Crazy Jungle Frog

Ronde

The Boucheron “Ronde” collection, which was launched in 2005, quickly became a classic – its assets are a perfect reflection of the House’s essential values. This year, in order to extend its selection of retro-chic watches, it is simultaneously introducing a chronograph and an automatic, two quintessentially timeless pieces designed to appeal to enlightened amateurs eager to find an expression of the House’s best in the classic yet intense lines of an ancient watch-making heritage.
In addition, Boucheron is further enriching its curiosity cabinet with the stunning Bestiaire Seconde Folle Ronde collection.

Bestiary Ronde Seconde Folle

Driven by dogged determination and irrepressible passion, the House of Boucheron is further enriching its cabinet of curiosities with this year’s Bestiaire Seconde Folle collection. Tongue in cheek and iconoclastic, the little beasts who live on the dial of these new self-winding mechanical watches once again strike a pose, this time with the particularity that each has an element that twirls in time. The purpose of this new production is to breathe life into animals, and a new dimension into time.
With boundless creativity, the House of Boucheron set upon a mission to make the best of watch-making complications and channel their potential by diverting them from their original function, but without ever letting them lose touch with their raison d’être – namely, to give the time, in one way or the other. With three of its favourite animals - the frog, the chameleon and the owl - Place Vendôme’s very first Jeweller (1893) and fine watchmaking “hobbyist” – has decided to give a humorous twist in the display of the little seconds hand. Rather than the austerity generally associated with this type of creation - requiring hundreds of working hours and the talent of several master watchmakers - Boucheron, in collaboration with the Girard-Perregaux manufacture, has developed a new self-winding mechanical movement based on the existing GP 4000 calibre.
This new heart, produced exclusively for Boucheron by the Girard-Perregaux manufacture, was named GP 4000 “Seconde Folle” (“Crazy Second”), because its basic mechanism, already well-known by fine horology connoisseurs, is complemented with a module allowing the seconds hand, initially central, to be offset at 7 o’clock on the dial. Moreover, the usual hand is replaced by a very fine and lightweight disk
which rotates fully in one minute. As one would suspect, this highly original development instantly triggered creative imagination among the Parisian House’s designers. They were given carte blanche to use the device with maximum fantasy, in order to develop audacious timepieces: the least you can say about them is that they seem to have made the mischievous little beasts on the dial come alive and take over the bezel.
This year in total, Boucheron will be offering, housed in an 18 ct grey gold case with a 42 mm diameter, a collection of 6 models inspired by three animal themes dear to the House’s heart. Among them, the chameleon, gripped by an irrepressible yearning to gobble up an elusive bug; the slightly haywire frog, with one of its globular eye spinning endlessly in its socket; and an owl, whose convergent squint turns into a divergent squint every minute, with a most comical effect.

Frog Ronde “Seconde Folle”

Ribbit! goes the happy frog, a tad quirky, but not completely mad. Original and full of life, the belle, which you may want to imagine turning into a handsome prince, seems to want to escape from the jar it is confined to, leaping around in circles to the point that its eyes have gone all funny. Legs in the air, sitting on the bezel, it gazes upon the world passing by its imaginary pond, simulated by a white gold dial covered in blue chalcedony. This funny little beast will never quite want to leave its familiar surroundings, which is why it is accompanied by its faithful grey gold water lily set with diamonds, sapphires and tsavorites.
A true collector’s item, this 42 mm diameter white gold piece features a caseband adorned with a pointes de diamant pattern and is worn on a pink galuchat strap. It houses a self-winding mechanical calibre from the Girard-Perregaux manufacture. It is a very beautiful movement, so the watchmakers have placed an oval opening on the back through which the delicate finishing and oscillating weight perforated with the shape of the House’s historic hallmark can be admired. Nothing has been left to chance: this fine piece of watchmaking turned natural habitat for an amphibian is 50 meters water resistant, just in case something splatters.