However hard the eye may strain to perceive its somber depths, or the pupil may dilate as if to define the contours of light, nothing doing : the impenetrable, enigmatic and terribly fascinating Vantablack is quite simply the blackest manmade substance of them all. We owe the first ever application of this revolutionary material to watchmaking, with the Sequential One S110 Evo Vantablack, to British sculptor Anish Kapoor, who rightly describes it as “the blackest material in the universe, after a black hole ; a physical object that is impossible to see”.
It did not take long for the MCT teams to succumb to the magnetic power of this high-tech material composed of carbon nanotubes measuring one millionth of a millimetre each, capable of absorbing 99.965% of the light they receive. As Pierre Jacques, CEO of MCT Watches, recalls: “When we found out about Vantablack, we were immediately spellbound by the unreal beauty, the depth and the dizzying power of the effect it recreates”. This instant crush led to long months of research and exchanges between Anish Kapoor and the MCT watchmakers and engineers. Incorporating a material initials for military and aerospace purposes at the heart of a watch was no easy task. Yet the result is truly spectacular! Imbued with a definite sense of mystery, the inside of the case of the Sequential One S110 Evo Vantablack thus appears coated in the most intense black one could possibly imagine. This choice makes the movement look as if it is suspended in mid-air and greatly enhances its visual impact, while the small Vantablack moon-shaped tip on the central hand disappears during its rotation around the dial. This fascinating sight, part magic, part optical illusion, lends a special touch of mystery to the resolutely technical nature of the sequential display of the hours on prisms.
At the heart of the black DLC-coated titanium case designed by Anish Kapoor, the measurement of time appears to derive its strength from the supernatural. Plunged into total darkness, the gaze wanders endlessly, as if seeking to grasp the absolute infinity of time.
Sequential One S110 Evo Vantablack
Case : DLC-coated grade 5 titanium
Size : 45 x 45mm
Movement : MCT-S1.0 manual-winding, 50h power reserve
Functions : sequential hours, minutes
Dial : Vantablack
Strap : alligator leather
Water resistance: 30m
10-piece limited edition
