Bianchet presents Tourbillon B1.618 Openwork

Geneva Watch Days 2021

Press Release

BIANCHET presents

Tourbillon B1.618 Openwork

Divine curves

A balance of proportions, a dramatic arc in each curve, the depth of the movement – if the Tourbillon B1.618 Openwork’s color accent catches the eye, it is the spirit behind it that draws you in. Uniting the sensory, cultural, mathematical and mechanical, this skeleton tourbillon was conceived and designed according to the principles of the Golden Ratio of 1.618 and the Fibonacci sequence. The tonneau shape of the case, the design of its movement, the Italian aesthetic sensibility: Everything within it expresses a harmony of lines and a natural sense of balance that makes it a watch of our time for our time.

New to the world of complicated watches, Bianchet is a creative contemporary Swiss watch brand founded on the modern reinterpretation of the Golden Ratio – 1.618 – in the world of fine watchmaking.

A defining feature, the sleek tonneau shape is echoed by two embedded lines of color that underscore the sense of balance the watch conveys. At the origin of the creative process, the Golden Ratio of 1.618 provides the mathematical basis for elegantly bringing into being a modern and timeless testament to beauty in watchmaking, where sophistication and simplicity play off each other. Divine curves, perfect proportions, a creative space that brings out the aesthetic in the geometric – Bianchet lays the foundation for its inspiration through its faith in the purity of lines, its passion for contemporary design, its passion for architecture, coupled with a pure, intuitive sensibility nourished by Italian roots.

When form is substance

The Tourbillon B1.618 Openwork’s tonneau case measures 43 mm in width, 50 mm in height (length) and 13 mm in thickness. From the side, the top and bottom of the watch follow a curve. The superposition of these two lines, the colored seam, the thickness of the bezel, the play on heights – they are guided by the Fibonacci sequence. An organic arc that affords maximum wear comfort, perfectly espousing the wrist.

 

The case is available in titanium with multiple variations of hand finishing, each quite distinctive, even on the smallest surface areas. Nothing has been left out. Polishing, satin-finishing, and microblasting succeed each other from layer to layer, emphasizing the curves and their dramatic arc, marking the sharp edges of the bezel, all highlighted in bright red. 

A carbon case, with the accent in blue, is also an option for the Tourbillon B1.618 Openwork. The composite material – light, hard and technical – has a special formulation: titanium powder has been added to the carbon fibers. Together, the two materials create a moiré effect that alternates between shiny and matte in a random pattern unique to each piece. In the hand, on the wrist, to the touch – the curvature and lightness of the Tourbillon B1.618 Openwork provide a feeling of completeness and harmony. It naturally flows from the Golden Ratio.

The secret of the ratio

The Golden Ratio of 1.618, derived from the Fibonacci sequence, is the founding principle of the Bianchet aesthetic and the inspiration for naming the collection – B1.618. The Fibonacci sequence is an algorithm at work in the shape, growth and arrangement of multiple living creatures. It is intimately linked to the Golden Ratio and together they govern the relative dimensions of a Bianchet’s case and movement. Inspired by the graphic representation of the sequence – a spiral drawn with squares of increasing size as the sequence progresses – the two guide the forms of the bridges and the curves of the tonneau case. Ultimately, the symbolic value of the Golden Ratio connects Bianchet to a search for harmony that reaches beyond the mere contours of the watch. The relationship between nature and culture, between geometry and biology, between the aesthetic and the metaphysical, that is at the core of Bianchet’s thinking. 

Bianchet is about re-engineering a timepiece by applying the Golden Ratio to contemporary watchmaking. Indeed, breaking free from the classical and traditional culture with which the number has generally been associated, the Golden Ratio is applied to a totally modern design, with the materials, manufacturing techniques and performances of today. They all come together in the B1.618 collection.

At the heart of the matter

Inside the Tourbillon B1.618 Openwork, another object of fascination, the Calibre B1.618. Watch enthusiasts since they can remember, Emmanuelle and Rodolfo Festa Bianchet freely admit their fascination for this complication. Its ability to overcome the effects of gravity by rotating is founded on a principle in which the mathematics determine the physics and come ever so close to aesthetics, a truth of the same magnitude as that of the Fibonacci sequence. 

 

Skeletonized, the calibre is made entirely of black DLC titanium. It was designed and developed and is now manufactured by Bianchet in La Chaux-de-Fonds, in the heart of the Swiss watchmaking industry. The process of making a Bianchet is focused as much on quality as on technical excellence, the main objective being to obtain a perfect balance between form and function. The Tourbillon B1.618 Openwork has a power reserve of 105 hours.

Depth of perception

Yet this calibre is not satisfied with just a noble complication. The execution, too, captures the imagination with graphic force and true originality. Conceived from the outset as a skeletonized movement, the Calibre B1.618 is all about a sensation of plumbing untold depths, a feeling only accentuated by the curves, whose radii, progression and interlacing are also derived from the Fibonacci sequence. 

Instead of following a traditional design that builds on concentric circles, which in effect only reflects the requirements  of the mechanics, Bianchet has decided to make the Golden Ratio an integral part of its creation. As if a mathematical object in motion, the spiraling Fibonacci curves are found at the heart of the movement, evoking the double-mirroring of a miseenabyme, less a stylistic effect, and more a measure of the young brand’s depth.

Substance counts

In other words, the design of the B1.618 caliber is unique. The curved and openworked tourbillon bridge. The barrel bridge, which responds with perfect symmetry. The floating and skeletonized flange. The structures and textures in shades of black that cut across. The symmetrical plays off the asymmetrical, in a balance that is natural to the eye, with a harmony that is the intrinsic to the Golden Ratio.

The Tourbillon B1.618 Openwork is the result of genuine aesthetic research. The short lugs on the case in themselves already enhance wear comfort. The supple strap made from natural rubber naturally follows through. The sporty elegance of the distinctive color seam that intersects the various parts of the case – be it in carbon or titanium. This through-line is a Bianchet’s unmistakable signature. The seam, functional and following a specific cut, first embedded then adjusted by hand between the different components, highlights the case’s curvature. It also defines a chromatic theme, extending to the hands and hour markers as well as to crown’s rubber insert and the strap. 

Eminently wearable in every way

By definition sporty-chic, the Tourbillon B1.618 Openwork is water-resistant to 50 meters  

(5 ATM) in the titanium version, 30 meters for the carbon version and features a crown guard. As a sign of the confidence Bianchet places in its manufacturing process, the watch is guaranteed for five years. The figure reflects a physical quality of the movement: its components are made of Grade 5 titanium, including the bridges of the tourbillon cage. The material’s low weight and high rigidity further enhance the calibre’s reliability. 

With the metal used for the components and case, the Tourbillon B1.618 Openwork in titanium weighs in at less than 55 grams. The carbon version weighs 33 grams without the bracelet. In other words, the Tourbillon B1.618 Openwork is practically imperceptible when worn and that feeling of harmony between watch and wearer is only underscored by the watch’s natural curvature.

To the beginnings

Bianchet: a brand that embodies the passion of the founders, Emmanuelle and Rodolfo Festa Bianchet, for watchmaking, their convictions and above all, their aesthetic sensibility. It would be four years before the inkling of an idea became Bianchet the brand.

Bianchet’s beginnings date back to 2017. Rodolfo Festa Bianchet was then a successful entrepreneur in the Fintech sector and CEO of Riflexo, the Turin-based software developer behind the first online trading app for smartphones. The app, Trade Interceptor, is built around the proprietary TrendRisk engine and analyzes market psychology to detect trends. The brainchild of Rodolfo Festa Bianchet, it, too, is based on the Golden Ratio of 1.618 and the Fibonacci sequence.

Emmanuelle Festa Bianchet, Rodolfo’s wife, was born in Rome to a French family of artists and musicians, and attended the Conservatory. A painter and sculptor, she regularly exhibits her works in art galleries. She, too, always had a particular affinity for the harmony that emanates from the Golden Ratio of 1.618 and the Fibonacci sequence.

When their software company was acquired by a US buyer, they seized the opportunity to concretize their passion for watches and watchmaking. Bianchet was born from the shared belief in creating something beautiful, something as strongly anchored in reality as it is connected to the timeless.

Lang & Heyne: The Watch, The Most Essential Accessory for Men

Elegance, confidence, mysticism – all attributes associated with when it comes to the color black. It stands for determination, magic and even dignity. However, let us start from the beginning…

There are various possibilities to express your own individuality. Having a closer look at the appearance we will recognize, that a man has only limited options compared to a woman. The most essential accessory for the man is probably his WATCH. Choosing the right watch is therefore more than deciding between function and handling. During the buying process style and design is playing a major role, too. This relates both to expensive, low-priced, casual and formal watches.

How should a man wear accessories best?
A good advisor when it comes to questions of style and behaviour is the “etiquette manual” (in German “Knigge”). For this special topic there is not much to note. A general custom from a long list of recommendation: wear dark with dark, and light with light, among other things. If you are out during the night, it is recommended to wear a watch with a darker dial matching your suit, tuxedo or tailcoat. For the perfect appearance your chosen watch should be an understatement, which case material matches your other accessories like belt buckle, rings or cufflinks.

Having a closer look at the diverse watch dials, we will find different materials and variations. The most common dials are messing blanks lacquered and printed. Engraving repetitive patterns, so-called guillochage, is a popular effect as ornamentation of the dials. Extraordinary materials just like meteorite stones and wood, to name just a few, is used for dial production as well. Probably to most famous and noble form of watch dials is a dial made of enamel.

Loyal to Saxony’s watchmaking traditions, grand few enamel is used in numerous watches of Lang & Heyne and solid silver dials in different designs. To go back to black dials, within our collection we have galvanic black dials for our models JOHANN, ALBERT and FRIEDRICH III, as well as in this year’s new variation of GEORG.

When speaking of the perfect dress watch for a man, the model GEORG is probably the best choice. The success speaks for itself: since 2017, the watch has given the square shape a revival in the watch industry. The curved case shape with a dimension of 40 mm x 32 mm and the lugs directed downwards ensure a comfortable fit on every wrist. His plain dial is quite an understatement compared to its extravagantly designed movement.
This model is available with a galvanic black silver dial and with a white enamel dial.

Regardless whether you are wearing the GEORG, another model from LANG & HEYNE or from another brand, always keep in mind: May your watch ever so beautiful, beware the implications of checking it too frequently.

 

The genius behind the Patek Philippe Nautilus dreamed up this watch – and it defies definition

By Robin Swithinbank

The Gerald Charles brand has revived a forgotten watch by the late, great Gérald Genta: the Maestro. Tantalisingly, there may be more Genta-designed pieces to come…

At the risk of undermining my own métier, watch reviewing is mostly a simple business. You offer a bit of context, then add some detail, and with any luck reach a sentient conclusion. I don’t think I’m doing my professional kin too much of a disservice to say there are only so many ways you can describe a round steel sports watch before the subjective view of the reader takes over. No, watch reviewing is not rocket science. Nor even watchmaking.

At least, it’s not until the job of settling on those simple biographical signposts is applied to the two watches released by Gerald Charles over the past week. Watches? Maybe curios. One an automatic and the other a chronograph, both are fresh expressions of the brand’s only model, the Maestro, and take a moment to figure out. The case shape alone has no obvious definition, and then are these dress watches, sports watches or something else altogether?

To be beyond easy definition is, I suspect, the point of the Maestro. Largely unknown until now, it was originally designed in 2006 by Gérald Genta, author or the far more famous Nautilus and Royal Oak models, also outliers on launch. Genta was both a prolific artist and watch designer, and was said to have produced around 100,000 artworks prior to his death in 2011, while many of the watches he penned have never seen the light of day.

Gerald Charles was his final fling following the sale of the Gérald Genta brand to Bulgari in 2000 (he didn’t own it at the time and was said to have been unhappy about the sale). He founded Gerald Charles in the same year and owned it until 2003 when he sold to a group of investors, staying on as designer-in-chief until his death. The Maestro, which picked up on a nickname he often answered to, was said to have been his favourite and lives on, while oddball pieces such as the Sportside and Renaissance are now archived. Beyond those, there are thought to be many more held under lock and key by the brand’s current management.

Arguably, it’s this tantalising prospect, that of a loft-full of unrealised Gérald Genta watch designs, that makes Gerald Charles and the Maestro interesting. The company has been in the hands of an impossibly young and clearly very ambitious general manager in recent years, and may be on course to spread its wings if the few hundred Maestro watches being made annually prove popular. Last year, Gerald Charles produced 250-odd pieces; these two new ‘Premier 2021’ editions are both limited to just 25; and the company expects to be making around 1,000 pieces a year in five years’ time. Will there be further Genta-inspired creations to come?

For now, the company isn’t saying. But the idea that there could be is enough to be going on with.

The watches, in the interest of a review and to add what signposts I can, are both evolutions of Genta’s original design and share the same ten-sided silhouette and layered, ripple-effect bezel. One of those sides is the ‘smile’ at six o’clock, a pen-flick Genta borrowed from a building in Rome designed by the 17th-century architect Francesco Borromini.

The green and yellow gold combination that gives the pair their opulent feel is said to be a one-off, never to be repeated, hence the ‘Premier 2021’ designation, while both the automatic and chronograph watches are powered by movements produced by the high-end movement manufacturer Vaucher. The company describes their creations as ultra-thin sports watches, and they do both offer 100 metres of water resistance, which is a sound barometer of day-to-day hardiness. The straps are rubber, decorated with a Clous de Paris motif. And their full names, for the record, are Maestro 2.0 Premier 2021 Edition and Maestro 3.0 Chronograph Premier 2021 Edition.

If there’s a sentient conclusion to draw, it’s perhaps that these watches come with a highly unusual, and to this point, unspoken pact: invest into these now and you might just be contributing to the future opening of the Genta vault. I’ll leave it in your hands.

Retrieved from

Gerald Charles

MR. GERALD CHARLES GENTA: THE MAN WHO DESIGNED THE FIRST ROYAL OAK FOR AUDEMARS PIGUET, NAUTILUS FOR PATEK PHILIPPE AND MORE OTHER ICONIC WATCHES.

The Maestro 3.0

The Maestro 3.0 Premier 2021 Edition represents another significant evolution of the Maison’s signature Maestro model. Featuring a new hand-finished manufacture chronograph caliber. In addition, its combination of an 18-carat gold case and emerald green dial and strap will be a one-off, each one defined by engravings on the case back showing the limited-edition mark and the words ‘Premier 2021’. This edition is limited to 25 pieces in the world.

GC3.0-RG-02
GC3.0-RG-02

A CONTEMPORARY SPIN ON A TRADITIONAL COMPLICATION

Movement

The new hand-finished automatic chronograph movement inside the Maestro 3.0 Premier 2021 Edition, Calibre GCA3022/12, is a highly sophisticated ultra-thin Manufacture movement made in Fleurier, Switzerland. It features no date three chronograph counters for seconds, minutes and hours.

It has a thickness of only 6.07mm, including its solid 18-carat gold, bi-directional rotating oscillating weight. The movement, which has a power reserve of 50 hours, can be seen through the case back’s sapphire crystal, alongside the engraving ‘Premier 2021’.

THE THIRD GENERATION OF THE MAESTRO CASE

Maestro 3.0 case

The Maestro 3.0 case, with an overall 40mm fit, has been subtly, but significantly updated with more squared angles. The bespoke chronograph pushers were never seen before. As their shape mirrors the rounded corners of the case; an original design of the Maison’s founder, Monsieur Genta. The overall form, which is forged out of ten pieces of solid 18-carat rose gold, has been designed to sit flat on the wrist, measuring only 11.5mm in depth.  Retrieved From

BUGATTI CHIRON SAPPHIRE CRYSTAL

It started with an idea conceived by Jacob & Co. together with Bugatti – how to reproduce the visceral sensation of the iconic Bugatti 16-cylinder engine in a timepiece.

After almost a full year of development, the answer is here in the form of the Bugatti Chiron Tourbillon. Everything is designed to honor the Chiron in a timepiece. The case is inspired by the flowing lines of the Chiron and the movement, or “engine block,” intended to duplicate the Bugatti engine, is placed under a massive sapphire crystal, on display for all.

The Bugatti Chiron Tourbillon features a 30º inclined tourbillon, the first time Jacob & Co. has ever used an inclined tourbillon. The “flying” part of the tourbillon means that the regulating organ is only supported on one side, so the tourbillon is even more mesmerizing. The 30º inclination makes it easier to admire this incredible complication.

 

 

 

Here’s where it gets interesting: push the right-hand crown of the timepiece and the engine comes to life – the crankshaft turns and the 16 pistons pump up and down, just like a true internal combustion engine. Two “turbochargers” (down from four in the actual Chiron engine) on the side of the engine block spin while the engine runs, adding to the visual impact.

Incredible to see and unbelievably complicated to realize (the movement is comprised of 578 components), the Bugatti Chiron Tourbillon timepiece has done something no one has ever even attempted before – to seamlessly marry engines and watches.

 

 

The crowns for the watch are at the bottom of the case – the left crown sets the time, the middle crown winds both the movement (60 hours of power reserve) and the animation, and a push of the right-hand crown starts the animation.

The suspension of the movement caused an additional challenge for the movement designers, as they had to create (and patent) a special automotive-style jointed transverse system so the crown posts aren’t damaged by the movement going up and down inside the case.

The power reserve for the animation and the power reserve for timekeeping are different, yet both are wound through the winding crown, clockwise for the movement, counterclockwise for the engine animation. The power reserve indication even has the universal gas pump symbol on the side of the gauge at nine o’clock.

The Bugatti Chiron Tourbillon from Jacob & Co. is a world-first — a true engine on the wrist.  Retrieved from