Geneva Watch Days 2024: continued and last (2/2)
The second episode of Geneva Watch Days 2024 features five hand-picked exceptional watches. They won't be found on every wrist, that's for sure! They are by Angelus, Arnold & Son, Frederique Constant and Oris.
ANGELUS WATCHES, Chronodate Titanium Magnetic Silver Edition
This is a well-bodied neo-retro chronograph from Angelus. With this timepiece that is both sporty and extremely refined in its finish, the brand nods to its historic chronographs of the 1940s and 1960s.
Small in diameter, they had oversized counters to enhance legibility. This is also true of this contemporary 42.5 mm model, whose silvered sunray dial features extremely legible hour, minute and seconds displays, a peripheral date and, of course, the deep black small seconds and chronograph counters. The architecture of the case, complex and efficient, plays on the aesthetics of titanium, carefully brushed to give it a raw appearance. Entirely grey, with the exception of the black and red touches linked to the chronograph function (found on the push-pieces, counters and the tip of the central chronograph hand), this watch with its sharp lines distils a few well-considered retro details, such as the applied hour-markers – still silver – with their resolutely vintage typography.
The finishing touches are undoubtedly one of the strong points of this model, which boasts a host of charming details, from the brushed, sunburst and chamfered finishes to the 12-notch bezel and the spectacle offered by the movement, visible through the sapphire crystal on the back. The bead-blasted and NAC-treated bridges have satin-brushed edges, and the A-shaped (and bell-shaped) tungsten oscillating weight bears the brand’s logo.
In terms of calibre, the Angelus Chronodate Titanium Magnetic Silver Edition features the A-500 self-winding movement, with a 60-hour power reserve. The watch is available on a single-link titanium bracelet (the rubber strap is included) or on a rubber strap alone.
On rubber strap: CHF 23,000 / on titanium strap: CHF 25,100
Click here to read the full Chronodate Titanium Magnetic Silver Edition technical sheet.
ARNOLD & SON, Perpetual Moon 38 Red Gold Blue Aventurine & Cliff Grey Editions
Arnold & Son is offering two particularly poetic limited editions of the Perpetual Moon in 38 mm red gold. These are literally two nocturnal landscapes, featuring a starry sky and a moon of unprecedented size. Positioned between 10 and 12 o’clock, a dazzling white mother-of-pearl moon shines in a vast starry sky – with the constellations of Cassiopeia and the Ursa Major – which occupies almost the upper half of the dial.
Two new dials are available, in a limited edition of 88 pieces for the aventurine version and 28 for the grey version. The first, christened ‘cliff grey’, depicts a mineral landscape of warm sunny grey, shimmering with the reflections of the moon. Only the applied baton hour-markers punctuate the overall effect.
The second dial suggests a different vision of a night sky, one that can be observed by looking up, with the moon shining majestically in the middle of a deep midnight-blue adventurine glass dial. These two proposals are enhanced by the warmth of a red gold case with a slender bezel that makes all the information easy to read. They beat to the rhythm of the A&S1612 calibre designed specifically for the Perpetual Moon 38, whose moon phase guarantees 122 years of precision.
Aventurine dial: CHF 36,700 – limited to 88 pieces / grey dial: CHF 32,400 – limited to 28 pieces
Technical details:
Functions
Hours, minutes, astronomical moon phases
Movement
Calibre: A&S1612, hand-wound mechanical
Diameter: 29,40 mm
Power reserve: 90 hours
Frequency: 3 Hz / 21’600 vph
Finishes
Plate: rhodium-plated, radiating Côtes de Genève stripes bridges: polished and chamfered
Wheels: circular satin-finished
Screws: blued and chamfered, polished heads
Dial
Blue aventurine glass or sunray-brushed “cliff grey”
Moon phases
Sky: blue aventurine glass or grained midnight blue PVD
Moons: mother-of-pearl overlaid with Super-LumiNova, hand-painted details
Constellations: overlaid with Super-LumiNova, hand-painted details
Case
18-carat red gold (5N)
38 mm
Thickness: 10.44 mm
Crystal: domed sapphire, anti-reflective treatment on both sides
Case back: sapphire crystal, anti-reflective coating
Water-resistance: 3 bar (30 metres/100 feet)
Strap
Ink blue or warm grey alligator leather, hand-stitched
Pin buckle, 18-carat red gold (5N)
ARNOLD & SON’ WEBSITE
FREDERIQUE CONSTANT
Classic Tourbillon Manufacture Aventurine
Available in 36 pieces, this 39 mm limited series in white gold is an original interpretation of the Classic Tourbillon Manufacture. Its aventurine dial reveals a deep midnight-blue sky studded with stars, against which the tourbillon of Frederique Constant’s FC-980-4 Manufacture movement stands out at 6 o’clock.
A collector’s item of fine watchmaking. For this Geneva-based company, famous for its Manufacture movements, the quality of its finishes and its vision of affordable fine watchmaking.
Limited to 36 pieces – €39,995
Click here to read the full Classic Tourbillon Manufacture Aventurine technical sheet.
Classic Moonphase Date Manufacture – Malachite
Also limited to 36 pieces (the company has just celebrated its 36th anniversary), the Classic Moon Phase Date Manufacture Malachite benefits from the improvements presented at Watches & Wonders on this model, a sure value in the Frederique Constant catalogue.
Slightly smaller (40 mm instead of 42), this watch is equipped with a new calibre, whose power reserve has been increased from 38 to 72 hours, with the added bonus of a 5-year warranty. The dial has also been reworked and lightened, with baton hour-markers and elegant hand-polished leaf hands. A similar, thinner hand points to the dates, arranged in a circle around the moon phase. This model comes on a dark green alligator strap, matching the colour of the dial. Only five examples of this precious white gold edition (engraved and numbered) will be available in France.
Limited to 36 pieces – €29,995
Click here to read the full Classic Moonphase Date Manufacture – Malachite technical sheet.
ORIS x LFP Limited Edition
This Divers Sixty-Five, limited edition of 1,000, was created in collaboration with the LFP (French Football League).
The reason why this watch has such a cheerful, playful face – the typography used evokes a child’s handwriting for the logo, the multicoloured inscription ‘water resistant’ and even the ‘Swiss made’ – is that it is designed to support the CNAPE (Convention Nationale des Associations de Protection de l’Enfant), a federation that brings together all the French associations that help children.
Oris joins forces with the Professional Football League and CNAPE
On the back of the case, the ‘Les Défenseurs de l’Enfance’ logo marks Oris’ support for this cause and for the Tournoi des Défenseurs de l’Enfance, which brings together on a football pitch nearly 300 children and a hundred educators to break the cycle of violence and offer them a better future.
The new LFP Limited Edition is inspired by childhood, with the support of the CNAPE, a federation of French associations for children’s aid, and its cheerful annual Défenseurs de l’Enfance football tournament.
The Divers Sixty-Five x LFP Limited Edition has a 38 mm steel case, a unidirectional rotating bezel and an engraved solid back. The Oris 733 self-winding movement has approximately 41 hours of power reserve, but also delivers the hours, minutes and seconds functions, as well as a date display (window at 6 o’clock).
€2,500
Click here to read the full Oris x LFP Limited Edition technical sheet.
MB&F, Albatross Champagne
The Albatross spreads its wings in a major collaboration with L’Épée 1839 and MB&F. An aerial evocation of the eponymous airship featured in Jules Verne’s novel Robur the Conqueror and, more generally, of the rockets and hot-air balloons imagined by the visionary author, this unusual clock stands out for its daring technicality.
The Albatross, the most ambitious of the clocks co-created
by L’Epée 1839 and MB&F is ready to take off.
With a total of 1,520 components, 17 kg, 60 cm long, 60 cm high and 35 cm wide, this is a breathtaking timepiece. It is equipped with an alarm striking the hours with one strike for each hour, and the half-hours with a single strike. It is also coupled to an automaton made up of sixteen pairs of propellers that come into action every hour. Time seems to literally fly.
CHF129,000
Also available in blue, red, green and black – Limited editions of 8 each
Détails techniques :
Functions
Hours and minutes displayed on individual revolving discs.
Striking hour chiming both the specific hours on the hour and a single strike on the half-hour.
Automaton composed of 16 pairs of propellers that launch into action every hour.
Chiming and propeller functions can be activated/disactivated.
Two “on demand” buttons allow to chime the time and/or turn the propellers separately.
Engine
Two separate movements and winding systems, designed and manufactured in-house by L’Epée 1839; one powers the time and striking hour, the other provides the energy for the automaton (propellers).
Movements finishing: mix of satin and polish.
Time and striking hour movement
In-line 8-day power reserve movement
Balance frequency: 2.5 Hz / 18,000 bph
Jewels: 11
Incabloc shock protection system
Winding: manual via the propellers at the front of the flying Machine: clockwise for the striking hour and anti-clockwise for the time.
2 separate barrels powering the time and chiming functions.
Automaton movement:
Winding: manual via the propellers at the back.
Power reserve: when activated, the automaton can run for one day.
1 barrel dedicated to the automaton movement.
Components / Parts
Total of 1520 components
Dimensions :
600mm long x 350mm wide x 600mm high
Weight: 17kg
Body / Frame
The clock is made from a mix of brass, steel, and aluminium.
Colours: translucent cold lacquer in blue, red, green, champagne or black
See also:
Read also: