Purnell unveils the AS Monaco FC Limited Edition with an innovative rotating crystal football, revealing the tourbillon inside with its transparency. It is in this spirit that Purnell created a World Premiere for its AS Monaco collaboration with two limited editions featuring a see-through football tourbillon crafted out of tinted crystal, putting the tourbillon inside on full display. Unveiled in two limited editions of 11 pieces—matching the number of players per team in a soccer game— the Purnell x AS Monaco timepiece features a completely new take on the ‘football tourbillon’ created just a year ago by Purnell on the occasion of its partnership with France Football and the Ballon d’Or.
AS Monaco is a historic club of the French Championship, founded in 1924. With eight Ligue 1 titles, ten national cups, and two European Cup finals —Champions League 2004, European Cup winners cup 1992—, AS Monaco has one of the most impressive records in French football and a strong heritage. The famous diagonal jersey created by Princess Grace, the Louis-II Stadium built on the Mediterranean Sea, the tradition of beautiful play, and the nurturing of young talents are the markers of a club with a unique situation focused on excellence.
Instead of a tourbillon encased in an engraved football made of solid precious metal, this iteration shows a football made of 24 hexagons of tinted crystal —or cristal de Roche in French—12 in AS Monaco red and 12 that are transparent. Overall, the rotating football weighs only 1.12 grams, making a full rotation in 30 seconds.
This phenomenon was achieved thanks to Purnell’s association with watchmaking extraordinaire, Eric Coudray, winner of the 2012 Prix Gaïa. With Purnell, Coudray was able to devise a titanium skeleton in the shape of a football, where the watchmaker can then place the football’s crystal ‘facets’ one by one. A feat of expert craftsmanship, the result is a hypnotic interpretation of a rotating football in perpetual movement—a first in the world of watchmaking.
The cristal de roche also adorns the dial in the form of the hour indexes tinted in ‘Daring Red’, the AS Monaco Pantone. The hour indexes at 12 and 6 o’clock are bicolor, featuring the football club’s legacy ‘La Diagonale’ pattern that can also be found on the team jerseys.
The two limited editions each come in new colorways. The first sports a 48mm case in White Purnell Microfiber —WPM— with a bezel in Red Purnell Microfiber —RPM—, a new case material exclusive to Purnell, while the second limited edition piece —also in 48 mm— shows a more streamlined case entirely in WPM with a red-tinted middle case as a nod to the association with AS Monaco. And the final touch: the AS Monaco crest, engraved on the movement bridge at 3 o’clock.
With the goal of bringing the tourbillon to the forefront of avant-garde haute Horlogerie, Purnell only associates with the best in their field. The brand found a natural association with the world of AS Monaco, the official football club of the Principality. A place of renown, regard, and elegance, Purnell found a deep association with these ideals that AS Monaco represents. In exclusivity for this partnership, Purnell and AS Monaco created 2 limited editions featuring the watch brand’s Caliber P10 with a rotating ‘football tourbillon’.
Sticker Price CHF 350,000 Swiss Francs —approx $355,000 USD. For more info on Purnell click here.
