in ail different forms, very unusuat Wenger will have ta pull oft"is making a movements and a dash of sapphire crystal ones," he says. "Nextycaryou will see two new coherent proposition of a brand offering sa smoke and mirrors - the U30 is also very chronograph movements. We will then go on manydisparate styles. With so manypotential much a chronograph, albeit a spectacularly with tongpower reserves, but as Angelus did developments on theirway it will take an expert complicated tlyback rattrapante with eight days eighty years aga we will try and do hand to ensure each is recognisably the work of tourbillon and power reserve. "Angelus never something spectacularly different. SA you will Angelus. But an expert hand is the one thingwe did a split-seconds; don't ask me why, and sa we see a new fo rm of chronograph that didn't exist know they have for sure. !lm