Up close (but not yet personal) with the Concord C1 QuantumGravity

April 03, 2009

comments 4

Not too long ago on this blog I put forth a healthy dose of skepticism (Feb 26:?Ç¬? New Detail Emerges on the Concord C1 QuantumGravity) as to the potential of the unconventional and nonconforming Concord C1 QuantumGravity watch.?Ç¬? I further questioned the QuantumGravity’s ability to live up to expectations that were being set by an effusive and over-the-top marketing campaign in the lead up to Baselworld 2009.

Now after seeing some live photos and now live video of this watch, I confess that I am even more intrigued by it, but in a good way.?Ç¬? The Concord C1 QuantumGravity is growing on me!?Ç¬? What can I say – it seems that my dismay was not with the watch itself but its verbose and uneccesarily elaborate “pre-Basel” marketing campaign!

On closer study and reflection, helped by superb videos like this and photos like this – I am of the opinion that the C1 QuantumGravity – and all its craftsmanship, creativity and sheer ingenuity – is worthy of praise.?Ç¬? As is the construction of?Ç¬? not 1 but 10 of these watches – I’m sure that stringing those cable-stayed bridges is no small feat!?Ç¬? On a technical level, the C1 QuantumGravity’s credentials speak for themself – the bi-axial tourbillon, the brilliant (day or night) vertical power reserve, and the cleverly constructed winding crown are just a few noteworthy features of this cutting-edge watch.

I dare say this watch has lived up to its mysterious and unconventional ways, and I hope to one day see it in person whereupon I can render final judgement!

Picture by Bernard Werk @ Watching

Kyle Stults is Founder & President of Perpetuelle.com, a new online community for watch owners, collectors & enthusiasts.

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Up close (but not yet personal) with the Concord C1 QuantumGravity

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Dimitris says:

Apr 04, 2009 at 15:07

Not so fast there Kyle 🙂 Now that I have actually seen the watch in action I can say that I’m ever more disappointed than originally. From the video it is obvious that the tourbillon cage rotates only around the vertical axis, whereas I was hoping that it would rotate aroung both vertical and horizontal axis, as does the excellent Gyrotourbillon by JLC (compare the video of the Concord above with this video of the Gyrotourbillon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWdlPMQlig4 ). With rotation of the cage only around one axis, the escapement wheel can not achieve any position in 3D space, thus making this tourbillon as much decorative as any “ordinary” tourbillon. Given the price of the Concord, which is similar to that of the Gyrotourbillon, I would say the choice is obvious, at least for me.

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says:

Apr 05, 2009 at 19:10

@Dimitris: Nice to hear your opinion. Certainly this watch has been somewhat controversial as to ?¢Ç¨?ìlike?¢Ç¨¬ù or ?¢Ç¨?ìnot like?¢Ç¨¬ù with strong opinions on both ends. As I say without seeing this watch in person, I can not place final judgement upon it. At the end of the day, I am a much more ?¢Ç¨?ìtraditional?¢Ç¨¬ù watch enthusiast (I tend to own very understated watches), however I think creations such as the C1 QuantumGravity have their place in horology as they challenge the conventional thinking of watch design!

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Kristian Haagen says:

Apr 19, 2009 at 12:11

My initail problem is that the ‘strings’ does not do much to the watch besides make it very large. Seeing it ‘live’ in Basel didn’t convince me to make this anything else that a conversation piece. But…hey…that is what most cars at the Geneve Auto Show end up as well, pushing the stable horse models over the counter.

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