The concept of the Chronomètre FB 1.4-3 is inspired by an 18th century armillary sphere whose movement, created by Ferdinand Berthoud, indicated the time on a glass dial. The sapphire half-bridges reveal the beauty of the hand-wound Calibre FB-T.FC-2, rhodium-plated and dotted with blue accents, its pillar-type architecture and its reversed and suspended fusee-and-chain transmission mechanism. Thanks to its bead-blasted titanium case, this timepiece with its contemporary design weighs only 80g, which is extremely light for such a complex timepiece.
The silver-toned dial with straight-grained lines and an openworked centre bears a blue-toned counter at 12 o’clock displaying the hours and minutes. At 9 o'clock, the power reserve appears through a recessed opening with beveled edges. The seconds are indicated by a central hand on a translucent matt sapphire inner bezel ring, colored in blue. All finishes are entirely hand-crafted.
The FB-T.FC-2 calibre powering the Chronomètre FB 1.4-3 offers an exceptional level of readability thanks to its three sapphire half-bridges, finely chamfered with sandblasted bevels. This choice highlights the striking beauty of the components. The words "CHRONOMÈTRE SUISSE 45 RUBIS FERDINAND BERTHOUD" are engraved and highlighted in blue.
Visible through the central dial opening, the fourth wheel is independent of the wheel driving the tourbillon carriage. Extremely thin (0.22 mm) and exceptionally long (24.68 mm), the seconds hand fitted to it is made of bronze with a blue CVD treatment.
