When Zenith a few weeks ago released its Chronomaster Solo Sport, many eybrows were raised. A chronograph without a chronograph? Well, perhaps not quite, but the brand famous for its precision awards and chronograph movements have stripped back the legendary El Primero movement to get a high frequency precision movement for time only. And this high frequency ideal can be seen in the dial pattern with a soundwave combined with the brand’s initial Zed. This model is also a model of Swiss compromise. As the team could not agree on whether to make a true time only they ended up doing two versions. One without date and one with.
Even more eyebrows were raised this spring when Omega launched its new sub-family under its Constellation umbrella: The Observatory. This was the first time a certified chronometer came out as a two-hand watch. People just couldn’t understand why they made a chronometer without a second hand, hitherto the symbol of precision. But the way I see it, Omega had at least four good reasons for this.
Because they can.
To keep it slim – it would have been at least 1/3 of a millimeter thicker with a second hand.
To be different.
The lack of a second hand becomes a symbol for its new testing facilities run in collaboration with the independent organization Laboratoire de Précision. With COSC and Metas you would get 15 impressions in 15 days; generated by photographing the watch each day, reading the accuracy on the second hand. With the Laboratoire it continually measures the movement with sonic instruments, gathering some 120’000 impressions in 15 days. So, even if you can’t see it on the second hand, you know that your watch is the symbol of a new era of measuring mechanical precision.
And then there is the tourbillon without the pricetags to go with it. Once upon a time a symbol of thick wallet (and interest in mechanical top-notch watchmaking, of course!) Affordable, Swiss made tourbillons have been around for some years. We have seen them from, for instance TAG Heuer. But no one takes it as far as BA111OD. The Chapter 4 Infinity flying tourbillon is not only beautul to behold thanks to its cosmic blue sunray dial radiating from the small seconds at 10 o’ clock. It also features a hammered polished moonphase at 01 o’clock and the tourbillon at 07 o’clock. This timepiece with an affordable price tag of 12’2000 CHF is also chronometer certified.
So are we talking about a soup without salt, looking at these examples. No, definitely not. We are talking about stripping watchmaking down to the bare essentials – sometimes less is more.
