Full-throttle watchmakingn !
Question: Why do ultra high-end timepieces always have to be polished and shiny ?
Answer: They don’t. The proof ? Romain Gauthier’s Enraged limited editions : Logical One Enraged and Prestige HMS Enraged.
Logical One is Romain Gauthier’s Grand Prix de Genève-winning creation that contains a snail cam and friction-minimising ruby-link chain to offer nearly two days of constant force. Its in-house movement, visible dial side and through the display back, is ingeniously wound using a caseband pusher. It features hours and minutes on an off-centre subdial and small seconds, plus a 46-hour power reserve indicator on the back.
Prestige HMS – hours, minutes and seconds – boasts a partly open dial and display back offering mouthwatering views of Romain Gauthier’s in-house Calibre 2206 HMS, notable for its large-diameter crown configured ‘flat’ on the caseback for increased winding efficiency. The absence of a protruding caseband crown lends the timepiece a distinctive, streamlined profile.
For his Enraged limited editions, Romain Gauthier has taken Logical One and Prestige HMS and given them a bold, sporty makeover, with the watchmaker drawing on the automotive industry for inspiration.
“I’m an avid car fan and admire many of the limited-edition supercars created by automobile companies,” says Gauthier. “These projects give carmakers licence to express the edgier side of their creativity, allowing them to break with convention and build something outside of the box. I felt there was nothing stopping me from doing the same, so I developed the concept for these Enraged limited editions.”
Let’s start with the high-performance engines of these revved up timepieces. The movement plates and bridges feature hand-created, rounded bevels and hand-created jewel countersinks in keeping with tradition. But Gauthier has treated them with a decidedly less-than-traditional, light-absorbing matte-black finish.
The displays are also darkened and matte-finished: Prestige HMS’s louvred brass dial has been hand-frosted then blackened, while for Logical One the same hand-frosting technique has been used to playfully turn the enamel subdials from a glossy black into a rough-textured grey. The hour, minute and second hands are, naturally, matte black, and even the R.Gauthier logo has taken on a spiky form, in appearance and attitude.
As for the bodywork, Gauthier has chosen to machine the cases from robust yet lightweight Grade 5 titanium, which has been matte black ADLC treated. The treatment here doesn’t see light being totally soaked up. In fact, the grainy texture created by sand-blasting provides a subtle, intriguing sheen. Even the crowns and, in the case of Logical One Enraged, the winding pusher, bear this rugged, eye-catching finish.
The most outrageous supercars are destined for only a special few. Likewise, Gauthier has ensured the exclusivity of these timepieces by creating both Logical One Enraged and Prestige HMS Enraged in three editions – with dark accents, red accents or orange accents – with each edition limited to just five pieces.
Gauthier recognises that these Enraged limited editions are not for the faint-hearted. “They have character,” he says. “To wear one is almost like wearing a tattoo. They are quite a brutal expression of self-affirmation.”
Enraged : Watchmaking at full throttle!
LOGICAL ONE ENRAGED IN DETAIL
The majority of machines run on constant force: Cars and planes don’t start running more slowly as fuel runs low and machines receive the same voltage no matter how much electricity is produced. Yet, the power that runs and regulates most high-precision mechanical timepieces varies greatly according to the state of wind of the mainspring.
Constant force, or constant torque, is one of the holy grails of horology and with Logical One, Romain Gauthier has reinvented the chain-and-fusee – one of the oldest methods of supplying constant force to a horological movement – making it more reliable, more effective… and more constant.
Logical One’s pioneering, multi-patented in-house movement features Romain Gauthier’s 21st-century reinterpretation of a traditional chain-and-fusee style constant force mechanism, on display to the left of the hour-minute subdial.
Gauthier’s invention contains an innovative snail cam connected to the mainspring barrel by a ruby-link chain. With the snail cam and mainspring barrel configured so they are ‘flat’ – i.e. on the same plane – force is transmitted in a straight line for an ultra-efficient transfer of energy.
The relatively short length of the chain allows it to contain strong, generously sized links in steel featuring rollers made from low-friction, hard-wearing synthetic rubies. The chain is joined together via a smart snap-clip system that offers precision, reliability and ease of servicing.
To eliminate potential uneven friction within the mainspring barrel, Gauthier has placed the mainspring between synthetic sapphire plates. Sapphire has a low coefficient of friction with steel making it the ideal material to use.
Winding Logical One is a veritable tactile pleasure thanks to Romain Gauthier’s innovative push button winding system, with the pusher set into the caseband at 9 o’clock. Another demonstration of Gauthier’s clever engineering, the pusher efficiently transmits force to the barrel on the same plane.
Logical One Enraged’s movement was conceived, developed, produced, decorated, assembled and regulated at Manufacture Romain Gauthier in the Vallée de Joux, Switzerland.
Virtually every component of the movement bears Roman Gauthier’s distinctive touch: The highly visible balance wheel with curved arms and calibrated eccentric weights; the curvaceous balance bridge; bespoke gear wheels with circular arms for maximum strength; hand-bevelled bridges; high-efficiency profiles of the gear teeth; screw heads with s-slot for more length; and Romain Gauthier-invented triangular pallet lever for maximum rigidity. All these elements can be admired dial side, while more of the movement can be viewed through the display back.
So accomplished is it that Logical One was awarded the prize for Best Men’s Complication watch by the jury of the 2013 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève – the Oscars of watchmaking.
PRESTIGE HMS ENRAGED IN DETAIL
The dial of Prestige HMS is a harmonious composition of circles and arcs. Hours and minutes are displayed in the large sub-dial at 12 o’clock engraved with the R.Gauthier logo, while cut-outs in the main dial reveal the precision micro-mechanics of the in-house movement beneath.
The visible, oscillating balance wheel at 7 o’clock and open seconds wheel at 5 o’clock add vibrancy and animation to an already rich visual experience.
The streamline 41mm diameter case is distinguished by unbroken lines around its full perimeter. Indeed, it is the absence of a ‘normal’ caseband crown that hints at just how remarkable the movement is.
Romain Gauthier has placed the crown ‘flat’ on the caseback to increase winding efficiency because energy does not need to be transmitted through 90°. It also reduces wear and stress on components. The large diameter of the crown also enables the timepiece to be easily wound, even while on the wrist.
While the dial side treats the observer to a partial view of the movement – which was conceived, developed, produced, decorated, assembled and regulated at Manufacture Romain Gauthier – it is through the display back that this in-house calibre is fully showcased, with Roman Gauthier’s distinctive touch evident in virtually all the components.
The bespoke gear wheels feature circular arms providing elegance and strength; the polished screw heads bear a unique s-slot, enabling more torque to be applied during assembly.
With its curved arms and calibrated eccentric weights, the balance wheel has been designed and manufactured by Romain Gauthier. The regulator even features a high-efficiency triangular pallet lever, another Romain Gauthier invention.
The hand-finishing of the bridges includes hand-created, rounded bevels and hand-created jewel counter sinks. While the Vallée de Joux style finger bridges catch the eye with their distinctive curves, the large bridge at the top has a cut-out revealing some of the mainspring barrel and ratchet click. Even the sharp internal angles of this cut-out are hand-bevelled.
LOGICAL ONE ENRAGED BY ROMAIN GAUTHIER
Editions
Full matte black with dark dial and movement accents – 5-piece limited edition
Full matte black with red dial and movement accents – 5-piece limited edition
Full matte black with orange dial and movement accents – 5-piece limited edition
Features and indications
Hours, minutes, small seconds; 46-hour power reserve indicator; push-button winding; innovative chain-and-fusee style constant force system featuring snail cam and ruby-link chain
Dial and hands
Oven-fired black-enamel dial, turned grey by hand-frosting, on an 18k gold base
Matte black stainless steel hour, minute and second hands
Skeletonised hour and minute hands
In-house movement
Dimensions: 35.5mm x 10.5mm
Power reserve: 46 hours
Number of jewels: 63 in total, including 26 for the constant-force chain
Number of components: 359
Balance frequency: 28,800 vph / 4Hz
Movement components in: Steel, stainless steel, beryllium copper, brass, titanium and German silver
Treatment: Matte black
Patents: 4
Finishing: Hand-created, rounded bevels and hand-created jewel counter sinks
Case
Case material: Sand-blasted full matte black ADLC Grade 5 titanium
Dimensions: 43mm x 15mm
Water resistance: 30m/3atm/100ft
Sapphire crystal with anti-reflection coating front and display back
Crown for time-setting at 2 o’clock
Push button for winding at 9 o’clock
Strap
Black nubuck strap with stitching in colour to match the dial and movement accents, with matte black titanium pin buckle
PRESTIGE HMS ENRAGED BY ROMAIN GAUTHIER
Editions
Full matte black with dark dial and movement accents – 5-piece limited edition
Full matte black with red dial and movement accents – 5-piece limited edition
Full matte black with orange dial and movement accents – 5-piece limited edition
Features and indications
Off-centre hours and minutes; sectorial seconds
Multi-level dial open 3 o’clock to 9 o’clock to reveal balance wheel and seconds gear
In-house movement visible through display back
Flat crown on caseback for ergonomic winding
Dial and hands
Off-centre hours and minutes subdial at 12 o’clock
Sectorial seconds at 5 o’clock
Matte black stainless steel hour, minute and second hands featuring coloured tips
Skeletonised hour and minute hands
In-house movement
In-house manufacture movement Calibre 2206 HMS
Power reserve: Approximately 60 hours
Number of jewels: 22
Number of components: 128
Balance frequency: 28,800 vph / 4Hz
Finishing: Hand-created, rounded bevels and hand-created jewel counter sinks
Case
Case material: Sand-blasted full matte black ADLC Grade 5 titanium
Dimensions: 41mm x 12.1 mm
Water resistance: 10m/1atm/30ft
Winding and time-setting crown on the caseback
Strap
Black nubuck strap with stitching in colour to match the dial and movement accents, with matte black titanium pin buckle
ABOUT ROMAIN GAUTHIER
The man who built the brand
Romain Gauthier was born in 1975 in the Vallée de Joux, the heart of fine Swiss watchmaking. It was in this picturesque valley that Romain developed his passion for traditional haute horlogerie, his grasp of mechanics and engineering, and his eye for design.
Having studied precision-mechanics at technical college, Romain qualified as a constructor of precision machinery in 1997. A year later, he started his first job as machine programmer-operator at a horological components manufacturer that he helped turn into one of the best-performing facilities in Europe.
Determined to build from scratch not just his own high-end watch, but also his own high-end watch brand, Romain completed an MBA in 2002. His final thesis was the business plan for his own watch company. After working behind closed doors on his own timepieces for three years, he was ready to launch the Romain Gauthier brand in 2005.
Romain has since developed the exclusive collections to include classically refined pieces, contemporarily casual creations and ethereal objets d’art. Romain Gauthier timepieces have been hailed by watch collectors and critics for their eye-catching designs, innovative micro-mechanics and exceptional level of hand-finishing.
In 2013, the jury of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève – the Oscars of watchmaking – awarded Romain Gauthier’s Logical One the prize for Best Men’s Complication.
Manufacture Romain Gauthier
Romain Gauthier’s ability to create exquisite timepieces is in large part thanks to his watchmaking production facility, or manufacture, that he has steadily built up since founding his eponymous brand in 2005.
Today, Manufacture Romain Gauthier occupies 700m2 (8,000 sq ft) premises in Le Sentier, Switzerland and features technical, logistic and production departments as well as watchmaking and decoration ateliers.
This fully-equipped manufacture blends time-honoured watchmaking tools with cutting-edge production methods, including a state-of-the-art CNC machine park. It allows Romain Gauthier to design, produce, decorate, assemble, regulate and test in house all movements for the brand’s timepieces.
Savoir-faire
The tools and machinery of the manufacture would mean little without the talented team of professionals that Romain has put together. Each member brings their unique savoir-faire to the creative process and each one leaves their own signature on the finished timepiece.
Lathe operators machine the complex components that Romain has designed, working classic and modern materials with consummate skill. Experts display their grasp of hardening and tempering, as well as burnishing, to make pieces strong and durable.
The artisans of the anglage atelier devote hours to filing the angles between the flanks and surfaces of bridges into eye-catching, rounded bevels that are then hand-polished using gentian wood from the local Risoud forest. Decoration specialists embellish movements with artful finishes like spotting, snailing, circular graining and Geneva waves.
And in keeping with tradition, each movement is painstakingly assembled and regulated from A to Z by the same watchmaker. Indeed, Romain Gauthier watchmakers master the full gamut of horological skills, including counting the balance spring and heat-bluing the hands.
Throughout, stringent quality control checks are performed during and between operations, and Romain himself inspects each finished timepiece under magnification.
While this savoir-faire means that quality is uncompromised and precision is impressive, it also imbues Romain Gauthier timepieces with a rare beauty and unique soul.
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