The fruit of a collaboration with the renowned La Chaux-de-Fonds watchmaker Olivier Mory, this revolutionary creation offers a new interpretation of time, combining a circular minute display with a hypocycloidal hour display, symbolized by a triangle in the foreground of the dial. This asymmetrical reading of time, inaugurated worldwide last year, transforms the reading of the time into a choreographic experience, capturing an alternative temporality that embodies the carrousel of life.
« A hymn to Time that counts»
The brand’s founder, Thomas Baillod, is proud to present BA111OD’s first manufacture complication. While the minute hand travels around the dial in the usual way, the hour is indicated by a small dot following a hypocycloidal path within a triangle, creating a non-linear experience of time. "I particularly appreciate this aspect. Besides being mesmerizing, it's the symbolic aspect of life that fascinates me. Like those precious moments that last or slip away... the hour dot slows down and then speeds up again in a movement that appears irregular yet is perfectly calibrated and precise."
A hypocycloidal reading of time
This project, initially imagined by the designer Diego Böttger-Zevallos, turns out to be complex to realize. Thomas Baillod takes on the challenge. To ensure its technical development and production, he once again calls upon the brilliant watchmaker Olivier Mory, who is already responsible for the paternity of the BA111OD Chapter 4 Tourbillon. "There is hardly anything but the transcendent beauty of mathematics to obtain a triangle using only things that rotate in circles! And it is a discreet tribute to the several centuries-old use of the cycloid in watchmaking. Galileo, Newton, Huygens, Euler, Cantor or Roberval, to name but a handful, have all worked on the amazing properties of these curves," says Olivier Mory.
Rather than simply rotating a hand around a central axis, the movement was designed to "roll" a satellite hour wheel around a fixed central hour wheel. When a wheel is rotated around another wheel, the trajectory described by any point on this satellite wheel is a cycloid. There are several types of cycloids, some of which have particular trajectories, depending on the size ratio between the fixed wheel and the satellite wheel, as well as whether the satellite wheel rotates inside or outside the fixed wheel.
In this new chapter for BA1110D, the chosen cycloid is a deltoid (with a ratio of 1/3), and as a result, the trajectory described by the tip of the hour hand is... a triangle.
A particular shape highly appreciated by BA111OD is the triangle. With its three legs, this geometric shape that rises up represents direction and determination. It symbolizes stability and balance. This balance echoes the brand's business model, which is based on three letters, BAC (Business → Afluendors → Clients), breaking with the linearity of traditional distribution (B2B, B2C). Even the name BA111OD incorporates the number 3, with its three 1's.
Conception, design, development, production, and assembly Swiss made: Between local collaborations and inhouse work.
While very few watch brands have taken the step to develop their manufacture module, those who have done so are well-established and have already gained recognition. BA111OD stands out from the crowd. The young Neuchâtel-based brand has already embarked on this adventure, despite being founded just over 4 years ago, on 11.10.2019. However, according to its founder, this is a continuation of their philosophy, stating: "Since day one, BA111OD has been about a different way of looking at watchmaking. Today, we offer a new reading of time as well".
Accustomed to highlighting the artisans with whom he develops his models, Thomas Baillod is no exception in this case. He pays tribute to Diego Böttger-Zevallos, the initial designer of this movement, with an engraving of Module 09310 on the dial, which, when read backwards, offers a nice nod to this Neuchâtelois, as his first name can be discerned.
As with previous models, the design is handled by Liliane Murenzi, BA111OD's Senior Designer. It is she who gives the piece its sleek character and highlights its DNA through a play of transparencies, asymmetries, and subtle open zones on the movement at different levels, adding depth. All of this is enhanced by the contrast of circular polished-brushed and matte satin finishes. The CHPTR_Δ is available in three color variations: a gray version with blue accents, a black version with red accents, and a third version sporting a deep blue and its distinctive yellow dot.
Working for over a year on the technical development of this automatic winding mechanical movement, with the BA111OD 09310 module for hypocycloidal time reading, watchmaker designer from Chaux-de-Fonds, Olivier Mory, is also responsible for its production, while assembly is done in-house. Since fall 2022, BA111OD has its own watchmaking workshop, T2 (dial fitting, hands, casing) and T3 (bracelet fitting) in Neuchâtel. The brand also has its own after-sales service and logistics department.
This integration demonstrates its dynamism, its Neuchâtel roots, and enables it to control the entire creation process in-house, thus strengthening its autonomy.
Swiss made NFC Technology – the watch industry’s first connected glass
BA111OD is proud to be the first watch brand to offer models with an NFC (Near Field Communication) connected sapphire glass, which allows for contactless communication between two devices in close range, within 1 cm. This technology provides a link between the physical watch and the digital world, but only if the customer desires. By scanning their watch, the NFC glass allows them to transmit their business card or any other predetermined link directly to the phone of their interlocutor.
This exclusive series of 111 numbered pieces of the CHPTR_Δ AGIL will be available on Thursday, February 15, at 11:10 AM CET, on the brand's website: www.ba111od.com, on the Community App, or at one of the official points of sale, priced at CHF 2800. It's worth highlighting the enthusiasm for this exceptional watch: the first 50 pieces, launched in 2023, sold out in less than four hours.
