With its new Chapitre 7 Skeleton, BA111OD moves away from the anthracite of the first version to let the steel speak in its natural shade. A seemingly simple aesthetic evolution, yet one that profoundly transforms the perception of this sport-chic watch with an openworked automatic movement. Brighter, fresher and perhaps also more demonstrative, this new interpretation naturally finds its inspiration on the shores of Lake Neuchatel.
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BA111OD, Swiss watchmaking done differently
Some brands are born around a product. Others around a story. BA111OD was first born around an idea. When Thomas Baillod launched the brand in October 2019, after some twenty years spent in the watchmaking world, his intention was less to shake up the Swiss watch than to question the way it is offered to its audience. BA111OD thus took shape as a laboratory that gradually became a genuine independent watchmaking house, with a singular commercial and community approach.
Thomas Baillod moreover described in our pages his concept of « We-commerce », based on a direct relationship with enthusiasts and on a community of “Afluendors”. The idea: rather than systematically seeking to reduce the manufacturing cost of a mechanical watch, work in particular on that of its distribution to make Swiss watchmaking and certain complications more accessible.
This ambition never meant giving up a watchmaking identity, however. BA111OD is based in Neuchatel, its watches are Swiss Made, designed in house and assembled in its Neuchatel workshop, or in La Chaux-de-Fonds for its tourbillons in particular. The brand also claims a family watchmaking heritage going back some 250 years.
Through its “Chapitres”, BA111OD has thus developed a recognisable language: contemporary architectures, crowns frequently offset at 4 o’clock, integrated bracelets, contrasting finishes and a certain determination to make the mechanism immediately perceptible.
The Chapitre 7 probably sums up this philosophy better than any other. Thomas Baillod indeed described it to us last January as a kind of “Swiss Army knife watch”: sporty enough to be worn without excessive care, yet elegant enough to accompany a night out in town. A vision of everyday sport-chic that today finds an even more mechanical expression.
After the shadow, the light
The Chapitre 7 Skeleton first appeared last May in a very strongly assertive livery: case and bracelet coated in an anthracite PVD, openworked architecture and a visible movement giving the whole a dark, technical and almost industrial personality.
A few weeks later, BA111OD offers a radically different reading of it without touching the essentials. Same architecture. Same movement. Same dimensions. Same philosophy. But no more anthracite treatment. The 316L stainless steel here regains its natural colour and, with it, its ability to catch the light. It is ultimately a fairly elementary modification on paper, but a much more significant one visually. Where the first Skeleton readily played with shadows, this new version works with reflections. And that is precisely what suits it so well.
The 40 mm case retains its geometric construction and multiple facets. Brushed surfaces converse with polished parts, making the perception of the watch evolve according to the orientation of the wrist and the lighting conditions. The crown remains positioned at 4 o’clock, contributing to this asymmetry that has become one of BA111OD’s stylistic markers. The watch also measures 10.5 mm thick for 47 mm lug to lug according to the specifications currently published by the brand, proportions consistent with its sport-chic vocation.
A dial that is almost no longer one
The true personality of this Chapitre 7 obviously lies in its openworked architecture. Here, the dial no longer serves to conceal the mechanism. It instead becomes the structure through which the mechanism reveals itself.
BA111OD has worked on different textures to avoid the sometimes confusing effect of certain skeleton watches. The vertical brushing gives the whole a direction, the polished bevels catch the light and the sandblasted surfaces placed between the indexes add depth. The rubies, for their part, become so many colourful punctuation marks at the heart of this mechanical composition. This is an important point. The skeleton watch can easily tip over into technical demonstration at the expense of legibility. Here, the intention seems different: the mechanism takes part in the design of the watch without trying to make people forget its primary function.
The faceted indexes and hands thus retain a sufficient presence above this complex architecture. The indexes are also fitted with Super-LumiNova. The design of the model is credited to Liliane Murenzi, Senior Designer at BA111OD. Her work consists precisely of creating a frame strong enough to visually support the movement without overwhelming it. Transparency, asymmetry and alternating finishes are here the main elements of this aesthetic grammar. The result is interesting because this Chapitre 7 Skeleton does not really seek to take up the classic codes of the dressy skeleton watch. It clearly belongs to a contemporary, more architectural watchmaking, in which the mechanism itself becomes a graphic element.
The Soprod P024-SQ enters the scene
Behind this architecture sits a Swiss automatic mechanical movement, the Soprod P024-SQ Skeleton.
It offers 38 hours of power reserve and has 25 jewels according to the technical data currently communicated by the brand. It can be observed from the dial side but also from the back thanks to the transparent case back. This choice is consistent with the watch’s overall philosophy. BA111OD is not seeking here to hide a calibre under an applied decoration: the mechanical assembly becomes an essential component of the piece’s face. The watch also retains characteristics perfectly compatible with everyday use: anti-reflective treated sapphire crystal, crown placed at 4 o’clock and water resistance announced at 10 ATM, that is 100 metres. In other words, the Chapitre 7 Skeleton is not content with being a watch that one merely observes. It remains intended to be worn.
Steel or glacier blue
Two configurations are offered.
The first fully plays the sport-chic card with an integrated stainless steel bracelet, a natural extension of the case’s lines. It features a micro-adjustment system usable without tools, a particularly appreciable detail when wrist size varies with the heat.
The second changes the watch’s personality even further with a glacier blue rubber strap paired with a deployant clasp. And it is perhaps this configuration that best expresses the point of this new edition. The very pale blue of the strap considerably lightens the watch’s presence and converses with the natural steel. The whole then takes on a much more summery, almost aquatic character, without however turning the Chapitre 7 into a diving watch.
Neuchatel as a playground
BA111OD moreover did not content itself with evoking summer to accompany this new version. The House went to find its backdrop just minutes from its workshop: on Lake Neuchatel. The campaign features Loïc Huguenin, a Neuchatel athlete and member of the “BA111OD Playmakers”, presented by the brand as one of Switzerland’s best wingfoil specialists. In the film associated with the launch, he practises more specifically pump foiling, a discipline in which the movement of the body maintains the foil’s speed above the water without a sail, motor or wave.
The parallel with watchmaking is obviously embraced. Movement of the body as an energy source, which may recall the automatic movement of the watch, balance, precision, energy, mastery of movement: so many notions that BA111OD brings closer to horological mechanics. But the exercise works above all because it avoids artificially transporting the watch thousands of kilometres from its birthplace. The lake is there. So is the workshop.
For BA111OD, Neuchatel is therefore not just the address under the logo. There, the brand imagines, develops and assembles its watches, and today uses the surrounding territory as a component of its identity. And in the case of this Chapitre 7 Skeleton, water and light ultimately do not constitute a mere advertising backdrop. They help one understand the watch. The polished steel reflects. The brushed steel structures. The skeleton lets the light through. The glacier blue directly echoes the lakeside environment. It all holds together.
A Chapitre 7 easier to tame?
The first anthracite Chapitre 7 Skeleton has a strong, almost radical personality. This natural steel version immediately appears more approachable. Brighter, obviously, but also more versatile. Without changing a single line of its architecture, BA111OD thus manages to give a completely different perception of the model. The interplay of surfaces becomes more perceptible, the dial’s different layers stand out better and the mechanism seems to almost gain in depth. This is certainly one of the major interests of this version: it shows how much a finish can change the reading of a watch without its construction changing at all. With the steel bracelet, the Chapitre 7 Skeleton fully embraces its status as a contemporary sport-chic watch. With the glacier blue rubber, it takes on a more relaxed, summery personality. In both cases, the movement remains at the centre of the show.
Price and availability
The BA111OD Chapitre 7 Skeleton was announced for August 2026. The House indicates the following prices:
- 1,125 EUR on glacier blue rubber strap;
- 1,195 EUR on integrated steel bracelet.
The brand also announces a price starting from 895 CHF on its Swiss market. At the time of writing, BA111OD now presents the Chapitre 7 Skeleton as available, with the first deliveries of the summer production announced from mid-August.
A mechanism that breathes more freely
This new Chapitre 7 Skeleton illustrates rather well the way BA111OD has been moving forward since its beginnings: without denying the fundamentals of Swiss mechanical watchmaking, but also without considering that these must necessarily be expressed according to codes established decades ago. The skeleton here is not a pretext for a classic or precious watch. It joins an integrated sport-chic case, a deliberately contemporary design and a watch conceived to accompany everyday life.
And this new steel finish suits it particularly well. By removing the anthracite PVD, BA111OD ultimately changed almost nothing. Yet, in the light of Neuchatel, the Chapitre 7 Skeleton seems to have become a different watch.
To discover the Ba111od universe
Frequently asked questions
It is a sport-chic watch with an openworked automatic movement, now offered in natural steel instead of the original anthracite finish for a brighter, more summery look.
It is driven by the Soprod P024-SQ, an openworked automatic movement.
BA111OD was founded by Thomas Baillod, who launched the brand in October 2019 with a direct-to-community We-commerce approach.
The watch comes on a glacier-blue bracelet or an integrated steel bracelet.
The natural steel finish draws its inspiration from the shores of Lake Neuchatel.
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