Despite most other brands exhibiting in Geneva during Watch Week going classic because of China, Franck Muller decides to go the other way.
WORLDTEMPUS - 24 January 2011
Miguel Seabra
The Franck Muller Group's Watchland opened its doors for the winter edition of the World Presentation of Haute Horlogerie. This exhibition held in Genthod, where the group is headquartered, once again took place at the same time as the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie. Despite the fact that almost every brand exhibiting at the SIHH insisted on presenting collections dominated by pure and minimalist features, Franck Muller himself insisted on his “size does matter” mantra.“Most of the brands want to please China,” the self-proclaimed “Master of Complications” analyzes. “It's a ‘new' market that has recently become paramount to the watch industry and since the Chinese are new customers still developing their taste, they are more inclined toward simple, round shapes, smaller sizes and minimalist aesthetics – hence the classical collections you can see everywhere. Well, we do respect the Chinese market but we're not doing what everyone else does; we're still big on oversized timepieces and the star novelty of the WPHH goes in that direction: the Giga Tourbillon is big and is equipped with a big tourbillon so that the owner can look at his watch and properly appreciate its investment!”
Monumental Features, Four Barrels
The new Giga Tourbillon is indeed quite monumental with its 59.2 x 43.7 mm dimensions and 8.15 mm of height. As the name implies, the main feature is a very large 20 mm diameter tourbillon that fills half the watch. Another special feature is that its 240-piece skeletonized movement was set against a translucent base plate and reversed to provide a more technical look: the bridges are on the dial side, with the hour and minute hands slightly off-center.
Beside the aesthetic fascination, mechanically it's a masterpiece boasting a ten-day power reserve (displayed at 12 o'clock) made possible by twin pairs of barrels that serially provide energy to hand-wound Caliber FM 2100; each one of the four barrels has a diameter of 16 mm (some 4 mm more than traditional spring barrels) in order to obtain the constant force the Giga Tourbillon needs to operate. The high-yield escapement drives a balance wheel whose inertia is four times higher than that of a traditional tourbillon – which explains the characteristic noise (sweet music to the true watch aficionado) that evokes the sound of a classic marine chronometer. The balance wheel oscillating at a frequency of 18,000 vph requires a very large spring (number CGS 10.6) developed exclusively by the Franck Muller Group.
Hybrid Elegance
Among other new products, the main one is a new line based on a hybrid case: the Elegance collection is a subtle blend of the Cintrée Curvex case and the Conquistador Grand Prix. By marrying the classic look of the Cintrée Curvex with the aggressiveness of the Conquistador Grand Prix, it represents the modern sports chic trend perfectly – and will be available in three different versions (sweep seconds, chronograph and tourbillon).
The beautiful setting of the Watchland headquarters also featured the group's other brands on 1,500m2 of purpose-designed exhibition space: Pierre Kunz, Martin Braun, Pierre Michel Golay, ECW, Rodolphe, Backes & Strauss, Alexis Barthelay and newcomer Smalto Timepieces.
