In recent years, Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud has become a byword for customization, just as much as for complicated, high-end watchmaking. With the Chronomètre FB RES, the Val-de-Travers-based watchmaker has cemented its status as the go-to brand that lets owners decide exactly how they’d like to have their own slice of ultra haute horlogerie.
Launched just before Watches & Wonders 2024, the FB RES draws on a plethora of the Chopard-owned company’s previous developments and brings them together into a fresh, coherent whole.
Contemporary Tribute
At the FB RES’ core, we find the central hours, minutes and deadbeat seconds of the brand’s FB 2RE from 2020 but also its double regulation system – “double” in that it housed the brand’s signature fusée-and-chain mechanism and a one-second remontoire device, both of which contribute to a more stable timekeeping precision.
The Chronomètre FB RES essentially revisits this movement, but rather than pair it with a solid enamel dial – as was the case with the FB 2RE – the brand has created a semi-openwork concept that sees part of the dial cut away to reveal a number of gears and a trio of finely-finished bridges on one side of the dial as well as the gears of the 50-hour power reserve indicator on the other. Indeed, “RES” stands for “Remontoir d’Égalité Squelette”.
The design is inspired by a skeletonised remontoire-equipped table clock made by master watchmaker Ferdinand Berthoud around 1775. According to Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud President, this clock was ripe for a contemporary, wristborne rendition.
“Imagining a modern interpretation of this exceptional work seemed a quite logical step,” says Scheufele. “This gave rise to the idea behind the FB RES collection: a skeletonised, more technical version of our own Calibre FB-RE.FC with a one-second remontoire mechanism.”
Options Aplenty
Three years ago, Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud declared that, going forward, its limited editions would be defined by the number of movements made, a figure stated from the outset. This not only guarantees the rarity of its timepieces, but it also gives collectors plenty of scope to customise them.
For the Chronomètre FB RES, just 38 movements will be made in total, and clients will be able to choose the shape and material of the 44mm case, the tonality and finishing of the nickel silver dial plate and the colour of the inner bezel ring.
Chronometric Credits
Since Scheufele revived the Ferdinand Berthoud name in 2015, the brand has stood out for being the only one in its category to consistently offer COSC-certified timepieces.
More often than not, it has achieved this level of chronometric accuracy by combining a torque-taming fusée and chain, plus Maltese cross stopwork, with a gravity-fighting tourbillon,
However, like its predecessor Calibre FB-RE.FC, the new Calibre FB-RES.FC eschews a tourbillon in favour of a remontoire device which takes the form of a spring positioned between the barrel and the escapement. The spring temporarily stores a tiny quantity of energy that is delivered in regular bursts to the balance wheel.
The frequency with which the remontoire winds and rewinds is short – just one second. By deploying an intermediate wheel, this sequential impulse is used to power the central “dead” seconds hand so it advances in distinctive one-second jumps.
Ideally, accurate timekeeping should come with accurate time setting, and the movement duly features a stop-seconds device on the balance wheel to accomplish this.
Finally, this being a Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud COSC-certified movement means as much attention to detail has been spared on its decoration as well as on its performance. According to the brand, each gear, bridge and screw is entirely hand-finished. What’s more, if all the angles of the gears and their bridges were placed end to end, that would equate to more than two linear metres that are filed and polished by hand.
Striking a Balance
For a while now, Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud has made evident strides to ensure the global design of its watches match their obvious mechanical merits and supreme level of movement decoration. The smart looks of the Chronomètre FB RES are further evidence to show that the brand is increasingly striking the right balance between movement mastery and overall design.
As mentioned, the customisation options are many and varied. Clients can choose between a round or octagonal case, both featuring caseband portholes that give a view onto the movement. Case material options, meanwhile, include stainless steel, titanium, ceramised titanium and 18k white, yellow, or rose gold.
As for the openworked nickel silver dial plate, it can be vertically brushed or matte sandblasted, while it can also be coloured with champagne, anthracite or blue tones. And the colour of the circular-grained inner bezel ring displaying seconds can also be selected: anthracite, champagne- or silver-toned.
For more information about the Chronomètre FB RES, please visit the Ferdinand Berthoud website.
