The workshop of MCT —Manufacture Contemporaine du Temps— is located in the heart of the Swiss watchmaking region of Lake Neuchâtel. Each watch is made by hand and a single watchmaker follows its assembly from the beginning to the end to ensure the ultimate quality and traceability. The Sequential One is product of a collaboration between designer Eric Giroud and concept engineer Jean-Francois Mojon. This fascinating timepiece is very unique because of its monumental hour numerals, ingenious for its in-house movement and pioneering for its mechanism of sequential display. This manufacture lead by François Candolfi is living example of the level of innovation and the creative spirit of independent watchmaking companies. In order to ease the review of this timepiece, let's start with a video produced by MCT that clearly explains the complexity of this mesmerizing timepiece.
Posts tagged #Eric Giroud
Insider: Romain Jerome Spacecraft. Like Wearing a Mini Spacecraft on The Wrist.
With a shape somewhat reminiscent of the shape of the Bulova Driver with red LED from the 70s —first watch that comes to mind, no pun intended—, the Romain Jerome Spacecraft ref. RJ.SC.AU.001.01 is a watch that needs to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. Below you will find two images of the Bulova Driver to see the similarity in the shape and of its retro-futuristic design. While the Romain Jerome stands apart from the Bulova at a very different level due to its design, craftsmanship, materials, horological complexity and price point, we feel the similarity is there.
This fascinating unconventional watch is product of the work between Manuel Emch —CEO of Romain Jerome— and two of the top names in the watch industry: Eric Giroud and Jean-Marc Wiederrecht. The three men pooled their ideas and their creativity to give rise to a unique timepiece they named Spacecraft. Right from the first sketches, Manuel Emch and Eric Giroud imagined a very different type of product, combining retro-futuristic aesthetics and horological complexity. “The design evolved in step with our discussions and our numerous exchanges. That is what makes it such a singular object”, explains Eric Giroud.
The Romain Jerome Spacecraft is an unusual trapeze-shaped watch featuring a black PVD-coated
titanium case measuring 50mm x 44.5mm x 18.5mm, that surprises and intrigues. To add to the complexity of this watch, the case is fitted with black PVD-coated titanium elements, beadblasted titanium plates and anti-reflective metallised sapphire crystals. With its rectilinear profile
and its faceted surfaces it clearly echoes the aesthetics of a spacecraft. The black rotating
disc with white numbers and a red indicator transferred on the sapphire crystal indicates the
minutes on the top of the case, while the linear red lacquered retrograde jumping hour display is read off
laterally, giving time telling a whole new dimension.
As expected from this manufacture, the level of design, the finish of the case and the intricate components of this watch are not only mesmerizing but worthy of admiration. The watch is fitted with a black polyamide mesh strap with titanium pin buckle that wears quite comfortably while maintaining the sidereal look and feel of this timepiece. The black PVD-coated titanium crown almost appears as if it were made of ceramic and it accentuates the facets on the top of the case superbly. The faceted design of the watch also prevails on the case back that protects the automatic calibre RJ2000-A fitted with 54 jewels and which provides a power reserve of 38 hours when fully wound while beating at a frequency of 28,800 vph. Additionally, the watch is waterproof to a depth of 30 meters.
Because of its design the watch wears big and high on the wrist but very comfortably. In all honesty, the only way you can fully appreciate the craftsmanship behind this watch is by seeing it in person. We really consider ourselves very lucky to have been able to peruse one in person and work on this review with no stock images. If you used to watch the original Star Trek series while growing up, we are confident that this watch will fascinate you as much as it fascinated us. This watch is available in a limited edition of only 99 pieces.
Sticker Price $24,900 USD. For more info on Romain Jerome click here.
News: MB&F Unveils the Horological Machine No.5 RT in Red Gold. A New Limited Edition of Only 66 Pieces.
Press Release
Horological Machine No.5 is back 'On the Road Again', with a new 'RT' limited edition in red gold. After the original HM5 in zirconium presented in 2012, most would wonder why is the manufacture crafting another 66 pieces in red gold? Well, gold is highly resistant to corrosion; it conducts heat or electricity and reflects infrared radiation. Gold is highly malleable: a single gram can be beaten into a sheet of 1 micron. Gold is precious: all the gold ever mined in human history would fit in a cube of just 21 meters on each side. But let's get to the point: the real reason why MB&F is crafting this edition in red gold is because they think it looks damn beautiful!
HM5 RT is full of surprises: Hour and minute displays look straightforward, but they are bi-directional jumping hours with indications inverted, reflected 90° and magnified 20%. HM5 RT has a futuristic case design, but it’s from the 1970s. HM5 RT has a mechanical movement, but inspired by an era when quartz was King. The rear louvers on super cars block light, but on HM5 RT they let light in. Befitting its automotive heritage, HM5 RT has exhaust pipes, but they drain water. The gold endowing the HM5 RT case with such a rich lustrous glow was found on earth, but was actually created billions of years ago in deep space.
While we might still be waiting for flying cars, with the HM5 RT you can put a high-tech golden super car on your wrist! As with any super car, the best often lies under the hood and ‘lifting the hood’ of the HM5 RT case reveals a surprise: an inner case! Like a Russian Matryoshka doll, peeling away one layer reveals a second case in titanium. The reason for housing the Engine in an inner container is for water resistance. Those super car louvers let in water as well as light —the reason for those dual exhaust ports— so to protect the high-performance Engine from moisture as well as shocks, it is housed in its own titanium shell. This inner case is similar to the rigid chassis of a car on which the external coachwork/body is attached. Jean-François Mojon, Vincent Boucard and the team at Chronode developed the HM5 Engine. It may appear simple, but it’s complicated! Jumping hours are bi-directional, enabling the time to be easily set both forwards and backwards. The two mineral glass disks of the hours and minutes are supported by a flat wide bridge. The disks overlap to maximize their diameter and space for large legible numerals. Turning HM5 RT over reveals the Engine, with its 22k gold battle-axe shaped ‘mystery’ winding rotor, fast oscillating balance and stunning hand-finished bridges, through a sapphire crystal display back that is set into the water resistant container.
Horological Machine No. 5 RT retains all the key features of the HM5: a hand-finished automatic movement with bi-directional jumping hours; a vertical time display reflected and magnified by a sapphire crystal optical prism; 'light convector' flaps which allow to charge the superluminova hour and minute discs and to compensate for the higher weight of the external red gold case, they've modified the inner protective compartment from stainless steel to titanium. While HM5 RT has a generously sized 51.5mm x 49mm case and gold is known for its weight as much as its beauty, thanks to the discrete use of ultra-light titanium, HM5 RT is a very comfortable machine to wear.
Technical Specifications
ENGINE
Three-dimensional horological engine developed by Jean-François Mojon and Vincent Boucard of Chronode. Powered by a Sowind gear train. Battle-axe 22k gold ‘mystery ’ automatic winding rotor.
Power reserve: 42 hours
Balance frequency: 28,800bph/4Hz
Number of components: 224
Number of jewels: 30
Engine housed in a water resistant, titanium inner container
FUNCTIONS / INDICATIONS
Minutes and bi-directional jumping hours displayed by reflective sapphire crystal prism with integrated magnifying lens. Slide to open/close louvers on case top.
CASE
18K Red gold and titanium with internal water resistant titanium engine container. Slide button to open/close louvers. Exhaust ports to drain water.
Dimensions: 51.5mm x 49mm x 22.5mm
Number of components: 80
Water resistance of engine container: 30 meters
SAPPHIRE CRYSTALS
Smoked optical grade sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating and 20% magnification. Sapphire crystal on back with anti-reflective treatment on both faces.
STRAP & BUCKLE
Sculptured rubber strap, titanium tang buckle.
Sticker Price $82,000 USD. For more info on MB&F click here.
