America’s luxury watch show, WatchTime New York, taking place on October 26-27 at Manhattan’s luxe Gotham Hall, welcomes Raymond Weil to its lineup of participating watch brands for the first time in 2018. This much-anticipated event also hosts the world premiere of the Geneva-based company’s newest release: an all-new version of the Freelancer Calibre RW1212 Skeleton in a titanium-colored steel case.
Raymond Weil introduced Caliber RW1212, the family-owned Swiss brand’s first in-house-developed movement, inside a classical two-handed watch in its flagship Freelancer collection in 2017, and unveiled three timepieces containing the next evolution of that movement, with its skeletonized plates and bridges and wide openworked dial, one year later, at Baselworld 2o18. The latest iteration stands out with both its new titanium-PVD case finish (previous options were traditional stainless steel, steel with black PVD, and two-tone steel and rose-gold-plated PVD) and the eye-catching anthracite NAC treatment that has been applied to the openworked baseplate.
Like previous RW1212 models, both skeletonized and non-skeletonized, the watch has a 42-mm round case and is equipped with Calibre RW1212, named for the postal code (1212) of Raymond Weil’s headquarters in the Geneva suburb of Grand-Lancy. Produced in a collaboration between Raymond Weil’s R&D department and the designers at Swiss movement specialists Sellita, this movement’s signature feature is its dial-side regulating organ, whose balance-and-spring construction, positioned above the mainplate and held by two bridges, draws the eye at 6 o’clock and resembles a tourbillon. The skeletonization of the movement parts offer an unobstructed view of not only that telltale front-mounted balance but much of the rest of the mechanism as well.
This latest iteration of Raymond Weil’s proprietary, self-winding movement powers a no-frills hour-and-minute time display on two barrel-shaped hands, which indicate the time on an hours-and-minutes ring treated with a glavanic anthracite coating; beats at a frequency of 28,800 vph; and carries a power reserve of 38 hours. The oscillating weight has been skeletonized to add additional interest to the rear side of the movement, which is on display through a sapphire caseback. The watch is delivered on a black polyurethane strap equipped with a satin-brushed, stainless steel folding clasp with a titanium PVD coating and a double-push security system.
You can be one of the very first to see the new Raymond Weil Freelancer calibre RW1212 in person. Reserve your spot now for WatchTime New York by clicking here. Tickets are going fast!
Very modern and Shik