Angelus Gold & Carbon Flying Tourbillon Watch Review
The Angelus Gold & Carbon Flying Tourbillon is an ultra-modern, high-end timepiece that unites 18K 5N red gold with carbon composite. Mark McArthur-Christie makes an impassioned case for the casemakers (pun intended).
If I were a casemaker at Angelus, about now I’d be putting my feet up on the bench and pouring myself a large, celebratory glass of something. I’d be looking over at the Watch Naming Department and raising it, with a big smile, in their direction. Finally! Some bloomin’ recognition.
I mean, it’s always the same; the movement and the watchmakers get all the glory as the main event and everyone forgets the poor old casemaker who gives their work a home. But not this time. Look at the name of Angelus’ new watch; there’s the gold and composite case right up there in lights. It’s good to see that remarkable bit of design engineering – all carbon, cutouts and cleverness – getting equal top billing with the movement, just as it should.
The Gold & Carbon Flying Tourbillon is one of those watches where the parts are sufficiently cool in isolation, but the whole is actually greater than their sum. It’s time the casemakers had their day in the sun, so we’ll start there…
5N 18k red gold and carbon composite
The basics are easy enough. The case materials are 5N 18k red gold and carbon composite. Carbon watches can feel a little too lightweight – insubstantial even – but the 18k gold adds enough heft to offset this without turning checking the time into a gym exercise. The ‘5N’ denotes the composition of the metal – traditionally, 75% gold, 4.5% silver and 20.5% copper to give it a red tone. The case dimensions are just over 42mm in diameter and just under 12 mm thick, so hardly a hockey puck.
But the basics don’t even come close to telling the story here. Take a look at the front first. The gold bezel is, in Angelus nomenclature, crenellated. It’s brushed too, like much of the remaining case. The crenellations let you see through to the first part of the carbon case. Then there’s the main body. Again, that’s brushed but the edges are chamfered and polished, bringing out the lines of the case. Turn the watch on its side though and things get really interesting. There are two cutouts, each with an internal dual S-shaped division and a sandblasted finish with more bevelling on the edges. These provide a view through to the lightweight carbon inner case.
The lugs are pierced, but with proprietary tri-lobed screws holding the rubber strap in place. They slope down, taking more visual weight away from the case, and bringing the watch down to your wrist. The crown picks up the bezel’s crenellation and adds a rubber band (no, not that sort of rubber band!) that makes it easier to pull and turn. It’s protected by a pair of asymmetric crown guards that flare out from the case sides.
Now flip (carefully!) the watch over. Here’s proof that display casebacks don’t have to be all about getting out of the way so you can enjoy the movement – they can be interesting in themselves. The 18k gold edge is divided into Angelus’ usual six recessed segments carrying the watchmaker’s name, the gold reference and hallmark, the serial number of the watch (there are only 18), the ‘Limited Edition’ text, the model reference and the ‘3 ATM’ water resistance rating. Each recess is blasted with the edges brushed. The caseback is held in place with the same design of screw that secures the strap. I’m a fan of this approach. Not only does it completely obviate the risk of cross-threading the caseback, it removes any risk of the caseback seal shearing under the twisting action of snugging the thread home.
Bluntly, someone deserves an award for this one. It’s a beaut and more like sculpture than casemaking.
The A-250 skeletonised flying tourbillon calibre
The movement isn’t exactly shabby either. Shared with several other Angelus models, the A-250 skeletonised flying tourbillon calibre is secured with the same carbon fibre inner case, visible through the case piercings. Weight reduction, cutaways and serious finishing are big features of the A-250. In fact, even the winding works are cut away, blasted and use polished screws. It’s that combination of technical and aesthetic detail that makes the watch interesting.
OK, so you have to wind it yourself (surely not too much of a hardship) but there are 18 jewelled bearings held with low-friction and zero-corrosion gold chatons to make everything run that little bit more easily. Given that the mainplate is black-as-your-hat woven carbon composite, it stands out strongly, as do the movement’s bridges. These bridges are, like the case, 18k red gold and hollowed out with chamfers on their edges – all done by hand. Just in case that wasn’t fiddly enough, the flat surfaces are then horizontally satin-brushed. Not easy work, given they’re less than 0.5mm across. Finally, they’re attached to that carbon main plate with those neat little Angelus screws.
Fixing things like tiny metal screws and chatons in a flat carbon fibre base takes some serious engineering, so hats off to Angelus for this one.
Non-circular flywheel
The movement is fitted with a ‘non-circular flywheel’, presented in golden tones, and a variable inertia balance with a frequency of 3 Hz (21,600 vph). Once again, it’s as stripped down as the movement plates in order to reduce mass.One can appreciate the watchmaker’s eye for detail in the way the balance is built. The ‘non-circular flywheel’ is designed to mitigate air perturbation, thereby enhancing precision. Regulation gets taken care of by four tiny C-shaped weights fixed inside its circumference on the balance arms. You’d need a steady hand and a practised eye to regulate something this tiny.
So what about a dial? Nope. You don’t get one. Instead, the bridges, backed by the mainplate, do the job. In fact, everything is part of the show. The matt black PVD-coated bezel gets in on the act to add some depth to the watch by folding the white gold hour markers over its edge, pointing down to the movement. The hands are rhodium-plated and filled (like the batons on the bezel), with Super-LumiNova.
Angelus tourbillon
And then there’s the tourbillon. We could debate the practical use of a tourbillon on a wristwatch, but that would miss the point. It’s there because it’s interesting and gorgeous, not because it’s needed.
Here it’s at 6 o’clock, and looks as though it’s held in place by that X-shaped bottom bridge. But it’s not – that instead supports the first wheel in the gear train. The tourbillon with its cage is actually fixed in place from below, attached to the carbon mainplate – a proper flying tourbillon. Even more hand-finishing here with the steel cage hand-chamfered and polished with its flat surfaces a mix of mirror-polished and satin-finished embellishments.
The whole thing is finished with a sapphire crystal for the caseback and a box-sapphire with a double anti-reflective coating at the front so you can admire the goings on under the non-dial.
This latest watch from Angelus is far removed from the top-end, form-and-function complicated chronographs the firm made before its acquisition by La Joux-Perret. But this isn’t a bad thing – far from it. You can still get your chronograph fix from the Chronodate watches the firm offers but now there’s another dimension on offer. We can only imagine the Stolz brothers would be delighted.
Further reading
https://www.angelus-watches.com
Technical specifications
- Model: Angelus Gold & Carbon Flying Tourbillon
- Reference: 0TCDB.B01A.K009B
- Case: 18K red gold (5N) and carbon composite; diameter 42.5 mm; height 11.7 mm; water resistance 3ATM (30 metres) sapphire crystals to the front and back
- Functions: Hours; minutes; bicompax chronograph; peripheral date
- Movement: Calibre A-250; hand-wound movement; frequency 21,600 vph (3 Hz); contains 18 jewels; power reserve 90 hours
- Strap: black ‘ballistic’ rubber strap with a folding in 18K red gold (5N) and titanium
- Price: CHF 68,900 tax included (RRP as of 25.8.2022)
- Limited Edition: 18 pieces