Franck Muller
Introducing Grail Watch 2: Franck Muller 30th Anniversary ‘Tribute’ Chronographs
Franck Muller
Introducing Grail Watch 2: Franck Muller 30th Anniversary ‘Tribute’ Chronographs
Franck Muller’s Watchmaking
Born to an Italian mother and Swiss father in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Muller entered watchmaking school at 15 years of age and literally blazed an incendiary trail, leaving many urban legends in his wake. One of the most famous is that after winning a Rolex watch for achieving the top prize at the Watchmaking School of Geneva, he took that watch and transformed it — using just a few more wheels — into a perpetual calendar. He managed to get an appointment with Rolex where he showed them the watch, hoping to sell them his design. Unfortunately, they turned him down. However, over his early career, it appears he produced a few of these timepieces, one of which ended up on the wrist of Jay-Z.
While these were made in different versions, the most interesting amongst them are the split seconds or rattrapante iterations — for one very intriguing reason. Said Franck Muller to me many years ago when I went to spend the week with him in his villa in Phuket, Thailand, “You know, I created a modification to the Valjoux 7750 movement to incorporate this split seconds function for our watches.” For the longest time, I had thought that the only person to have achieved this was Richard Habring in 1992 while he was working for IWC, so it was interesting to me that Franck Muller had devised his own version of the Valjoux-based split seconds movement, which is called the Franck Muller caliber 7000. (I was so intrigued by this watch that we decided to resurrect it, along with two other Lemania-based “Tribute” Chronographs in a 39mm steel case. More on this later.)
1990s Franck Muller Lemania-Based Chronographs
So what about the Breguet numeral, Lemania-based Franck Muller Chronographs? What’s the story behind these, you ask? Says Silas Walton, founder of A Collected Man and the first person to recently identify, piece together the history of and sell these watches, “What we do know about these Franck Muller Chronographs is that they emerged in the ’90s and were made in two configurations. There was a silver dial, two-counter version with applied Breguet ‘12’ and ‘6’ and applied dot markers. This watch was 36mm in diameter. And then there was a black dial version with three counters with an applied Breguet ‘12’ and applied dot markers as well, and this watch was 37mm in diameter.”
Says Nicholas Rudaz, CEO of Franck Muller Watchland, “These watches were all commissioned by an Italian retailer in the ’90s. They were made in small series of either 40 or 50 watches each time. In some versions, the number of the watch was actually printed on the dial.” The design characteristics of these watches were a clear tribute to Patek Philippe — in the same way that the Roger Dubuis Hommage was clearly, as the name expressed, a nod to the legendary Patek chronograph references 130 and 1463 of the ’40s and ’50s. The cases are smooth and rounded with long elegant lugs and concave bezels. Pushers are pump-style while the crowns are large and flat. Both the bi-compax and tri-compax watches feature the use of the Lemania 1874, a shuttle cam-operated, laterally coupled chronograph movement introduced to the Speedmaster back in 1969. This movement was the successor to the column wheel-activated 2310 designed by Albert Piguet in the 1940s, and because its cam was much easier to set up, it was considered more reliable.
Franck Muller 30th Anniversary Bi-Compax and Tri-Compax Chronographs
Says Jean-Loup Glénat, head of design at Franck Muller Watchland, “We were really excited to work on this project with you. It tells the story of an important part of our history and shows how creative Franck Muller was in the context of the era. Immediately, we retrieved the vintage plans of the watch and started to discuss the designs.” The first thing the Franck Muller team and I discussed was size. We decided that while the older watches were 36mm and 37mm in diameter, we would make our watches 39mm. At the same time, we would stay extremely faithful to the case of the original watches using the same style, finish and the type of flat, oversized vintage theme crown and large capped pushers. We also tried to make the cases as thin as possible so that they would sit elegantly on the wrist. One thing we decided on immediately was to distinguish these watches from the ones made in the ’90s by creating fluted pusher caps, of the style used by François Borgel (purchased at this time by Taubert & Fils) when they made the cases for the 1463.
Said Glénat, “We searched our archives and we found a small quantity of new old stock Lemania movements from the ’90s. We’ve tested them and they are functioning very well. If we are going to make a real tribute to this early period of Franck Muller, why don’t we put a piece of our history into each of these watches and house one of these vintage movements in every one of them?”
It was at this moment that my brain literally exploded. Said Rudaz, “It’s very important for us that collectors understand that here at Franck Muller, when we do something, we do it with real integrity and authenticity. If we are going to make these ‘Tribute’ watches, then let’s do a real tribute by making every one of these watches something truly special.”
But the presence of such rare and historic movements brought up another creative dilemma for us. Glénat and I were both set on showcasing the movements contained within the “Tribute” Chronographs. At the same time, we wanted to keep the antimagnetic properties of the originals as this was so much a part of Muller’s original intentions with the timepieces. Said Glénat, “I’ve done some research — the display casebacks, even with their sapphire crystals, could be classified as antimagnetic but, of course, a solid caseback would be better.”
We decide to pair these watches with simple calf straps, a vintage tan colored one for the silver dial watch and a black suede one for the black dial watch as we felt these are what collectors would end up pairing them with anyway. When I showed the final watches to Franck Muller, explaining how the vintage pieces had generated so much excitement, he said, “It’s really nice to see people appreciating the designs I created in the 1990s. The resulting timepieces are great and I hope collectors derive as much pleasure wearing them as I did creating them. The fact that the watches have the new old stock movements is a nice bridge to our history and I really like this.”
Franck Muller 30th Anniversary Double Sided Rattrapante Chronograph
Says Nicholas Rudaz, “When Wei Koh brought up the idea of the Double Sided Chronograph, a model we hadn’t made in several decades, of course we were thrilled and delighted. What better time to do a tribute to this model than the 30th anniversary of the brand?” We immediately decided that we should do a 30-piece edition. But the question quickly became, in which dial configuration?
Says Muller, “That is definitely the rarest and most unique design and is a great choice for a tribute to my Double Sided Chronograph.”
Says our partner on this project, Ron Jackson, president of Franck Muller USA, “It was clear that all three ‘Tribute’ Chronographs were incredibly strong in terms of design. So much so that I felt that watches 1 to 10 should be sold as box sets and be an exclusive to US collectors.”
Nicholas Rudaz shares, “What a way to celebrate our 30th anniversary and what a poignant tribute to Franck, whom we feel is one of the greatest creative minds to have ever worked in this industry.”
Grail Watch 2 will be available for sale on 18 November 2022 at 10pm SGT/9am EST/3pm CET, exclusively on GrailWatch.com. Watches numbered 1 to 10 will be sold in a special box set featuring one of each reference, priced at USD 64,500. For more details, email [email protected].
Tech Specs
Franck Muller 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Bi-Compax Chronograph, Ref. END 39 CC 2 Silver Grail Watch BR
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds and chronograph
Case: 39mm; stainless steel; water resistant to 30m
Dial: Silver grené; applied dot hour markers and Breguet “12” and “6”
Strap: Brown leather; stainless steel pin buckle
Price: USD 19,500
Availability: Numbered and limited edition of 50 pieces
Franck Muller 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Tri-Compax Chronograph, Ref. END 39 CC 3 Black Grail Watch BR
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds and chronograph
Case: 39mm; stainless steel; water resistant to 30m
Dial: Black grené; applied dot hour markers and Arabic “12”
Strap: Black leather; stainless steel pin buckle
Price: USD 20,500
Availability: Numbered and limited edition of 50 pieces
Franck Muller 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Double Sided Rattrapante Chronograph, Ref. 7000 CC R DF Grail Watch
Functions: Off-centered hours and minutes, small seconds and rattrapante chronograph with pulsometer, tachymeter and telemeter
Case: 39mm; stainless steel; water resistant to 30m
Dial: Sunburst black guilloché
Strap: Handsewn black alligator leather; stainless steel pin buckle
Price: USD 25,500
Availability: Numbered and limited edition of 30 pieces