Chronoswiss Open Gear ReSec Jungle
Chronoswiss, the Lucerne-based Maison, has just released a new version of its Open Gear ReSec model with a Jungle-themed dial. Once again, this ingenious Swiss brand has juxtaposed tradition and modernity, delivering an extraordinarily eye-catching aesthetic.
The art of engine turning dates back to the 16th century when it was used to impart intricate patterns to wood and ivory. Later, during the 18th century, engine turning was used to enliven metal surfaces with elaborate motifs. Such geometric patterns were imparted using a rose engine. This specialist machine, devoid of electrical power, is operated by a trained artisan blessed with extraordinary hand-eye coordination.
By employing various shaped cams or rosettes, a guillocher is able to create a variety of patterns on a brass disc. The process involves placing the brass disc in a rotating head, held in a vertical position and securely clamped. The artisan presses a cutter against the dial surface with uniform pressure while simultaneously turning the rotating head at a constant speed. The words ‘uniform’ and ‘constant’ are key. It is only by mastering the application of hand pressure and rotational speed that the desired results can be achieved.
By using different rosettes, the artisan can endue the dial with several contrasting patterns. However, each pattern must remain discrete if the overall composition is to prove pleasing to the eye. Rose engine lathes are no longer made, hence those in existence are cherished by the owners. Indeed, the rose engine lathe used at Chronoswiss is nearly one hundred years old.
Although rose engine lathes are associated with traditional watches, Chronoswiss has juxtaposed the technique with ultra-modern CVD treatment, bestowing some of its recent models with a contemporary aesthetic. I cannot think of another Maison that makes guilloché dials and subsequently suffuses them with CVD, as such Chronoswiss seems to have carved out an interesting niche for itself.
Maik Panziera, Head of Design for the Lucerne-based firm, has skilfully used a rose engine lathe, experimenting with two variables. Firstly, he has played with a variety of interesting hues and, secondly, he has trialled different decorations, often playing with the frequency of the waves applied to the dial’s epidermis.
Recently, the Maison unveiled a new version of its Open Gear ReSec model. Endowed with a jungle-themed dial, this latest model sports a wavy and rippled decoration and is presented in green and black hues. The Chronoswiss Open Gear ReSec Jungle is unabashedly modern but, consistent with its forebears, employs techniques of yesteryear.
Since Oliver Ebstein acquired Chronoswiss in 2012, with Maik Panziera joining the firm the following year, the Lucerne-based brand has dazzled horophiles with its remarkable ingenuity and individual form of style. Furthermore, with an asking price of €9,800, the Chronoswiss Open Gear ReSec Jungle represents fabulous value for money, especially considering its hand guilloché dial.
The brand’s press release
Deep inside a steamy jungle you take another cautious step on a carpet of fallen leaves, causing a rustling noise which joins the concerto of insect sounds and calls of distant tropical birds. Just as a salty drop of sweat travels down your forehead, you look up into the green and black-shadowed palm-leaf canopy. It almost forms a solid roof, but you can still spot the distant sky where the blue hour is setting in.
“The wavy, moiré pattern on this timepiece is emotionally inspired by what you would see in that situation, its vivid colours changing seamlessly from racing green to silver blue and shadowy black,” says Chronoswiss owner and director Oliver Ebstein about the Chronoswiss Open Gear ReSec Jungle.
The spiralling pattern designed to resemble palm leaves and executed in a limited edition of 50 timepieces, utilises a technique unique for Chronoswiss: handmade guilloché coated with chemical vapour deposition. This combination establishes the colour-changing effects and emphasises the vivid pattern’s resulting trompe-l’œil, which makes the engraved waves look much deeper than the twentieth of a millimetre they actually are.
The action-packed, three-dimensional hybrid dial construction is made of 42 parts stacked in several layers. Black galvanised bridges support skeletonised open gear train wheels – revealed principal mechanics that propel the hands in divided hours, minutes and seconds. On the ReSec models the seconds hand is a 30-second retrograde running in a semicircle from 4 to 8 o’clock before jumping back to begin anew. As you may know, retrogrades first appeared in the 17th century, and they have shown up on Chronoswiss creations for decades.
Says Ebstein: “That’s what we do here at Chronoswiss: instantly recognisable contemporary timepieces with details like the onion crown and knurled bezel. While honouring classical horology, we have in recent years radically developed our designs and added exciting innovative materials including the handmade CVD- coated guilloché and cylindrical index pillars made of solid Super-LumiNova mixed with zirconium oxide.”
If you walk past the Chronoswiss atelier in the heart of Lucerne, you might see young Kevin or another team member producing guilloché by hand with the aid of a century-old rose engine turning machine. Designer and master guillocheur Maik leads the guilloché team. “The Jungle was the biggest challenge in a long time,” he says. “With many patterns you can create 4–5 waves by simply changing the diameter with a switch. But with the palm leaf-inspired moiré pattern it’s a different story.” Here the gears – the brass wheels that guide the movement of the machine –
actually must be changed after each wave. Says Kevin: “But it is worth it – in the end you have such a great pattern that you cannot compare with CNC-made products. To produce guilloché by hand really excites me, because it gives every watch an individual soul!”
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