In an industry where ‘world firsts’ are the grail of watchmakers and not just collectors, Cyrus Genève can lay claim to an impressive horological podium, that of achieving the world’s first independent dual chronograph.

The invention in question was born in 2021 under the guidance of Jean-François Mojon, a celebrated watchmaker whose fingerprints are found on some of the most inventive movements of the last two decades. The Klepcys DICE Glacial Blue (DICE being an acronym for Double Independent Chronograph Evolution) is exactly what the abbreviation stands for: the world’s first chronograph designed to record two intervals completely independently of each other within one case. It’s a complication that sounds pretty niche on paper, yet in practice is surprisingly versatile – made for measuring two athletes in a race, keeping track of different cooking times, or timing the ebb and flow of the more mundane rituals of daily life. Moreover, its icy good looks make it a pretty versatile companion when it comes to the style stakes, too.

Mojon approached the project with the kind of rigorous precision engineering that one would expect from a watchmaker whose side hustle is being the founder and managing director of Chronode – a company that makes top-end movements for leading luxury watch brands.

The Cyrus DICE has two entirely separate chronographs inside the same watch; keeping them separate but precise requires brilliant movement design. His solution was to create two separate chronograph trains, each governed by its own column wheel, insulated from one another to prevent energy loss or interference. It is watchmaking at its most counterintuitive: designing a mechanism so that two systems can work in perfect parallel without touching.

For 2025, Cyrus gives this horological unicorn – limited to just 38 pieces – an ice-cool refresh courtesy of a new identity: Glacial Blue, a colour of deep ice and frozen sky that tempers the technical rigour of the DICE.

The case respects the existing Cyrus codes: cushion-shaped, 42mm across, 16.5mm thick, and constructed in grade 5 titanium it is light, corrosion-resistant, and finished in alternating brushed and polished surfaces. The twin crowns at three and nine o’clock are the calling card of the DICE. Each controls its own chronograph, distinguished by anodised rings: white for the right-hand train, black for the left. Each crown can start, stop and reset its chronograph without ever disrupting the other.

The dial is a delight of movement and beautifully balanced, legible design, an open-worked architecture that exposes the twin column wheels and the intricate dance of levers beneath. The 30-minute counter at three o’clock is mirrored by the small seconds counter at nine, while the two central chronograph seconds hands -one white, one black – reset to opposite poles of the dial, twelve and six. The overlapping scales are colour-coded to match. For a watch that deals in complexity, its legibility is remarkably clear.

Inside is Mojon’s calibre CYR718, a movement that comprises 443 components, 218 of which belong to the independent chronograph module alone. It beats at 4Hz, offers 55 hours of power reserve, and has been cleverly reversed to show its mechanics dial-side.

There is something subversive about this decision. Rather than hide the work beneath a sapphire back, Cyrus has chosen to reveal the chronograph mechanism and its column wheels from the dial side.

While split-seconds chronographs (rattrapantes) allow you to record intermediate times, they still rely on a single train and eventually collapse back to one timing. The DICE refuses that compromise. It is two chronographs in one watch, working independently.

Dubai Watch Week has always been a stage for independents to flex their imagination, and Cyrus has leaned into that spirit with aplomb. Cyrus has chosen to dive deeper with its DICE Glacial Blue, a watch for the collector who wants something genuinely new, something with mechanical integrity at its heart, yet aesthetically distinct. It is also a reminder that modern watchmaking can still surprise, that there are watchmakers like Mojon willing to redraw what a chronograph can be.

Tech Specs: Cyrus Genève Klepcys DICE Glacial Blue

Movement: Manufacture self-winding movement, calibre CYR718 with 55 hours power reserve
Functions: Double independent chronograph; hours, minutes, small seconds at 9 o’clock
Case: Grade 5 polished/brushed titanium 42 mm
Dial: 3D open-worked dial, visible microbeaded mainplates with glacial blue ALD treatment
Strap: Glacial blue Cordura fabric strap with personalised grade 5 titanium folding clasp