Feature
Affordable Haute Horlogerie
Feature
Affordable Haute Horlogerie
CHRISTOPHER WARD C1 BEL CANTO
A minute repeater or grande sonnerie is likely to set you back at least six figures. A hard fact of life: Not everyone has a few hundred thousand dollars lying around. Here’s where British brand Christopher Ward comes in and flips the script. Founded in 2004, Christopher Ward proffers exquisite timepieces that are designed in Britain and assembled in Switzerland.
The brand made global headlines when it released the C1 Bel Canto in November 2022, a chiming watch priced at USD 3,400. Naturally, all 300 examples of this eye- catching timepiece sold out in a matter of hours. Not a minute repeater but a Sonnerie au Passage complication, the Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto looks and sounds beautiful all the same. You can set it to chime every hour or be silent.
Shortly after the blue dial C1 Bel Canto was released and sold out, Christopher Ward released a new green dial variant, which enjoyed a similar fate, so I’ve got a hunch that the C1 Bel Canto won’t be the last chiming watch that this brand will unveil.
ANORDAIN
Scottish brand anOrdain is a brand devoted to the complex art of enameling. Enamel is usually made up of lead, soda ash and silica, which starts as a lump that is ground into a powder, then applied to a surface for firing in a kiln.
After a tedious trial-and-error process that involved no less than 160 variations, this UK brand offered five styles of opaque dials when it was founded in 2015. The technique used to achieve the shiny and deep colors of anOrdain’s dials is called vitreous enameling, a term that is inscribed on these dials and might be better known to watch collectors as grand feu enameling. This arduous process fuses many layers of melted enamel powder perfectly onto a wafer-thin metal disk.
anOrdain also performs fumé enameling on dials, which produces a translucent gradient, as compared to vitreous enameling. Initially, anOrdain artisans noticed that after firing a dial blank that was coated with translucent enamel, the dial would warp, producing a raised center. When sanded flat, the edges of the enamel dial appeared darker as there was a thicker layer of enamel at the periphery while the enamel at the center was thinner and hence lighter, resulting in a natural gradient. Thus, the team began experimenting with ways of replicating the defect in a controlled manner and eventually hit upon a clever solution. The silver dial base is first stamped to create a subtle dome before it is coated with translucent enamel, fired in a kiln and sanded. Due to the domed surface, the depth of enamel can be greater at the edges and shallow at the center, achieving a colour that darkens towards the periphery. At the same time, the back of the dial is also enameled to prevent it from bending when in the kiln.
OPHION
Timepieces with cases designed by living legend Kari Voutilainen are more within reach than ever, what with the stunning releases by Ophion.
Founded in 2015, Ophion made waves when it began retailing timepieces with cases made by Voutilainen & Cattin S.A. for around EUR 3,000. Voutilainen & Cattin S.A. is a company that specializes in cases and is partly owned by Voutilainen. Ophion timepieces sport the signature teardrop lugs that have become synonymous with Voutilainen’s design language. These lugs are attached to polished stainless steel cases using an invisible welding technique, which makes the case and lugs look like a cast monobloc.
SARTORY BILLARD
“You deserve a bespoke watch,” is the welcome message of the Sartory Billard website, and the brand’s asking price is very attractive. TL;DR: The brand’s founder and designer Armand Billard tempts us with his handmade watches that come with a mind-blowing array of customization options. The former industrial designer’s current horological offerings are the SB04 and SB05. The former is a collection of 40mm self-winding timepieces that starts from under EUR 4,000, while the latter is a manual winding range of 38mm timepieces that starts from under EUR 10,000.
The SB04, for example, comes with options like a titanium case that is full polished or combines several different finishes. Might you fancy another case material like a precious metal, patterned steel or carbon fiber? Sure. Its dial can be heat-treated to realize various colors like burgundy, purple and blue.
Numerals can be polished, matte finished or heat- colored to different hues, and dials can be finished with or without lume. Various other components of the case are also available in different colors and finishes. And, of course, Armand Billard and his associates offer engraving as well.
Furthermore, the SB05 offers options of Arabic, Chinese, Indian or Roman for its even numerals, which are interspersed by markers that symbolize the odd- numbered hours, and dials are available in titanium, guilloché finish, silver, brass or various stones. You can even customize a name and quote plate on your SB05.
The sky’s the limit for Sartory Billard’s multi-talented litany of artisans.
HORAGE
You might have come across Horage’s Autark, Tourbillon 1 and Supersede. However, one particular Horage creation that generated immense international buzz is the Lensman 1. This gorgeously and intricately fashioned timepiece unveiled in October 2022 was obviously inspired by the elegant aesthetics of high-end camera equipment.
This Swiss brand has developed three in-house calibers since its inception in 2007. Among these, the K-TOU tourbillon movement powers the Lensman 1. The Lensman 1 is a recent Horage creation that followed the Horage Tourbillon and is priced at CHF 8,890, which makes it one of the most accessible in-house Swiss tourbillon watches today. Furthermore, it is an impressive chronometer that is accurate to -4/+6 seconds per day.
This tourbillon’s titanium cage weighs 0.29g and is 3.4mm thick. Further reducing inertia, both the escape wheel and pallet fork are made of silicon, effectively mitigating sliding friction. It also boasts a silicon hairspring, a technological innovation which until late last year, was the domain of a consortium led by CSEM. Above these components, a blued screw also functions as a seconds indicator.
Flip the Lensman 1 over to enjoy its see-through caseback — a ravishing work of art that showcases its in-house movement through a double layer anti-reflective sapphire crystal. Around this crystal is engraved a quote by celebrated French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson: “One’s head, one’s eye and one’s heart on the same axis.”
MORE TO LOVE
In today’s eclectic and highly democratized watch market, it’s easy to find affordable watches that will win your heart. If you’d like a handsome timepiece that looks distinctive but does not cost several months’ paychecks, check out Brew, Feynman, Studio Underd0g, Xeric and Yema, and the list goes on.
Founded in Singapore by then-26-year-old Elshan Tang in 2014, Zelos is best known for its burly dive watches in exotic materials such as bronze, forged carbon and meteorite at highly accessible prices. In recent years, the brand scaled upmarket with the launch of the Mirage Tourbillon that incorporated a slim skeleton tourbillon movement made by La Joux-Perret.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t highlight the Solios, which makes a versatile and elegant array of solar-powered watches. Then there’s Bulova, creator of the iconic Accutron, that produces a wide variety of affordable watches today including remakes of heritage models such as the Lunar Pilot, Oceanographer as well as those supplied to the military. Accutron, on the other hand, became a brand unto itself. It was launched as an independent subsidiary by its parent company Citizen Group in 2020. The Accutron Spaceview recreated the look of the original with a newly developed electrostatic movement by its stablemate, Miyota.
All kinds of eclectic brands have been mushrooming around the world, each appealing to collectors of various personalities and inclinations. Traditional watchmaking techniques have been passed on far and wide, and from this, new methods, styles and expressions have been evolving. This means that if you keep looking around, you’ll continually discover refreshing brands that each bring something new to the table.