Sylvain Pinaud Origine
The Sylvain Pinaud Origine has just won the ‘Horological Revelation’ prize at the prestigious GPHG (Grand Prix d’Haute Horlogerie de Genève). Beautifully crafted by hand and endowed with sublime finishing, this pure expression of Haute Horlogerie is destined to delight the most discerning watch connoisseurs. Mark McArthur-Christie, a keen follower of all things horological, looks closely at this refined example of artisanal watchmaking.
The Monopoussoir Chronograph – a mind-blowing debut
Second-generation watchmaker Sylvain Pinaud’s first watch under his own banner was the barkingly wonderful Monopoussoir Chronograph. This is a watch that makes Kit Williams’ Wishing Fish clock look restrained and understated. Yes, it was a monopusher but that’s where the simplicity stops. It had a triple register, multi-level dial, an exposed movement and a partial display back that showed off the unique balance, reminiscent of a nineteenth century marine chronograph. Sylvain is the sort of chap who, if you asked him to dinner, would probably arrive in a custom autogyro he’d casually knocked up in his workshop that morning between fetching different projects out of an old filing cabinet.
Sylvain Pinaud Origine – ETA 6497
Looking at his chronograph, it’s almost impossible to believe that it started life as an ETA 6497 movement. The end result bears as little resemblance to the original as an Audi RS2 does to a standard Avant from the early 90s. Very little remains; the balance, bridges, winding train and mainplate are all completely revised and the chronograph elements are all his own work.
As the product of a seasoned ‘name’, it would be a tough watch to follow. For someone starting out on their own, it would be almost impossible – yet that’s what Sylvain has done with the Origine. Where his 19th-century-ship’s-chronometer-meets-steampunk chronograph was all about complexity, the Origine is simplicity itself – at least, until you start looking closely.
Sylvain Pinaud Origine – a free-sprung balance
For a start, this is a new movement designed by Sylvain from the baseplate up, drawing on his time working with larger watch businesses in prototyping. And it’s all about the oversized (just over 13mm in diameter) balance. Not only is it the mechanical centre of the watch, it’s the visual locus too. With three arms, it’s free-sprung with three tiny gold regulating weights – and made in-house. As Sylvain comments, “From the beginning I wanted a large free-sprung balance wheel, coupled with its Phillips balance-spring, which allows for precision adjustment and beating at 21600 V.P.H.” The escapement is his too, as is the gear train. That’s easy enough to write but almost infinitely harder to achieve in the metal.
Sylvain Pinaud Origine – much artistry in evidence
It’s not all tech for tech’s sake though. There’s artistry here too. Take a look at the way the gear train works from the back of the watch. You can follow the trail of jewelled bearings all the way from the balance through the independent bridges for the escape wheel and fourth wheel to the third and second wheels.
Sylvain Pinaud Origine – matchless finishing
And just look at that finishing. If the rim of the balance was any thinner you’d barely see it, yet all three arms have anglage and are flared at their bases. It’s obsessional stuff – borne out by the way the slots of the two screws holding the balance bridge are aligned on the models presented. Each of the jewel countersinks is polished – as is every screw hole. If a bridge isn’t grained it’ll be black polished and, like the arms of the balance arms, beautifully bevelled. The obsessive attention to details extends to the hacking mechanism that features a polished and semi-hidden actuating lever.
None of this is bling, though – the mainplate and bridges are executed in German silver (no silver involved – instead it’s an alloy of nickel, copper and zinc). The case relies not on precious metal to make an impact – it’s standard 316L stainless – but on mirror polishing. Taking basic materials and making something beautiful is a great deal harder than starting with precious stones and metals and shaping them – there’s much more work to do and it needs way more effort to craft. It seems Sylvain is to watchmaking what Bourdain was to cooking; “Good food is very often, even most often, simple food.”
Sylvain Pinaud Origine – beyond simplicity
In terms of the dial, you can see the design influence of Sylvain’s Chronograph. It cleverly uses a combination of the movement’s bridges themselves and asymmetric dials to give depth to the watch. In fact, you can see all the way through to the escapement and working forward to the balance and its tapering, double-anchored bridge, the gear-train’s bridge and the dials themselves. It’s easy to think that designing a dial is pretty simple – hours, minutes, seconds, two hands – what’s to get wrong? But try it. Grab a piece of paper and try to come up with a dial that actually works. You’ll need to think about how you show those hours, minutes and seconds. Will you have a minute track? Closed or open? Batons? Applied indices – and will you choose cardinal hours only or a marker for each hour? So, in the case of the Origine, what at first glance seems a simple dial is definitely not.
Starting with the hour and minute dial there’s a smooth textured centre that looks – at first glance, anyway – the same as the seconds dial to its left. It’s not though – the seconds dial has a radius-graining. Working outwards there’s a polished ring enclosed by a minute track delineating each five minute segment. On the outer edge, each minute gets its own dot – and the dots continue on across the edge of the seconds dial, even replacing the printed seconds markers at 5 and 25. It’s a tiny, lovely detail but it sums up this watch – there’s a humour here as well as serious craft. Sylvain calls this ‘an animated scene…’ The seconds dial uses a combination of long, short and bold markers. The minimalist typography is almost Bauhaus in style.
Sylvain Pinaud Origine – two versions
In a rare flash of extravagance, you have a choice of rose gold hands (and balance bridge) or blued steel and German silver. The circle on the hour hand rather neatly frames each letter of ‘Sylvain Pinaud’ as it revolves, while the centres are polished to a resplendent gleam.
GPHG ‘Horological Revelation’ – a worthy winner
It may only be his second watch but the Origine has already won a prize – the “Horological Revelation” award at this year’s GPHG. It’s not surprising the judges were wowed. The sapphire display caseback is marked at the top ‘SYLVAIN PINAUD’, while at the base it is signed off with ‘ARTISAN HORLOGER’. There’s little doubt Sylvan is worthy of this latter title.
Further reading
https://www.sylvain-pinaud.com/
Technical specifications
- Model: Sylvain Pinaud Origine
- Case: 316L stainless steel, diameter 40.7mm, height 11mm, water resistance 3ATM (30 metres), sapphire crystal to the front, exhibition caseback
- Functions: hours, minutes, small seconds
- Movement: hand-wound movement, frequency 21,600 vph (3Hz), 22 jewels, power reserve 55 hours
- Price: 65,000 CHF – steel bridges and blue hands (RRP as of 25.11.2022)
- Price: 68,000 CHF – rose gold bridges and rose gold hands (RRP as of 25.11.2022)