There is no doubt that sovereign city-state Monaco breathes magic for a lot of people. Cannes, Nice and St. Tropez are all nice places to visit, but Monaco is the crown on every trip to the Côte d’Azur. Besides being a tax heaven, Monaco is famous for the Monaco Grand Prix, the Monte Carlo Rally and ofcourse the number one source of income for this constitutional monarchy is tourism, the Monte Carlo Casino to be more precise. Did you know that citizens of Monaco are not allowed to gamble in the casino at all?

The few times I visited Monaco, I really enjoyed the view (as pictured below), the enormous yachts, the Riva boats and the passing Lambos/Ferraris/Maseratis. Driving around in Monaco gives a magic feeling, knowing that you are on the same track as some of the fastest and most special cars in the world.

And Monaco recently got more interesting for watch freaks like you and me. On the 25th of April 2009,  Pim Koeslag and Robert van Pappelendam launched new haute horlogerie brand Ateliers DeMonaco together with H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. These two Dutch guys, founded Ateliers DeMonaco together with another Dutchman Peter Stas (founder of Frederique Constant and Alpina Geneve) on the 6th of April 2009.

About a week ago, I got in touch with Pim Koeslag and his wife Susana. Their enthusiasm for watches and their own Ateliers DeMonaco brand in particular is contagious for watch lovers. The official Ateliers DeMonaco website and the pictured watches on there make you want to know more about the Carré d’Or timepiece and its creators.

Pim Koeslag is master watchmaker and responsible for the innovative tourbillon construction as well as for the whole design of the Carré d’Or watch. This is something you’ll see more often with independent watchmakers. This is a huge advantage over the existing (big) brands that need to bring all involved parties together to get a common consent with respect to design, technology, marketing etc. Pim Koeslag doesn’t have to make concessions when it comes to the design of the timepiece and the used technology.

The first noticeable detail about the Carré d’Or is the sapphire tourbillon bridge. The patented Grand XP 1 minute tourbillon has been developed and manufactured in-house and it is one of the most accurate tourbillon movements in the world. XP stands for eXtreme Precision, which can be guaranteed because the used technology allows the 28.800 beats per hour to be translated into pure accuracy that is regulated to have a tolerance of only zero to 2 seconds per 24 hours. Ateliers deMonaco uses three supporting innovations to be able to achieve this kind of tolerance for their Carré d’Or XP tourbillon timepiece. These innovations are: a perfect balance cage, silicium escapement and lever and the use of a few super precision manufacturing methodologies.

A perfect balance cage is established by using small metal weights on the sides of the escapement. By adding or removing these small weights, the watchmaker is able to balance the weight of the tourbillon cage until it is perfect. This means that the gravity point of all components should be brought to the center of the cage.

Being an IT guy for profession, I am familiar with the use of silicium for microprocessors. However, just (fairly) recently, the watch industry also found its way to this light weight, extreme hard and corrosion resistant material. In the most recent edition of Revolution Magazine (US edition), the use of silicium for mechanical movements is being further examined and discussed by several watch makers. The only problem some companies seem to have is the fact that it is technology meant for electronics and not for the traditional watchmaking craft. Basically, creating the escapement wheel and lever from silicium, will result in improved efficiency of energy. Since this material is very hard (twice as hard as regular stainless steel), there is only low friction and therefore no need for lubrication. Silicium is also anti-magnetic, which solves the old problem of interference that causes deviations in accuracy.

Although Pim Koeslag is the only watchmaker at Ateliers DeMonaco, he does source some help from only the best available parties in Switzerland. The sapphire tourbillon bridge for example, is just like any other small part, very hard to create out of sapphire. I have heard this complaint before, from Bernhard Lederer of BLU during my interview with him in Basel. After breaking a serious amount of precious sapphire parts, Atelier DeMonaco decided to use laser cutting technology to get the required result. A company called Sebal S.A, who specializes in manufacturing sapphire crystals in Boécourt, Switzerland, helped the Monaco based watch manufacturer out.

The 18ct gold rotor of the movement has been engraved and finished by Jochen Benzinger, master hand engraver. Benzinger, well-known for his work on his own line of watches and those of Chronoswiss for example, has decorated both sides of the gold rotor with the Ateliers DeMonaco shield and a hand guilloche finish.

The rectangular case of the watch is 44.3×48mm, which makes it fairly big, and consists of 33 parts. The core of the watch case is made out of titanium and the parts that create a shell around the titanium frame are made out of 18 carat solid gold, as pictured below.

Production of the Carré d’Or is limited to 18 pieces and prices are unknown (yet). For more detailed information about the Carré d’Or or Les Ateliers DeMonaco, visit the website by clicking here.

Thanks to Pim and Susana Koeslag for the photographs. I can’t wait to see one of these beauties in person, perhaps I should plan a trip to Monaco soon

Exactly two weeks ago, I was dining with a friend and we were sitting outside (one of the first days with nice weather here in The Netherlands) and next to us, there was a table with three guys. One of them was wearing a Patek Philippe Nautilus in red gold. Although, that is what I thought it was at first glance. In the evening dusk, and without my glasses it was hard to identify it correctly the first time. However, giving it a better try, I noticed this was a replica version of the Nautilus in red gold on leather strap. The edges were way too round, the strap was crappy and the bezel was too thick. Furthermore, the dial was far from refined as Patek Philippe makes them. Even though a real Patek Philippe of this caliber is only in reach for the lucky few and Patek probably wouldn’t lose a dime over this guy [wearing a fake], I don’t think it is chic to have a fake watch.

It becomes even more pathetic when people try to make other people think it is an authentic watch. I recall an interview with a famous (Dutch) lawyer in a Dutch watch magazine, that he threw his Rolex Submariner overboard in one of the Amsterdam cannels after getting remarks about him wearing an expensive/gaudy Rolex, just to impress his friends that he didn’t care about the money. A fake Rolex that was. Poor guy, caring about other people’s opinions about his watch AND wearing a fake Rolex. And this is a lawyer that makes probably over 700K Euro per year.

Get a Swatch if you want to own a Swiss brand for little money. But in most (or perhaps all) cases it’s not about the watch, it is about the label….

Together with the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, Haute Horlogerie has a programme on counterfeit watches. This programme is about creating awareness about the damage that these replica products (watches in this case) are causing globally. Although I wonder what the real losses are caused by people who buy fake watches, I certainly support this anti-counterfeiting campaign wholeheartedly. The famous Dutch lawyer (probably) can easily cough-up a real Rolex, the guy sitting next to me at the restaurant probably would have some trouble getting that red gold Patek Philippe (assumptions, I know, but for this illustration it will do ).

You can download the full programme by HH and the FHS here (PDF format).

The official press release can be found at: http://www.hautehorlogerie.org/en/fondation-haute-horlogerie/anti-counterfeiting-campaign/press-release/press-release.html

Yesterday, I was happy to find an e-mail from Maximilian Büsser in my inbox. He is pre-releasing some ‘SIHH’ news on the internet already. Just recently, I posted news on his Horological Machine No.3. However, he now introduces the Ceramic model of the HM2. There are two versions of the new HM2: a ceramic with red gold (HM2-CR) and ceramic with titanium (HM2-CTi).

The HM2-CR is a limited edition of 33 pieces (and only 11 produced in 2009) and the HM2-CTi is a limited edition of 66 pieces (and only 22 produced this year).

Ceramic is quite ‘da bomb’ in the horological world lately, and MB&Friends are also embracing this material for their watches. As MB&F writes in their official press release:

“Ceramic: there is nothing quite like it. In fact, nothing that even comes close! From exquisite 5,000 year old pottery to 300 km/hour brake disks on Formula One racing cars; from the aqueducts of the Roman Empire to 1,600°C heat shields on the space shuttle, ceramic’s extreme versatility is complimented an incredible ability to shrug of time and adversity.”

To be able to create the Ceramic parts of this watch, diamond cutting tools are nescessary equipment for MB&F.

Enough talk, here are some pictures of the new MB&F creations:

Although I am way too young to wear gold , I do love the HM2-CR – that’s the ceramic with red gold – with its nice color contrast. The retrograde date and bi-hemisphere moon phase is on the left dial and the (jump) hour and minutes (also retrograde) are on the right dial. No wonder the case is almost 6 centimeters in width! The jump hour/retrograde mechanism developed by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht.

The SIHH is worth visiting for this Horological Machine only! I am eagerly waiting for the first pictures of this watch in the flesh.

Movement used in the HM2-CTi and HM2-CR is a:
Jean-Marc Wiederrecht/Agenhor designed functionality regulated and powered by a Girard-Perregaux oscillator and gear train
Balance oscillating at 28,800 bph
22k rose gold Double Hakken automatic winding rotor

Number of components: 349 including 44 jewels

Case dimensions:
Dimensions (exclusive of crown and lugs): 59mm x 38mm x 13mm
Water resistant to 30 meters (3 ATM)
Number of parts: 102 (case only)

What do you think of these haute horlogerie timepieces? Exceptional watchmaking or too haut for you? Please leave a comment!

The Horological Machine No.3 has been introduced by Maximilian Büsser & Friends. This time, MB&F were able to make their customers choose between two watches. Two watches have been introduced, by the names of Sidewinder and Starcruiser. And when I look at them, I think these names are well chosen. I am still pondering whether these timepieces remind me of Starwars or of one of my favorite childhood cartoons, Transformers (More then meets the eye).

The 304 component movement in these timepieces is a three-dimensional horological engine designed by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht/Agenhor. It has a Girard-Perregaux oscillator and gear and ticks at 28,800 bph. The 22k rose gold battle-axe shaped ‘mystery’ automatic winding rotor can be seen at the picture below.

And now for something completely different… the movie credits:

Concept: Maximilian Büsser/MB&F
Product Design: Eric Giroud – Eric Giroud Design Studio
Technical and Production Management: Serge Kriknoff/MB&F
Movement Development: Jean-Marc Wiederrecht/Agenhor, Nicolas Stalder/Agenhor
Movement manufacturing: Georges Auer/Mecawatch, Salvatore Ferrarotto/APR Quality
Ceramic ball bearings: Patrice Parietti/MPS
Movement assemblage: Didier Dumas/MB&F, Gilles Dalloz/Agenhor
Case and buckle construction and production: Philippe Marti, Dominique Mainier and Stéphane Lhomme of G.F.Châtelain

Sapphire cones: Sébastien Sangsue and Grégory Esseric/Sebal, Peter Bloesch/Bloesch
Dials: François Bernhard and Denis Parel of Nateber
Hands: Pierre Chillier, Isabelle Chillier and Félix Celetta of Fiedler
Strap: Olivier Purnot/Camille Fournet
Presentation case: Frédéric Legendre/Lekoni, Isabelle Vaudaux/Vaudaux

Communication:

Graphic Design – Alban Thomas and Gérald Moulière of GVA Studio
Product Photography – Maarten van der Ende
Display Architecture – Frédéric Legendre/Lekoni
Portrait Photography – Régis Golay/Federal
Webmasters – Stéphane Balet and Guillaume Schmitz of Sumo Interactive
Texts – Ian Skellern
Project Manager – Estelle Tonelli/MB&F

Visit www.mbandf.com for all the detailed information you didn’t find here. Delivery of the first HM3 pieces will start March/April 2009, and MB&F expects to deliver approximately 25 pieces of each reference over the following 12 months.

More and more haute horlogerie brands are demonstrating their haute-ness to make sure that you know how to be different from other fortunate watch collectors. Although I would feel very frightened with an expensive haute horlogerie timepiece on my wrist, there are probably enough fortunate people that don’t. During my trip to Singapore earlier this year, I have seen a number of haute horlogerie timepieces that really struck me. I also wondered why we didn’t have these timepieces closer at home, in The Netherlands, Benelux or even the rest of Europe. But that thought crossed my mind for only a few seconds. North-America, Asia, Russia and only some parts of Europe is where the money ‘is at‘. Or at least to be spend on watches. Not here.

That’s too bad, because I would really love to see the Chapter One watch, made by three master watchmakers for a brand new player on the market, called Maitres du Temps. These three master watchmakers are Christophe Claret, Roger Dubuis, and Peter Speake-Marin. I have to admit that I only knew about Roger Dubuis before and heard about Peter Speake-Marin. However, a press release of 8 pages (text!) contained a nice introduction of all three of the master watchmakers and about Steven Holtzman, owner of Maitres du Temps.

These three master watchmakers have been carefully put together by Maitres du Temps. As Steven Holtzman said in an interview with the European Luxury Blog, “Every one of the three watchmakers has a particular skill. Mr. Claret has the capacity and ability to create a watch and come up with solutions. Mr. Dubuis’ traditional perspective is from the old school of Geneva watchmaking, and utilizing his traditional watchmaking experience meant we were able to blend different views. Mr. Speake-Marin’s ability to set up and manage the process, bringing us in contact with the right suppliers and helping us with the decisions, was a natural fit. That we were able to bring the three watchmakers together was like a dream for us.” The complete interview can be read at the European Luxury Blog, who also hold the copyrights of the interview.

Pictured left to right: Mr. Peter Speake-Marin, Mr. Roger Dubuis, Mr. Christophe Claret, and Mr. Steven Holtzman.

The philosophy of Maîtres du Temps is symbolized by a tree, with each branch representing a fresh opportunity to work with new masters, another collaboration, a future project. And as the branches intertwine and the tree bears fruit, so a new timepiece is brought to life. This philosophy (or tree-symbol) means we can expect some more horological wonders in the future, created by other (or in different combinations) master watchmakers. Actually, the Maitres du Temps website already mentions that Chapter Two is being launched in 2009! Great!

As you can see in the picture at the top of this article and the blow-up picture below, the first piece from Maîtres du Temps is, a combination of complications with 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 movement (caliber SHC02) of this watch consists of 558 components and the case of the watch (18ct rosé gold, 18ct white gold or titanium) consists of 108 components. An overview of all technical specifications of this watch can be found here.

The Chapter One will be available in only a few carefully selected boutiques, so please keep an eye on the website for these places if you want to catch a glimp of this shiny beauty. There will only be 50 pieces of the Chapter One and the list price will be around 400.000 USD (excluding VAT). You are probably not in the banking business if you are currently on the look-out for a piece du haute horlogerie from Maitres du Temps.

Jokes aside: myself and probably most readers would buy a cool German or Italian sportscar (or a home) for this amount of money and a nice Rolex or Audemars Piguet on the side to go with it, but for the wealthy collector with a nose for haute horlogerie, the Chapter One is undoubtly the way to express this. It definately sets you apart from other fortunate watch collectors with Patek Philippes or Vacheron Constantins stuffed with neat complications.

Let me show you this beautiful timepiece once more:

Thanks to Sylvia Gelton, Mary Beth Tomko and Steven Holtzman for providing me with all the Chapter One information. All pictures are copyrighted by Maitres du Temps.