Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Romain Gauthier LOGICAL ONE NATURAL TITANIUM

A beautiful watch that we will get to see in Basel 2016...

Gold, platinum, stainless steel and… Well, just gold, platinum and stainless steel. Collectors of ultra high-end watches rarely deviate from these traditional case materials when choosing the next addition to their timepiece collection.


Titanium? For all its merits – strength, lightness and biocompatibility – this material is more often associated with tool, sport or avant-garde watches, rather than exquisite dress timepieces. Ultra high-end collectors just don’t seem to go for titanium.

At least, those were the thoughts running through Romain Gauthier’s head when he had the idea for Logical One Natural Titanium.

“In my experience, most ultra high-end collectors enjoy their timepieces in gold, platinum or steel,” says Gauthier. “Titanium is still a step too far for many."



He continues: “I respect that but I believe that in time high-end collectors will move over and eventually won’t think twice about acquiring an haute horlogerie timepiece in titanium. For Logical One Natural Titanium, my instinct was ‘build it, and they shall come’.

“Personally, I really wanted to see Logical One Natural Titanium become a reality, not least because I think Logical One and natural titanium were made to go together.”



A paragon of fine Swiss watchmaking, Logical One is Romain Gauthier’s Grand Prix de Genève-winning creation that contains a revolutionary snail cam and friction-minimising ruby-link chain, plus sapphire-lined mainspring barrel, to offer nearly two days of constant force – the holy grail of precision watchmaking.
 


Its beautifully hand-decorated, in-house movement can be admired dial side and through the display back, and is wound using an ergonomic winding pusher integrated into the caseband.

It features hours and minutes on an off-centre subdial, small seconds, and a 46-hour power reserve indicator on the back.
 


Part of Logical One Natural Titanium’s splendour lies in the contrasts created by the various finishes applied to the case and movement: light and dark, polished and satin-finished.

The mainplate, mainspring barrel bridge and lower bridge for the constant force mechanism bear a deep anthracite ADLC finish.

Yet, the balance bridge, escape wheel bridge and power reserve indicator bridge are in a bright palladium-treated brass that brings out the fine hand-finishing of these parts.

Likewise, the upper ‘bar’ bridge for the constant force system is in light-hued natural titanium.

As for the titanium case, the lugs, bezel, caseback, pusher and time-setting crown are satin-finished, creating a gentle sheen that forms a fine counterpoint to the gleaming caseband, which has been highly polished.



The alligator leather strap is in casual matte black with light grey stitching.

The result is a real high-end collector’s timepiece, yet one boasting all the advantages of titanium: Its robustness makes for a durable case; its light weight provides an eminently comfortable wear; its biocompatibility means those with nickel allergy need not worry.
 


Photographs: Romain Gauthier

And on the wrist, it makes a real visual statement. There is a hint of casualness, a soupçon of sportiness, but not quite overpowering enough to eclipse its credentials as an exquisite dress timepiece.

Logical One Natural Titanium is available with oven-fired white enamel dial with flame-blued steel hands (pictured), oven-fired black enamel dial with 18k gold hands, or black clous de Paris dial with 18k gold hands.

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