The Revival of Daniel Roth’s Legendary Ellipsocurvex Case

I have always adored the Ellipsocurvex case from Daniel Roth. That is the name of the shape you see on these pages, although the brand now prefers to use a name that came before that: Double Ellipse. Half rectangle, half circle, it is a unique take on what a shape or form watch can be. Usually, anyone venturing outside the square, rectangle, or tonneau verges on the freakish. And yet, there is something fascinating about the quintessential Daniel Roth case. By any metric, it is weird and magnificent at the same time. It is a defining trait of the Daniel Roth Tourbillon, more than any other because if you object to it, your desire will instantly disappear. So, for those of you who are still around, let me tell you how special this timepiece is in watchmaking history.

One of The First

Back in the 1980s, there were but a metaphorical handful of watchmakers still working on high complications. Even fewer worked on the tourbillon, which was a historical oddity at the time, and only a literal handful of pieces were manufactured each year. Just like his peers Franck Muller, François-Paul Journe or George Daniels, the watchmaker Daniel Roth created a tourbillon movement, one of the first of contemporary times, except this one was for the wrist. At the time, he was an employee of a manufacture called Nouvelle Lemania. This storied firm mainly made chronographs, especially for its biggest client, Breguet but also for everyone who used what are today known as Lemania calibres. That is the Breguet from before it was acquired by Swatch Group and therefore, a small outfit. In fact, both Breguet and Nouvelle Lemania were acquired by the Swatch Group. The brand still uses the Lemania chronograph calibre today, under the Caliber 558.1 moniker.

In 1988, Daniel Roth set up shop on his own and re-created a version of his tourbillon calibre, based on blanks provided by Nouvelle Lemania. He fitted it into a case he created himself, one so specific it helped establish his name as a brand. Not only that, but he dressed it with a dial that went on to become his other signature: an off-centered subdial for the hours and minutes, forced up at 12 o'clock by the large tourbillon at 6 o'clock. Flanking and crossing said tourbillon is a magnificent, delight-of-the-geeks, bridge, which is affixed to a guilloché surface, reminiscent of Breguet's original style. Think of the Breguet reference 3350, for example. Needless to say, the seconds display was, and still is, quite unique. It is a combination of a three-pronged seconds hand, fitted on the tourbillon carriage, that swipes a triple-scale seconds sector. Daniel Roth, the watchmaker and the brand, was a pioneering member of the small independents squad dedicated to historical watchmaking that traded on the highest finishing standards. Today, these makers and the brands that bear their names are tantamount to royalty.

Return of the Curves

Nevertheless, in 2011, the brand was shelved. It had been acquired by Bulgari before it was bought up by LVMH. Bulgari was in fact after the manufacturing facilities that Daniel Roth shared with another famous, now-also-revived brand, Gérald Genta. Fast-forward to 2023, when Jean Arnault (of the famous Arnault family) claimed the brand for himself, as part of his tenure as head of the watches arm of Louis Vuitton. The new Daniel Roth’s first move was to make a “Souscription,” 20-units series in yellow gold. This effectively meant you had to apply first and receive the watch later, if you were lucky enough to have been chosen by the brand's leadership. The second move is this rose gold version you see here that was introduced in the fall of this year.

On the face of it, today's Daniel Roth Tourbillon is a cleaned-up and up-to-speed variation of the 1990s version. Of course, the movement had to change, the original having become unavailable from the Breguet Manufacture, or Lemania for that matter. So, the manufacturing arm of Louis Vuitton, La Fabrique du Temps, led by horological legends Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini, gave it a new engine that they christened calibre DR001. On the outside, i.e. the visible parts of the tourbillon, it has the same appearance as the original. On the inside, it is a completely new thing that is a full 2mm thinner, with 80 hours of power reserve, several gold chatons and gorgeous finishing touches.

The case dimensions have slightly changed and the details are neater, but the essence is still here. Part of that is the mirror-polished long tourbillon bridge resting on pillars, which is the right kind of fan service. Another step in the right direction is the guilloché work, applied on the rose gold dial, which is also designed to revive nostalgia. The last one is something that pictures cannot show and that words cannot properly express: the singular pleasure in putting this watch on. It is unlike anything else out there, and given the size of today's global offering, that is saying something.

This article first appeared in WOW’s Legacy Issue #75

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Parmigiani Fleurier Elevates Elegant Timepieces With the Toric Petite Seconde

The 2024 Watches & Wonders Geneva (WWG) edition featured an unprecedented number of not sporty, not sporty-chic, not integrated-bracelet, not steel watches. Unprecedented, that is, if your memory cannot reach as far back as 2018, when dress watches were everywhere. When that fundamental segment of high watchmaking was still hot and the Nautilus-clones and Royal Oak-alikes of this world had not taken over the watchmaking scene. Yes, there was a time when a gold timepiece, with a slim case, a beautiful movement and not overflowing with complications was a relevant expression of taste. A timepiece like the Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Petite Seconde. It is a timepiece so rife with elegant details that most of them simply go unnoticed.

The Toric is hardly new; it is the name of Parmigiani Fleurier's original collection and never left the collection. Back in 1996, when the brand was first launched, it stood out with its double godroon bezel, whose bumps were knurled. Not guilloché, which is a type of engraving, but ridged like the fudged sole of a dress shoe. Except what is being pressed into shape is not leather, but gold. Fast-forward 28 years, and Parmigiani Fleurier has been through ups and downs and is now in great shape thanks to the Tonda PF and its lean and sartorial design guidelines. The firm is selling as many watches as it can make, which signals general admiration and desire in the watchmaking community. But instead of just sticking to a single collection, like so many brands do – instead of milking the Tonda PF – the brand decided to release the kind of watches Michel Parmigiani built this business for in the first place. The kind no one expected until a few months ago.

Admittedly, this is a strong and indeed personal statement but bear with me for a minute and take a look at the Toric Petite Seconde. Look at the dial. It is finely hand-grained to a powdery texture with a pastel-toned galvanic treatment. Its shape is “chevé”, meaning it is shaped like a pan, with a curved edge. Its indices are short, and their outlines follow the aforementioned curve. The hands are ever so slim; ever so slender. And then there are the “filet sauté”. This regrettable Gallicism refers to the thin wire circles going around the dial and the small seconds. And of course, there is the signature knurled bezel that gives the 8.8mm-thick case its relief. And the last detail? All the above components and features are in gold.

Flip the Toric and behold caliber PF780. It is an all-new movement, made especially for the collection. It is slim, hand-wound and built according to an elaborate interpretation of symmetry. It will not be obvious but the bridges and mainplate are crafted out of solid rose gold and guilloché with a Côtes de Fleurier pattern. Parmigiani Fleurier is going all-in on the details without shouting it from the rooftops. That understatement is the loudest statement one could make. And since you have stuck with me this far, trust me on this last one: it is an ardent joy to wear.

Movement: Manual-winding, rose gold caliber PF780 with small seconds; 60-hour power reserve
Case: 41.8mm in rose gold; water-resistant to 30m
Strap: Nubuck-finished alligator leather
Price: SGD 75,160

This story was first seen on WOW’s Summer 2024 Issue.

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Traditional Watchmaking Gets Galvanised By Gemstones and Gold

Rolex gemmologist checks the quality of diamonds

Luxury is a fast-changing industry. Luxury watchmaking, not so much. Hampered by tradition, classicism, and, more often than not, a lack of vision, it tends to be set in its ways. One of those 'ways' is to consider that gem-set watches are a) for women, b) for the bling-loving crowd of hip-hop entertainment, or c) for wealthy clients from the Gulf region with no watchmaking savvy. Yes, there is prejudice and snobbery afoot where gem-set timepieces are concerned, as alluded to in the Unusual Suspects companion piece to this story. The truth is that mechanical timepieces with abundant gem-setting skills on display are in high demand, especially those whose sizes and styles make them compatible with the tastes of men. Yes, men. Cue shock and outrage.

Just the other day, I was invited to a high-brow cultural event in my hometown of Paris, in a posh setting, by a brand whose approach is very conservative. A senior member of staff, young but far from having a penchant for what might be considered the thug life (cringeworthy though such thoughts might be), confessed an amazing fact to me: his dream watch is one of their most famous references...with a rainbow bezel.

Patek Philippe Ref. 5711/1300A (discontinued)

More Specific

That only went to confirm what I have grown to see and understand about this specific segment. Perfectly legitimate complicated timepieces (mechanical of course) elevated with a large number of gems are increasingly popular, with an increasingly large population. This audience is more diverse in gender, age, origin and regards for watchmaking classics than one might think. But there is a certain style involved, along with a certain prestige associated with the baguette cut. Round gems generally do not qualify. Oddly enough, the name of the game is not going overboard. Setting a bezel is just right. Using baguettes as indices on the dial is spot on. Extending said baguettes to the entire dial is already on the daring side. Pushing it to slather the whole case seems very polarising. Going full-bracelet-and-lugs-plus-everything-with-a-surface on top of any of the options above puts a watch in a more difficult position, both in terms of style, perception and of course, logically, price.

More Expensive

For an excellent case in point, one just needs to take a look at Patek Philippe's growing number of gem-set references. This should serve to underscore the point that there is considerable interest in the matter from even the most traditional brands. Something obviously shifted when the Genevan brand acquired Salanitro, the city's largest gem-setting specialist for watches. It was even more obvious when Patek Philippe released the platinum-cased, ruby-bezeled perpetual calendar chronograph Ref. 5271P in 2022. Seeing how Ref. 5271P represents a 60 percent price increase on plain vanilla Ref. 5270P, it leaves little to the imagination as to why the firm chose to add 5.25 carats of baguette rubies. That premium might be characterised as exorbitant or is it conservative? Whatever the case (no pun intended), the buying public is unfazed. The watch can still double your money, and then some, on the secondary market, should one choose to go that way. This very high premium put on the upper crust of gem-encrusted timepieces seems a reasonable explanation for the emergence of such plush pieces. Such watches, as this story presents it, includes the slew of 41mm Audemars Piguet Royal Oaks bedecked with baguette diamonds and sapphires the brand has recently unleashed.

More Complex

For a long time, it was considered easy – too easy really – for brands to just add gems on a bezel to make a quick buck and sell it to whomever. The fact of the matter though is that high-end gem-setting is another kettle of fish entirely. Any sort of setting that stops at round diamonds of small size is indeed nothing special, with the exception of snow setting of course but we digress. There are machines that have become very good at this sort of prosaic work, which is hardly discussed at all and what we will say about this is that you should consider what role machines play in setting gems as prominently as you consider the role of machines in movement finishing.

Back on point then, the more exclusive gem-setting approach relies on a different type of cut and a much more elaborate kind of setting technique. It uses baguette-cut gems, which demands roughs that are better, larger and suffer a larger loss of weight during the cutting stage. They lend themselves perfectly to invisible setting, which is widely used for this type of adornment. It is the most demanding of all techniques. It requires the gem-setter cut two grooves along the longest sides of the baguette gemstone. That groove will help snap the gem in place in a purpose-crafted bezel, or dial, or caseband. This results in a tight arrangement of rectangles, with virtually no gaps between them and no prongs to be seen; the gems are shown unobstructed and in all their glory. The last and perhaps most important part of this process is the following: setting a closed part of a watch such as the bezel, which admits almost no light in, demands only the very best – that means the clearest and purest gems.

Hublot Big Bang Integrated King Gold Rainbow

More Desirable

Fortunately, the tastes of watch lovers are evolving. Under the pressure of, one must admit,hip-hop aesthetics going mainstream and infusing all segments of luxury; entertainment icons becoming billionaires and increasing their role as trendsetters; and the worldwide enrichment of the 0.01 percent, it has become a sign of taste, wealth and access to wearing a rose gold Daytona with 47 multicolored baguette-cut sapphires. Perhaps not coincidentally, these are the most expensive of all Rolexes on offer on the popular Chrono24 platform; yes, the pricing here makes for a far-from-perfect example but it does serve to illustrate a point.

For the life of you, do not mention a diamond-set platinum Rolex to a fanatic; he might immediately have a stroke. The brand is discreetly making unique and very rare pieces for high-six-figure sums, which it calls 'off-catalogue'. These watches do not appear in the brand's official communication, but are available, although in very small quantities; by available, we mean that they are made and sold, not that you could get lucky and just find one. These watches are nicknamed by the letters at the end of their reference number such as SARU or SABR, with the latter sometimes dubbed Aurora Borealis. If one is to believe the incredible premium these pieces command on the secondary market, a gem-set Rolex is the hottest thing out there. To this surprising fact, there is a historical explanation to consider. Geneva, however Calvinist and sometimes rigid in its approach to spending and ostentation, has been a major caterer of overt luxury in watches for more than two centuries. It is only logical that Patek Philippe and Rolex see an opportunity and seize it; it is culturally obvious for them.

Setting the case of the Jacob & Co. Timeless Treasure

More Luxurious

There were early signs of this phenomenon. The rainbow bezel craze of the late 2010s was intense and widespread. Every brand had to have one on their roster, as we noted in the Unusual Suspects. Do not be fooled by their relative disappearance from watch-related news; they are still very much in demand. One needs only take a look at the steady stream of Hublot novelties for confirmation, and that Rainbow model without any gems at all a couple of years ago that we love. There, I must render unto Caesar and all that. Because 15 years ago, Hublot’s Million Dollar Big Bangs and subsequent fully diamond-clad timepieces opened up a new realm within watchmaking – hyper luxury, hyper pricing, and hyper carat weight. Such attempts had been made previously, but the watches failed to sell and were scrapped for parts. Then in 2015, Jacob & Co. released its USD 18-million Billionaire, complete with 260 carats of emerald-cut white diamonds, actually sold it, and then started making an entire collection based on that concept. The process culminated recently in its USD 20-million Timeless Treasure, entirely made of 216 carats of Asscher-cut yellow diamonds; the Asscher-cut is one of the most challenging in the world of jewellery, making the baguette-cut seem like child’s play.

More Extensive

Indeed, Jacob & Co.'s juggernaut success is another case in point. The brand confessed to me to not being able to keep up with demand for any of its full-set watches. The NYC-based brand excels at creating 20-, 30-, 40-carat timepieces, where it pairs coloured gems with tourbillons, automata, minute repeaters, music boxes and the entire array of their singular mechanics. The fact is they seem to be selling them in the USA, in Europe, in Dubai, in Singapore as well as in all of Southeast Asia. This type of product is integral to the brand’s identity since it comes from the world of high jewelery, and further from the brand’s signature combination of the same with inventive complications. The strategy is bearing fruit as the watches have met with the aforementioned positive response all over the world. So strong a fact is this that Jacob & Co are about to double down on the coloured-gem Billionaire thing, as a 2023 catalogue entry seemed to suggest; the fully-set piece is about to arrive with 100+ carats of rubies and emeralds.

Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Grisaille High Jewellery - Dragon

More Exclusive

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Vacheron Constantin is regularly releasing high-complication pieces from their Les Cabinotiers line with baguette-cut diamonds on the bezel, such as Les Cabinotiers Grisaille High Jewellery Dragon (which we missed in print but made a special note on in our coverage on Luxuo – Ed). These pieces are not merely bespoke; they are unique pieces made with a specific sort of clientèle in mind, and they are not meant as showroom pieces only. Lower on the scale of exclusivity, the Overseas has also benefited from a baguette enhancement on its tourbillon iteration. Overall, there is a constantly growing number of pieces offered from a variety of brands. They show that elegance is a more flexible term than we sometimes like to think. And it so happens that Singapore, amongst the most high watchmaking-savvy markets in the world, is in love with these pieces.

This article first appeared on WOW’s Spring 2024 issue.

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The Eye-Centric and Eccentric Quality Behind Ressence's Timepieces

As I am walking into Ressence's booth at some watchmaking trade show, I hear a loud, amused, and frankly unsettling declaration. Benoît Mintiens, the brand's mastermind, is in the middle of a presentation, all smiles, and let out a roaring “But of course we don't have a loupe (emphasis on don't). We're not watchmakers here!” How odd to hear someone from the watch industry bragging to be an outlier. But then again, this is really the essence of that exciting brand called Ressence. They are not Swiss, but their watches are entirely Swiss-made (except for straps and crystals). They are not part of the watchmaking establishment, although they are a recognized member of the envied independent watchmakers club. Not one member of its staff knows how to craft, assemble, tune or otherwise deal with a movement. They were not born from a watchmaking decision, tradition or inspiration. Nor are they from a marketing concept, that would act upon targeting, strategising and managing some desired brand equity. They have nothing to do with the resurrection of some long-dead, half-forgotten name from the 18th or 19th century, justifying some neo-retro design venture. Despite not checking any one of the usual boxes in the current watchmaking landscape, they still manage to be one of the rare names associated with a genuine vision of what a watch is, what it does, how it reads and how one interacts with it. In other words, we are dealing with a modern watch brand. And to understand how so, one must do a deep dive into the mind of founder, creative director, CEO and sole shareholder Benoît Mintiens.

Dial close-up of the Resistance x Alain Silberstein Type 1 Rev Grail Watch

Belgium's Best

Benoit Mintiens is neither Swiss, nor French, although he is a native French speaker. To the trained ear, it is obvious he is Belgian. Not Hercule Poirot-Belgian like in one of the many series depicting the OCD-ridden detective. The real kind, with a rough accent. The redheaded fellow is from Antwerp. As his brand's logo, he chose his city's emblem – a hand that has a lot to do with the tactile dimension of his watches' design. For he is a trained and experienced designer. Isn't that an unusual trade for a watch brand creator and manager? Before being that, Mintiens penned street furniture, aircraft cabins, train coaches and also oncology radiotherapy equipment. He is an eclectic, pragmatic and opinionated creator. The one thing he had never thought of, at least not until that day when he picked up his pencil and started filling blank pages with ideas, was to make a watch. In fact, no one in his personal circle and family had ever thought of that either. So how did that story begin?

The caseback of the Type 1 model showcases its Swiss credentials and unusual winding and setting systems

Antwerp is one of the world's three capitals of the diamond trade. One day, a gem-cutter friend of his asked him to start thinking about designing a watch for him. He roamed the alleys of the now-defunct BaselWorld trade show in search of suppliers. He grew increasingly dissatisfied with what he saw and heard. Back home, he spent a Sunday thinking and sketching. This is the moment when the core idea behind Ressence was born.

“I gave myself a simple brief. It's a format I'm familiar with so I used it,” says Mintiens. “The watch had to be affordable, meaning I could afford it. It had to be special, meaning it would be noticeable. And not an oddity, because it had to stay close to what one imagines a watch looks like.” That is what the man calls simple: a set of constraints that would seem to anyone, at best, vague, at worst, irrelevant. Especially since said brief also contained two personal elements that appear to be in total contradiction with each other. Elements that come from his personal and family history.

“My mother's Dutch. She represents my Germanic, orderly side. My father is French-speaking Belgian. He is more Latin, more emphatic. As for me, I'm both of those things and so are my watches: beautiful and warm, technical and cold.” The truth is that structure and affability are intertwined in that man in a way that makes him extremely easy to like and to listen to. The last point in his brief is paramount: function must reign over his watches. Readability will be of the essence.

The Lightbulb

“I was in the middle of mowing my garden, sitting on my lawn tractor. It's an old thing I had imported from Chicago. Its monotonous purring always sends my into my thoughts. And then I told myself ‘Benoît, you have to do it. You have to create your own brand’.” Said brand's first act was the 2010 Type 0. A timepiece without hands, without crown, wound and set from its caseback. A rounded timepiece, that looks like it was cut from a sphere. “A Ressence watch is organic. Its face isn't flat. Flat is not a natural thing. I've pushed the notion of face so far that the information goes beyond what we think to be the object's physical limit.” Most important of all, his first watch does not tell time like any other. It is neither digital nor classically analogue. “It's a mechanical screen : a dynamic, ergonomic surface that offers a relevant function.”

Visually speaking, the watch face is not a dial but a series of circles, rotating within one another. The hour hand is the largest disc. It contains a smaller one for the minutes, another for the power reserve and a last one for the day. Thanks to a clever mechanical device, implementing sophisticated spinning and counter-spinning, the large disc rotates and so do all the others with it. At the same time, these sub-dials spin counterclockwise in order to remain upright, with their reading scale still making complete sense. The basic information we use while looking at a dial, the relative position of two long-shaped indicators, is preserved. In a way, it still has hands. “It's the only thing I decided not to reinvent,” says Mintiens. “Hands are too efficient a mental picture to do away with. The brain is very good at interpreting them.” Case in point, learning to read a Ressence takes a handful of seconds, and then becomes completely natural.

Rebirth Of The Essence

The year is 2010 and at the same time as Ressence's first release, a few days apart actually, Harry Winston had presented their Opus X (where X stands for 10). It was a mad timepiece, typical of the brand at the time (or at least of the Opus series). This extreme project had been developed by Jean-Francois Mojon, the founder of movement maker Chronode, along the same display principle as Benoît Mintiens. That was just another case of great minds thinking alike...and at the exact same time, an occurrence more frequent than one would think in watchmaking. But Opus X was 10 times as expensive as a Type 0. The latter was much less dramatic, smaller and easier to wear, to read and to manufacture. It is one thing to come up with a great idea but there is a case to be made for those who shroud it in simplicity.

That simplicity is one of several definitions of intelligence. So is being able to think outside the box. One quick look at a Ressence Type 3 may be evidence of yet another. The piece has no case to speak of, or to intrude on your field of vision (except the lugs) if you want a more precise description. It is all display, surface and rims (just look at it). It is shaped like a pebble, rendering the notions of diameter and opening irrelevant. This iteration is the result of a constant development effort, aiming at perfecting the system that operates the rotation-within-rotation display. It is called ROCS, which stands for Ressence Orbital Convex System, and it is constantly being modified, enhanced and perfected. Its simplest version, on the Type 8, requires machining tolerances so small, so demanding, that it took Ressence 10 years to get it done.

Simplicity then, paradoxically, defines the heart of Ressence. That such simplicity is so challenging speaks to the entire watchmaking endeavour. It seems a simple matter to calculate the passing of time, yet it is anything but. Ressence watches remind us of this truth.

This article first appeared on WOW’s Festive 2024 issue.

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Rolex Perpetual 1908 is Dressed and Impressed

In a surprising move, Rolex entirely reshuffled their dress watch offer with the Perpetual 1908. As the luxury sports watch sits front and centre, an entire span of watchmaking is being overshadowed, verging on irrelevance. The past five years have been so focused on the likes of the Rolex Oyster Perpetual and Day-Date that an entire generation of customers has all but forgotten dress watches (the popularity of casual style, even in business and evening wear, in Singapore means that the sports watch has been dominant for far longer than five years – Ed). They do not seem to be aware that the new Perpetual 1908 is but the latest avatar in an almost century-long history of Rolex classic timepieces.

And yet, this new Perpetual collection is nothing short of a revolution in the way it has been devised, designed and positioned. The 1908 symbolizes this constant re-examination of what has been achieved while setting tradition in motion. Behind its understated looks and 39mm gold case, the 1908 is, to put it simply, a great watch, which we have ascertained after a week-long test on the wrist.

Earthquake

To the untrained eye, the Perpetual 1908 is nothing extraordinary. What could be extraordinary in a classic-looking Rolex after all? The Geneva watchmaker has been making such pieces for its entire history. Case in point, the 1908 takes its name after the year the Rolex brand name was registered. It can also be argued that the first self-winding Oyster, launched in 1931, served as inspiration for this contemporary one. Several design cues do link these two watches, even though they are 90 years apart. To the trained eye, though, the inaugural piece in the Perpetual collection is extremely special. Yet this fact may go unnoticed, because 2023 will go on to be an earthquake year in the brand's timeline.

It is the year Rolex released the first exhibition caseback Oyster watch (ref.126506 Cosmograph Daytona), a Day-Date that displayed neither day nor date (ref.128238) but Emoticons instead, and its first full titanium, current collection timepiece (Yacht-Master 42 ref.226627). Much of what were deemed rules, dogmas, unshakable notions of technique and design have been upended (this does not take into consideration the biggest news in watchmaking in years but that is about business – Ed). The way the Perpetual 1908 has been designed is one of them.

Departure

Rolex is not an explicit brand; one has to read between the lines when presented with news. Bearing this in mind, we think it is more than mere coincidence that the 1908 appears just as the Cellini collection vanishes. Cellini had been the name for Rolex's entire dress watch collection.

Launched in 1968, it had featured all sorts of non-Oyster pieces, all of them in gold or platinum. Some were pocket watches, which were available until around 2016. They were small, slim and mostly hand- wound. One of them deserves special mention as it turns out to be a forerunner of sorts to the 1908.

In 2005, Rolex had released the Cellini Prince, named and shaped after the Prince collection from the 1930s. It was a rectangular watch, with the only see-through caseback in the brand’s history, up until today that is. It revealed a hand-wound movement with an extraordinary set of finishings. It had a small seconds display, it was thick and it was effusive – a striking departure from the design language at the time. The Cellini Prince's movement was reference 7040. The 1908's movement is called calbre 7140, and in Rolex's book, it is not a coincidence.

Reinterpretations

The Perpetual 1908's white and black dials feature an extremely finely grained texture, which provides a matte effect, a far cry from the usual sunray finish and what is expected from a classic piece. It is interesting to see how far Rolex tailored its most profoundly grounded design details to fit classic timepiece requirements. The design of many of its elements is a throwback to another, older model. This is Rolex's way of designing: everything has to have roots somewhere; a reference point if you will. The hour hand, for example, is distinctive for the circle just before the tip, while the minute hand is shaped like a two-edged sword.

This type of hand, the Breguet or apple hour hand, had already been used on the 1926 Octagonal Oyster, among other watches, so the Perpetual 1908 is in fact going back to the company's roots here. The hour markers tell another story. These are a direct reference to the aforementioned first Oyster Perpetual model, dated 1931. The first self-winding Rolex had eight straight hour markers, three Arabic numerals at 3, 9 and 12 and a small seconds display at 6 o'clock. The Perpetual 1908 has upgraded them to solid gold appliques, as is the brand’s custom, and realigned them. And from the octagonal 1926 Oyster, it has retained the now-ubiquitous fluted bezel, although in this instance, it is also domed, and much thinner than that on an Oyster case.

Betterment

The other Cellini the Perpetual 1908 takes after is the series first released in 2016. Four models, with reference type 505xx, were available in either white or rose gold, with fluted bezel, centre second hand, were self-winding and equipped with various unusual complications. Their run ended to make way for the 1908. The disappearance of an entire collection is a most rare occurrence at Rolex. This is especially true when said collection is in fact replaced by another, with a new name, new ambition and to boot, an entirely new movement. In a way, many of the defining characteristics of the 1908 can be read as an evolution of the Cellini collection.

Comfort on the wrist is one way in which the 1908 impresses, and this is due to a relatively slim case profile. This is possible thanks to the aforementioned new movement, which deserves some space all its own.

Upgrade

Rolex is nothing if not pragmatic. The firm realized a dress Rolex needs its own dedicated movement, to be kitted out in a purpose-built case. And thus calibre 7140 was born, although the name reminds us of the aforementioned calibre 7040. The 7040 was hand- wound, rectangular, with pattern-engraved bridges of elaborately decorative shapes, which reflected and matched the different dial finishings. The 7140 is round and self-winding, bearing similar finishings to other Rolex calibres.

What the two movements have in common is a small seconds hand, no date, a dress watch destination and a chronometer certification. The latter is of course only a part of the larger Rolex certification process, since the brand's entire line-up receives the in-house and extremely demanding Superlative Chronometer rubberstamp. As a result, the Perpetual 1908 will offer a – 2/+2 seconds daily running error, a tremendous feat considering the Rolex manufacture's massive production scale.

Performance

As a whole, calibre 7140 is special in the brand's offer. It is the slimmest in-house automatic movement the brand has designed in decades. It is only rivalled by ancient (relatively speaking) and much smaller references such as the 1600. But the latter was meant to power petite timepieces, was hand-wound and would most likely fail Rolex’s current test procedures, thus defeating the purpose of any point-by-point comparison. The 7140 has a bona fide openwork oscillating weight, sporting the new design seen on the exhibition caseback platinum Cosmograph Daytona also released this year. And just like it, it is made of solid 18 ct yellow gold.

In order to reduce every possible bit of thickness, the movement features a Syloxi hairspring. Thus far, this silicon regulating spring has been confined to smaller timepieces. Among many benefits, it is flat, as opposed to the standard Parachrom hairspring, which has a Breguet terminal overcoil (its two planes make it more than twice as high). Even though it sits at only 4.05mm, calibre 7140 offers an approximately 66-hour power reserve, managing to come very near Rolex's now-standard 70- hour mark.

Thoroughness

Once a slim enough movement was ready, there remained the matter of designing a slim case. On paper, as well as on the wrist, the 9.5mm-thick Perpetual 1908 does indeed give off that specific vibe. The watch is also comfortable, with a 39mm diameter that helps stabilize it on just about any arm. It is secured with an alligator strap, which has a particularly interesting design. Its lining is entirely green, while the outer matte brown alligator leather displays tone- on-tone stitching. Its clasp goes on to show that Rolex decided to make the Perpetual collection one with its own design attributes throughout. Called Dualclasp, it is a double folding clasp that is extremely comfortable against the skin. A welcome evolution on the folding buckle found in the defunct leather strap of the Oyster Perpetual Day-Date ref.11813x, its parts are so discrete it looks like a pin clasp.

More notably, the moves required to open the new Dualclasp are absolutely counterintuitive. Appearances can be deceiving as this, without a doubt, goes in the plus column. A watch that sits more securely on the wrist is definitely worth it. Although not the most newsworthy feature of the Perpetual 1908, this one sings with the choir: this is truly a well-conceived dress watch, designed with ergonomics, exclusivity and a true sense of identity in mind. Such thoroughness is supported by a surprisingly competitive pricing policy, given the brand's absolute cult status. This is not the least exciting part of this soft and unspoken revolution.

The genesis of this story was my admiration for David Chokron’s writing for the now- defunct WatchAround magazine, and my own longstanding love of the Rolex Prince. Well, it emerged that we both happen to appreciate the dressier side of Rolex. While I do own a Prince, as mentioned, I only bought it last year and never expected to see the Perpetual 1908 at Watches and Wonders Geneva this year. Thus, I sat down later

with David in Paris and tried to get this story going, since I knew he could get the watch on his wrist. I have it on good authority that the Perpetual 1908 will be sold in Singapore, and it might even be in as you read this. Give it a try because it is unlikely that you have ever tried a dress watch from Rolex. It is my sincere hope that even in a sports watch- obsessed market such as Singapore, the Perpetual 1908 will find many fans – Ed.

This article first appeared on WOW’s Legacy 2024 issue

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