Creativity and liberty among the independents

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The organizers of the Salon International de la Haute Hor/ogerie did not initially want it that way, but the great attraction of their event transformed into a veritable capital of Haute Hor/ogerie for an entire week in mid- January. Nearly fifty brands decided to orga- nize their own exhibitions during the dates of the SIHH, with most taking place in a handful of luxury hotels along the lakeshore in Geneva. Good idea, since it seems that a large number Since 2002, Pierre-Michel Golay has been of visitors took the time to visit these small responsible for R & D at Franck Muller. The man shows. These same visitors-agents, distribu- obviously has a lot of experience under his tors, and journalists-who normally would belt. Originally from the Vallee de }oux, he has arrive in Geneva after an exhausting week in complicated timekeeping in his blood, and we Basel, clearly came with a more open mind and owe him the very famous Grande Sonnerie GRANDE SONNERIE WITH PERPETUAL CALENDAR by Pierre-Michel Golay the desire to see the creativity and fresh with Perpetual Calendar created in 1996 for approaches offered by independent - Gerald Genta, with whom he had already been number of the brand's watchmakers to leave, makers-qualities that are often lacking with working since 1973. After a stint at the Geneva forcing Golay day to start afresh. In 2005, Didier brands that are subject to the stringent Watchmaking School (where he was responsi- Decker, then executive director of the group demands of their shareholders. ble for the Poinr;on de Geneve), Golay was (and now with Harry Winston) asked Golay to The shrewdest of them all, Franck Muller, orga- hired by Franck Muller to work on a minute design a watch "with the maximum number of nized the first WPHH of the year in the brand's repeater, one of his specialties. hands." This was the beginning of the adventure Watchland headquarters. It was the first The infamous "war of the chiefs" that tore the of the Aeternitas, and then the Mega, a truly because the group of Vartan Sirmakes decided Franck Muller group apart in 2003 caused a spedacular piece featuring an automatic move- to organize three events this year: one in paral- ment, Westminster carillon, minute repeater, lel with the SIHH; one after BaselWorld; and and a power reserve of 100 hours. one in August, which will be devoted specially Pierre-Michel Golay then accepted another to the brand's Mid-Eastern clientele who like to challenge: design from scratch the first Franck spend a part of their summer in Geneva. Muller automatic movement. While it would be impossible to talk about all Four years were necessary to develop this cali- of these independent events, we will however bre, conceived from the very beginning with its take a brief look at a few particularly inventive industrialization in mind. Everything-or and creative brands, as well as the presenta- nearly everything-was done within the tion by Franck Muller of its "first homemade" group, which demonstrates the brand's pro- automatic chronograph movement. gressive verticalization efforts with a view to its autonomy. Brass and steel items were made in will propose a dozen or so different move- a unit owned by the group in , near ments this year. Most will be tourbillons, Geneva; cutting and milling were done at designed on a base that he himself calls a Another" hard and fast" watchmaker, who is Watch land; dials came from Linder, a company "tractor" -a calibre with a power reserve of in his own way respectful of the canons of in the Jura, also a part of the group. eight days, small seconds hand, and Cotes de historical timekeeping while being fiercely The escapement (21,600 vib/hour) with its Geneve finishing. innovative, is Denis Flageollet, founder of De steel escape wheel produced with the The architecture of his movements-of which Bethune along with David Zanetta. Mimotec process, was designed in-house, we were able to see some prototypes-is In Flageollet's mind, chronometry is an while the balance, collet, and balance-spring superbly classical in nature, with, notably, the essential part of timekeeping. It is what stud came from outside (Schaffhausen). Very rare detail of the gold jewel settings in relief. inspired the "Ancients". Yet, in his quest for compact and well structured, this automatic Other features include the complete date in a perfect chronometry, he is following a more movement, the Calibre FM 3210, intentionally window, a mysterious tourbillon, perpetual cal- contemporary path, illustrated, for example, called Freedom, with a wink, is equipped with endar, minute repeater, and flyback chrono- by the DBW1, inspired by his recent Dream a traditional column wheel and vertical cou- graph with the hour counter in a window. Watch One. pling with flyback function. Never have we seen a "new" brand launch "Between the workbench on which we can Its original winding system of "bielle-maniv- with such a great number of high flying perfectly adjust a movement from 0 to +6 sec- elle" (crank and rod) is visible between the . Well, it certainly took someone like 0nds' then put it into its case, and then wear it, bridges and the plate. The movement has also Golay to pull it off, or rather two Golays since there is necessarily a certain amount of varia- been finished in a lovely artisanal style (Cotes Pierre-Michel is assisted by his cousin, Jean- tion that will occur. This can be as much as -10 de Geneve, circular-graining, chamfering, Pierre Golay. to +30 seconds. But if well adjusted, a watch rhodium-plated). In addition, it features a Let's hope that the Franck Muller group will be will always maintain its regularity. Variations in semi-instantaneous display of the date and a able to provide, which alas has not always time occur as a function of the wearer, that is, small seconds hand at 9 o'clock. Once it is been the case for all the brands under its they will depend on his level of activity and made totally reliable, it will take its place in the umbrella, this new brand with the excellent whether he is often outdoors or not, and they concert of automatic chronograph movements. distribution network that it deserves a hundred will occur according to a variable average. We In parallel, Pierre-Michel Golay is launching, times over. The offer signed Pierre-Michel can affect this variation and the wearer is in within the group, his own brand, which carries Golay is truly complementary to that of the the best position to do so. I therefore designed his name. A lover of the most traditional time- other brands in the group, crowning it with its a system of adjusting the seconds. Bya simple keeping (he is more than 70 years old), Golay classicism without compromise. push on one of the two push buttons, either + or -, on the back of the watch, its owner can adjust it as a function of his lifestyle thanks to a system of gear-down arms and levers." This attention to the pure functionality of the watch-but also to its comfort, readability, and ease of use-is also found in the thought process behind his DB Tourbillon, In this case, Flageollet adapted, to a wristwatch, his tour- billon made entirely of silicon and titanium, without a carriage or pillar, with its silicon bal- ance and thermo-compensating plate. The fre- quency of this manual-winding calibre is 36,000 vibrations per hour, a frequency that is truly high-performing since the silicon does not presented a special edition of the famous along these lines. They intend to present the require lubrication. As we know, lubricating a UR103-the UR103T, with the 'T standing CC1 in the near future. We invite you to have a traditional calibre that oscillates at 36,000 for "Tarantula." look at the photo and try to guess how this vibrations per hour involves a number of prob- The central cross of the classic UR103 has been "cobra" mechanism works. lematic issues. replaced by a structure in the metal alloy Finally, Urwerk presented an artistic piece in With this type of innovation, De Bethune is ARCAP that, like a tarantula, wraps around the collaboration with the engraver, Jean-Vincent positioning itself as one of the true labora- four hour satellites. Only the satellite displaying Hugenin. This artist, who loves the solitude of tories in the realm of haute hor/ogerie. On top the exact time, the premium, travels along the his atelier along the shore of Lake Neuchatel, of this, the design of its pieces, largely inspired arc of the minutes. During this time, the three uses his powerful burin to demonstrate how by David Zanetta, is totally modernistic while other satellites each make four turns of 1200 engraving can be a perfect ally to the most never compromising on readability or on their own axis, This unusual display vibrantly modernist piece. He composes vigor- ergonomics, undoubtedly requires an exceptional precision ous lines, cutting deep grooves resembling Art Interestingly, David Zanetta is also thumbed during machining. Deco styling, which glorify Urwerk's timekeep- his nose at the large brands by creating his To add an exotic touch to the exhibition, the ers even more by adding an original poetic vibe. own automobile, an incredible prototype that watch, as black as the spider itself, was pre- was showcased during the exhibition, "The sented in a vivarium where it was placed grand watchmakers are all fighting to place the alongside a real live tarantula. name of a famous car brand on their dials. As Nearby, we also were able to see the prototype for me, I did just the opposite. I created my own of another creation by Urwerk, the CC1. In its car from my own parts," says Zanetta-a car double C title, one C stands for the codename that will undoubtedly become famous in its Cobra (we look forward to seeing the vivarium own right. next year!) and the other C pays homage to Louis Cottier-a Geneva watchmaker best known for the universal time watch created for Patek Philippe, as well as a patent filed in 1959 Another style but with the same thirst for inno- for a watch with a linear display. Although vation is exemplified by Urwerk. This year, Felix Cottier's linear display timepiece was never Baumgartner, the watchmaker, and Martin Frei, made, Baumgartner and Frei found this princi- the designer, and their team of eight people ple intriguing and decided to create a piece "Because", as he muses, "it is high time to rede- Nine outstanding Another form of poetry, this time softer and fine luxury, to return to certain values, and to ideas lighter, is that displayed by Vincent Berard. again find the veritable culture that creates true 1.. DE VUE Laura Infante Slowly, at his own pace, Berard has developed a luxury. There must be real content, not just a con- 2. ASHURA rather particular type of watchmaking by taking tainer." Justine Parnigoni 3. HIDDEN FACE time for reflection in order to "work in-depth" OF TIME not only on the functioning of his very beautiful Tiffany Baehler movements with their tiered bridges, but also on 4. LA ROUE DU TEMPS their decoration, while building the reputation of The week, which began in the luxurious corridors IvanaI' Miller his brand in a step-by-step manner. of the large groups worried about orders and S. DESTROY TIME Mickaiif Melcher Supported by the Timex group-which surprised balance sheets, ended in the company of poets. 6. DAY & NIGHT everyone-Berard is, along with Herbert And among them is Antoine Preziuso, a person SuMo 7. ELARA Gautschi, now in charge of twenty or so watch- who never stopped dreaming of his watches. A Valerie Eb,ner makers and artisans, who all work in a beautiful poet and also a couturier in his own way, he cre- 8. END LESS Edir Ode (osta renovated farm near La Chaux-de-Fonds. "Our ates for his own movements (ETA 2892 calibres 9. DAT-TIME business plan is based on the next fifteen years," that he reworks from top to bottom, which he Maxime (enteno explains Gautschi. "The first pieces were deliv- prefers over all others because of their reliability ered in October 2008, and I personally took under all circumstances, their robustness, and them to our clients in Asia, Japan, India, the USA, their precision) outfits that he varies according to and . Up to now, the watches num- his moods, alternately sparkling or sombre, made ber only a few dozen, but we intend to make of meteorite or titanium. around a hundred per year." His latest creation, Metropolis, is a square watch, A hundred yes, but the attention to detail is carved in titanium and then polished, which was amazing, not only for the watches but also for greatly inspired by the Asian cities that he visits. their environment. Vincent Berard designs every- Entirely made in the brand's Geneva ateliers, the thing, from the watches to their packaging, pre- Metropolis features very geometric hands, a dial sentation boxes, displays, tables, and furniture. flanked by "metallic buildings", detachable and He takes a truly artistic approach that is far from removable horns, and an off-centred movement, the well-trodden paths-an approach that is thus giving it a remarkable presence. both modest ("Don't forget that timekeeping is 500 years old," he likes to say) and yet terribly ambitious. Let's hope that time-and our chaotic time- will do justice to his wonderful watches. Antoine Preziuso is also a generous poet, and thinks of others. As one example, he helped stu- dents at Geneva's Centre de Formation en Arts Appliques, by offering them nine cases, request- ing that the students transform them as they see fit. The result is nine outstanding ideas that demonstrate to all those moaners that there are still a thousand things to do in timekeeping, and that its history is far from over. See all Brands at wvvw.europastar.com