Creativity in watchmaking plays a key role, often taking precedence over the business aspect. At least, that's what we like to think from time to time. However, there are watchmakers, often independent, who strive to push the boundaries of time perception and observation. Some of them literally give time a face or create incredibly complex mechanisms just to entertain us. Here are some of the best recently introduced watches that have dispensed with traditional hands, offering an amazing set of unconventional indicators.
KONSTANTIN CHAYKIN: MINOTAUR SPECIAL CHINESE NEW YEAR 2021
Russian independent watchmaker Konstantin Chaykin is known for creating incredibly complex and intriguing watches. Whether it's the Cinema watch, displaying a real "movie" of a man riding a horse, or the Genus Temporis, where hours and minutes are shown by the same hand - there is always something special about them.
Chaykin's latest creation is the Minotaur Special Chinese New Year 2021, a new chapter in the successful and very amusing Wristmons collection, which includes the Joker watch, Mouse King watch, and many others. The Minotaur model is based on the Greek legend of King Minos and his betrayal of Poseidon, the sea god. The watch uses two discs, mimicking eyes, to indicate hours and minutes. It features a day of the week indicator displayed through the bull's nostrils. The rest of the watch is filled with details that give it a resemblance to a real bull, such as the brown dial or horned lugs at the "12 o'clock" position. It's all very fun!
Quick facts: 42 mm diameter x 13 mm height - bronze case with "minotaur" relief inscription on the bezel - horned lugs at 12 o'clock - dial designed as a bull's head - hour and minute "eyes" - two-disc day of the week indicator in the bull's nose - caliber K.08-1 - base movement Vaucher VMF 5002 with in-house module - hours, minutes, day of the week - power reserve 50 hours - limited edition of 8 pieces - EUR 18,500
URWERK UR-100V BLUE PLANET
In the realm of unconventional indicators, one cannot overlook Urwerk. This independent watch company is credited with creating inventive ways of playing with the depiction of time. The brand's ultra-complex watches are among the most avant-garde. Time is usually indicated by some kind of satellite system, as well as by rollers or retrograde indicators and rotating hour cubes.
The Urwerk UR-100V Blue Planet is one of the latest models to emerge from the Urwerk atelier, following the same path. A fully blue PVD-coated steel case and domed sapphire glass house the caliber UR12.02. This movement uses wandering satellites and retrograde minutes to display time, and also shows Earth's rotation and orbital distance on a 20-minute scale.
Quick facts: 41 mm x 49.7 mm, 14 mm height - steel case with blue PVD coating - domed sapphire glass - indicators of wandering satellites, retrograde minutes, Earth's orbital distance, and rotation distance - caliber UR12.02 - automatic base movement driven by windfänger turbine and planetary gear - power reserve 48 hours - CHF 48,000 excluding taxes.
ANDERSEN GENEVE JUMPING HOUR
The Andersen Geneve Jumping Hour watch is one of the latest creations from renowned independent watchmaker Svend Andersen. Mr. Andersen's career spans four decades under his own name, and before that, he worked at Patek Philippe. During his career, he has created some of the most unusual watches imaginable, including secular calendar watches, world timers inspired by Louis Cottier, and these Jumping Hour watches.
Despite its deceptively simple appearance, and yes, it does have a traditional hand, the Jumping Hour is quite a complex piece. The movement is based on a Frédéric Piguet 11.50, with a proprietary jumping hour module on top. Undoubtedly, the most striking element of the watch is the dial. The incredible "magic rhombus" guilloché pattern is crafted using three different machines. At the top of the dial is an aperture for the jumping hour complication, and at the bottom, there is an additional minute dial.
Quick facts: 38 mm diameter x 9.22 mm height - red gold or platinum case - 21k BlueGold dial with guilloché engraving - in-house jumping hour module with Frédéric Piguet 11.50 base movement - 18k yellow guilloché rotor - limited to 40 pieces in platinum (rose gold not limited) - CHF 41,600
GENUS GNS DRAGON
Genus GNS Dragon might be the most "unusual" watch on this list, but they are simply incredible to look at! Genus is a relatively new independent watch brand, having appeared on the scene in 2019 with the Genus GNS 1 watch. The Genus GNS Dragon was already a very complex mechanism, but its complexity has increased even more. The Genus GNS watch uses a complex system of dividing time into hours, tens of minutes, and individual minutes. Hours are displayed using a peripheral rotating mechanism and rotating hour satellites with an indicator at the "9 o'clock" position. Tens of minutes are displayed using a centipede-like system that moves around in a figure-eight shape. Finally, at the "3 o'clock" position, there is a rotating minute counter.
Instead of the centipede in the GNS 1 and GNS 1.2 TD models, the GNS Dragon uses a meticulously handcrafted miniature dragon under a large domed sapphire glass. The incredibly detailed dragon consists of 11 segments, entirely made of gold, with only the head made from six small gold blocks. Note the insane level of detailing, such as fine frills, claws, and individual scales on each segment.
Quick facts: 43 mm x 18.8 mm - 19-carat white gold case - sapphire glass - 12 satellite/peripheral and axial rotating indexes for hours - 11 freely moving gold segments depicting a miniature dragon for tens of minutes - rotating one-minute counter - caliber 160W-1.2, hand-wound - 390 components - power reserve 50 hours - CHF 150,000 excluding taxes.
VIANNEY HALTER DEEP SPACE RESONANCE PROTOTYPE
Speaking of "unusual" watches, the Vianney Halter Deep Space Resonance Prototype refers to "unusualness" in its very name. The Deep Space Tourbillon watch, preceding the Resonance Prototype, was already very complex and impressive, but these watches surpass them.
The Deep Space Resonance Prototype is based on the principles of resonance, where two elements placed close to each other replicate each other's oscillation frequency. The dual balance wheel and triple-axis tourbillon escapement are fully visible under a sapphire dome. The dual balance wheels synchronize, although not necessarily in the same rotational direction, depending on the balance wheel's position before the beat begins. Time is read in the top aperture (hours and quarters), with additional minutes in the lower aperture. A more detailed description can be found in our hands-on feature.
Quick facts: 46 mm diameter x 20 mm height - titanium case with sapphire glass - in-house manual-wind movement - triple-axis tourbillon with dual balance wheel - hour and quarter indication in the top aperture - additional minutes in the lower aperture - power reserve 65 hours - CHF 860,000
HONORABLE MENTION: M.A.D. EDITION 1
When it comes to unconventional dials, there's one brand that cannot be ignored: MB&F. You probably expected it to be featured, and we won't disappoint you. But we'd like to draw attention to the special M.A.D. Edition 1, created by Max Büsser in honor of the brand's partners and friends who have made it successful. We've included it in the honorable mentions because the watch is not available for purchase, as we explained in our initial report.
So why include it in the list? Simply because it's a very cool watch with an even cooler concept of why it was created in the first place. Dedicated to the men and women who allow MB&F to create some of the most complex and intricate mechanisms in the industry, the M.A.D. Edition 1 was conceived as a big "Thank You." Once the project became known, it caused a storm on social media: people were asking, no, begging Max and his team to put it into production. I, for one, hope that someday it will happen.
The M.A.D. Edition 1 is a true MB&F in style, although much less expensive. The model is equipped with an automatic Miyota movement, flipped upside down so the rotor is fully visible. The hour and minute cylinders, made in contrasting colors, are visible through the mineral glass. Once again, it must be emphasized that these watches are NOT for sale at the moment. As much as we hope they will be, for now, we can only cross our fingers and wait.
Quick facts: 42 mm diameter - stainless steel case - domed sapphire glass on top - cylindrical mineral glass strap - inverted automatic Miyota 821A movement - battle-axe style rotor with Super-LumiNova - cylindrical hour and minute indicators visible through the strap - power reserve 24 hours - not for sale