Lucerne-based Chronoswiss will be among the exhibiting watch brands at this year’s upcoming WatchTime New York event, held on October 13-14 in Manhattan’s Gotham Hall (click here for event details and to purchase tickets). In its first year at the event, the brand will be showcasing the Sirius Flying Grand Regulator Skeleton watch, a limited-edition collection of unusual skeletonized watches, and unveiling a new blue-dialed version within the series.
The first of the Flying Grand Regulators were released in 2016, and following the success of these pieces Chronoswiss released new, skeletonized versions of the watch earlier this year. Designed to focus on the essentials of the original Flying Grand Regulator, the skeletonized editions removed large portions of dial and made every effort to showcase their intricate movements. At 44 mm in a steel case, with long, straight lugs, an onion crown, and knurled edges on the bezel, the watch sits prominently on the wrist showcasing the brand’s labors.
The dial of the watch, as mentioned, is Chronoswiss’s idea of the “essentials” needed for a luxurious, skeletonized regulator watch. With an outer raised minute ring and a sole long, curvy minute hand passing over it, the piece is quite unusual in its layered dial construction and use of the hour-and-minute-hand style known as poire stuart. However, this unusual dial layout is by design and meant to evoke the original purpose of the “regulator” timekeeping style, placing the most immediately important hand — the minute hand — in the center; the running seconds hand towards the 6 o’clock mark within a small, funneled subdial; and the spade-shaped hour hand separate from the minute indicator in a much larger funneled sub-dial, with Roman numerals, at the 12 o’clock position.
The movement, visible through both the front and caseback of this skeletonized timepiece, is the hand-wound Chronoswiss Caliber C. 677S, capable of a 40-hour power reserve and featuring a hand-crafted Glucydur balance. The movement is also equipped with a hacking (stop-seconds) mechanism, which is activated upon removing the crown — a function useful in more accurately adjusting the time on a mechanical watch.
The watch is currently available in a blue dial with rhodium-plated accents, or a gray dial with rhodium-plated and maroon accents — both of which come on Louisiana alligator leather “hornback” straps with a clasp bracelet. While pricing for the blue-dialed version was unavailable at press time, it will likely be similar to that of the gray-dial model, at CHF 8,700 (or around $9,000). Each watch is limited to only 30 pieces — but you could have the chance to see and try one on at WatchTime New York. Click here to reserve your tickets today!
It´s not for seconds, but for minutes: There is a smaller counterpart under the minute hand that accurately depicts an inverse image of the areas of the minute scale on a central miniature scale. These are hidden from view due to the overlapping of the large scale with the hour funnel. This trick elicits unclouded joy for the sophisticated design because the minutes can still be precisely read.
This looks like a stunning watch, yet reading time at a glance would be really tough.
What is the purpose of the small dial in the center which appears to measure 30 second intervals ?
No, it´s for seconds, but for minutes: There is a smaller counterpart under the minute hand that accurately depicts an inverse image of the areas of the minute scale on a central miniature scale. These are hidden from view due to the overlapping of the large scale with the hour funnel. This trick elicits unclouded joy for the sophisticated design because the minutes can still be precisely read.