Categories
Angelus Replica Brand

BASELWORLD 2017 : Angelus Skeleton Tourbillon U21 andU22

Last year saw Angelus’ launch of the U20 Ultra-Skeleton Tourbillon (see photo below), a innovative piece using a layer of clear sapphire as its main plate, to which the movement bridges are fastened. This year, launched at Baselworld 2017, Angelus decided to push themselves further with the main plates for the new U21 Tourbillon and U22 Tourbillon, with the use of carbon fibre.

Let’s step back a bit first, and revisit the U20.

Released during Baselworld 2016, the U20 Ultra-Skeleton Tourbillon is special because rather than the skeletonisation of an existing movement, the start point was to have an open worked movement, so it was built from the ground up, so to speak.

The manual-wind Calibre A-250 movement is based on a sapphire main plate (created from a solid block of sapphire), with hand finished, blued skeletonised satin-finished titanium bridges. The absence of a dial, in combination with the main plate material, means that even by skeleton replica watch standards, the result is exceptional; it really does look like the movement is floating. At 6 o’clock there is a one-minute flying tourbillon.

To match the modernity of the use of sapphire in the movement, the U20 has added another unusual and contemporary touch – the case’s band made from NPT carbon fibre attached to titanium lugs, also making for an exceptionally lightweight replica watch.

So from the U20 to the U21 and U22.

Both the U21 and U22 share the 42mm size of the U20, with the same domed sapphire crystal, open case back, and water resistance of 30m. However, the case of the U21 is now carbon fibre and 18kt red gold.

As the core features of the U21 are the same as for its elder sibling, it also shows off the manual-wind Angelus Calibre A-250 with a one minute flying tourbillon, this time with an NPT carbon fibre main plate and solid 18kt red gold bridges. The clear main plate of its predecessor makes for an attractive and interesting replica watch (the U20 was one of my personal highlights from last year) but the use of carbon fibre makes it a completely different timepiece, not least of all because transparency is no longer at its heart.

Notwithstanding the absence of transparency, Arnold & Son are still calling both the U21 and U22 skeletonised in their naming, because there remains the skeletonised bridges etc, and the movement is still part of the dial, highlighting the carbon fibre. Along with the hour and minute markers there are rhodium-treated and lumed hands.

There may be the use of the very contemporary carbon fibre in an unusual way, but the use of red gold on the case, especially the lugs, gives it a more traditional twist.

Secondly, we have the U22, an amalgam of sorts, of the U1 and U22. It uses the same titanium and carbon fibre case of the U20, but with the addition of red hands and matching red minute markers.

Hour and minute markings are printed on the outer chapter ring as per the other two models but the rhdodium-treated hands have a fun element – red Super-LumiNova.

Movement wise it’s the same Calibre A-250 with carbon main plate of the U21, but with the titanium bridges of the U20, no longer blued.

In looking at all three of them, I’m still most partial to the U20 (one of my personal highlights of 2016), followed by the U22. As with the U20 from 2016, production of both the U21 and U22 will be limited to 18 examples each.

Categories
Brand Cartier Replica

CARTIER : Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Mysterious DoubleTourbillon

I have a liking for ‘mystery dials’, and 2017 has brought with it a rather impressive new one from Cartier, who have combined a minute repeater and double tourbillon into such a replica watch. Not only this but rather intriguingly, it is in a Grade 5 Titanium case, as opposed to the more popular precious metal for Cartier dress replica watches with this level of complications.

This is the first time that Cartier has combined a ‘mystery’ complication with a minute repeater. However, rather than the classic floating hands that are the ‘mystery’, on the Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Mysterious Double Tourbillon it is the double tourbillon mechanism that is mysteriously suspended within a round sapphire window at 10 o’clock.

The new Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Mysterious Double Tourbillon comes in a 45mm case that is a svelte 11.15mm in thickness, making it Cartier’s slimmest double complication to date.

The ‘mystery’ part of the replica watch, in order to achieve that 11.5mm replica watch thickness, consists of two sapphire discs that are a mere 0.5mm and 1mm thick. In case you are concerned about this, Cartier say that they can withstand shocks of 3,000Gs.

The elimination of the dial and use of a fully carved and open-worked case on the inside was to optimise the sound quality of the minute repeater. Both hammers are visible at six o’clock, and the gong circles the face.

The movement and gongs secured to the case by six screws. Unlike traditional minute repeaters that utillise cylindrical gongs, this new replica watch features square steel gong. The idea is that this provides a larger contact point for the hammers and to increase the vibration velocity. For those who are interested in these sorts of details, the gongs are tuned to ‘B 5th Octave’ for striking the hours and ‘D 6th Octave’ for the minutes.

Inside is the new 448 part in-house manual-wind Calibre 9407MC which has a power reserve of approximately 85 hours. It is the drive behind the double axis tourbillon – the cage rotates every 60 seconds and the sapphire disc in which the flying tourbillon cage resides, rotates every five minutes.

Most of the bridges and base plate are plated in black rhodium, for a dark grey finish that contrasts with the steel and silvery rhodium-coated parts.

One interesting thing to note is that the activation of the repeater is not via a traditional slide but via a pusher at 4 o’clock.

A quintessentially Cartier way of realising this double complication, the new Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Mysterious Double Tourbillon is a fine looking replica watch indeed, and slots neatly into their complications, which are my favourite of their collections. It is available in a limited edition of fifty pieces, although there will also be baguette-cut diamond-set iteration in a limited edition of twenty pieces and one that with just baguette-cut diamonds on the bezel will also be available in a limited edition of thirty pieces.

For some other Cartier mystery dials you can go to this link and or click here.

Categories
Angelus Replica Hands-on Swiss Replica

Closer Look At ANGELUS : From the Replica U10 Tourbillon Lumière to the U40 RacingTourbillon

Basel2016AngelusU10TourbillonLumiere5

In 2015 the venerable name of Angelus found itself once again in the replica watch spotlight after a three decade odd hiatus. Arguably the domain of vintage replica watch enthusiasts, its name was most frequently uttered alongside nostalgia about its movements (both for themselves and others) in particular, with the occasional lamentation about how it was a shame that they were longer extant.

If you are wondering about the shape of the case, Angelus say that it was inspired by the multi-display travel clocks for which they were known between 1930-1960. It is made of annealed stainless steel, which has fewer impurities than the usual 316L steel and is more finely grained.

Then, the U10 Tourbillon Lumière happened.

Released in 2015, the re-emergence of the Angelus name (by La Joux-Perret, who have done the same with Arnold & Son and are in turn owned by Citizen) was startling enough, but the form in which this replica watch took was so bold and seemingly antithetical to the Angelus replica watches of old that the collective attention of the replica watch world was immediately grabbed.

 

With a very 21st century look (not to mention sizing) that is glossily industrial and modern, its most distinctive characteristics are also the most obvious – the curved rectangular stainless steel case with the sapphire crystal wrapping around it. The one-minute flying tourbillon with its titanium bridge is highlighted through the use of four surrounding crystals through which you can see it from various angles.

Apart from the retention of the original logo and crown design, the modern Angelus bears little obvious ties, especially design-wise, to the original, but in terms of wanting to be at the boundaries in terms of pushing themselves technically and be known for this, then it can be argued that the old spirit is there.

If their goal was to say “hello, I’m baaaack!” with a bang then the limited edition (twenty-five pieces) U10 Tourbillon Lumière, with its flying tourbillon and dead beat second, certainly did that.

 

The case features a total of seven sapphire windows, including an open caseback that shows the manual in-house, 90-hour power reserve Calibre A100 movement powered by two mainspring barrels with laser-engraved plate pattern, hand-finished polished nickel-silver bridges and wheels. The size of the movement is 52.10mm x 30.40mm, in a case of 62.75mm x 38mm (thickness of 15mm), to give you some perspective.

On the side you can see a linear power reserve indicator. On the left is a transluscent grey-coated sapphire dial with a hour, minute and seconds hand, with the addition of SuperLumiNova at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock (white) and black SuperLuminova for the hands. The deadbeat seconds hand is white lacquered.

Does the size detract from the replica watch? Well that’s going to be something subjective, but when I saw it, it seemed bigger than I had thought it would be but it was also more likeable than I had anticipated. I thought that its sheer size would overwhelm all other impressions but it didn’t; this is a slightly bonkers but attractive replica watch.

Because the movement is visible from so many angles in this piece you are treated to a variety of finishes from satin finishing of the mainplate with its laser engraving to the chamfered polished edges of the bridges, sunray satin finishing on the dial side of the plate, circular satin-finished wheels, bead-blasted and satin-finished tourbillon bridge, and the cage itself hand-chamfered and satin and mirror polished surfaces.

The overall impression of this is that it’s all shiny and rather big. At 99,500 CHF it’s going to rule a lot of people out anyway, but the size is something that needs to be experienced. It looks big on your screen, but it’s a replica watch that is impossible to get an accurate grip on without handling it.

As a follow up from this, Angelus have released the more ‘normally’ sized U20 Ultra-Skeleton Tourbillon, the U30 Tourbillon Rattrapante and the U40 Racing Tourbillon to add to their Urban Collection. I do love a simple numbering system; it really can’t be underestimated.

I didn’t have an opportunity to see the U10 until Baselworld 2016, when it was also my first ‘hands-on’ experience with the modern Angelus. Rather than have all of them in the one post I thought that I would leave the other 2016 pieces I photographed to a second one, so look out for it coming soon.

Basel2016AngelusU40RacingTourbiSkeleton2

To whet your appetite here is a glimpse of the U40 which at 26,350 CHF is quite frankly, not bad at all.

Categories
Angelus Replica Hands-on

ANGELUS : From the U10 Tourbillon Lumière to the U40 RacingTourbillon

Basel2016AngelusU10TourbillonLumiere5

In 2015 the venerable name of Angelus found itself once again in the replica watch spotlight after a three decade odd hiatus. Arguably the domain of vintage replica watch enthusiasts, its name was most frequently uttered alongside nostalgia about its movements (both for themselves and others) in particular, with the occasional lamentation about how it was a shame that they were longer extant.Replique Montre Hublot

Then, the U10 Tourbillon Lumière happened.

Released in 2015, the re-emergence of the Angelus name (by La Joux-Perret, who have done the same with Arnold & Son and are in turn owned by Citizen) was startling enough, but the form in which this replica watch took was so bold and seemingly antithetical to the Angelus replica watches of old that the collective attention of the replica watch world was immediately grabbed.

Apart from the retention of the original logo and crown design, the modern Angelus bears little obvious ties, especially design-wise, to the original, but in terms of wanting to be at the boundaries in terms of pushing themselves technically and be known for this, then it can be argued that the old spirit is there.

If their goal was to say “hello, I’m baaaack!” with a bang then the limited edition (twenty-five pieces) U10 Tourbillon Lumière, with its flying tourbillon and dead beat second, certainly did that.

With a very 21st century look (not to mention sizing) that is glossily industrial and modern, its most distinctive characteristics are also the most obvious – the curved rectangular stainless steel case with the sapphire crystal wrapping around it. The one-minute flying tourbillon with its titanium bridge is highlighted through the use of four surrounding crystals through which you can see it from various angles.

If you are wondering about the shape of the case, Angelus say that it was inspired by the multi-display travel clocks for which they were known between 1930-1960. It is made of annealed stainless steel, which has fewer impurities than the usual 316L steel and is more finely grained.

The case features a total of seven sapphire windows, including an open caseback that shows the manual in-house, 90-hour power reserve Calibre A100 movement powered by two mainspring barrels with laser-engraved plate pattern, hand-finished polished nickel-silver bridges and wheels. The size of the movement is 52.10mm x 30.40mm, in a case of 62.75mm x 38mm (thickness of 15mm), to give you some perspective.

On the side you can see a linear power reserve indicator. On the left is a transluscent grey-coated sapphire dial with a hour, minute and seconds hand, with the addition of SuperLumiNova at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock (white) and black SuperLuminova for the hands. The deadbeat seconds hand is white lacquered.

Because the movement is visible from so many angles in this piece you are treated to a variety of finishes from satin finishing of the mainplate with its laser engraving to the chamfered polished edges of the bridges, sunray satin finishing on the dial side of the plate, circular satin-finished wheels, bead-blasted and satin-finished tourbillon bridge, and the cage itself hand-chamfered and satin and mirror polished surfaces.

The overall impression of this is that it’s all shiny and rather big. At 99,500 CHF it’s going to rule a lot of people out anyway, but the size is something that needs to be experienced. It looks big on your screen, but it’s a replica watch that is impossible to get an accurate grip on without handling it. Does the size detract from the replica watch? Well that’s going to be something subjective, but when I saw it, it seemed bigger than I had thought it would be but it was also more likeable than I had anticipated. I thought that its sheer size would overwhelm all other impressions but it didn’t; this is a slightly bonkers but attractive replica watch.

As a follow up from this, Angelus have released the more ‘normally’ sized U20 Ultra-Skeleton Tourbillon, the U30 Tourbillon Rattrapante and the U40 Racing Tourbillon to add to their Urban Collection. I do love a simple numbering system; it really can’t be underestimated.

I didn’t have an opportunity to see the U10 until Baselworld 2016, when it was also my first ‘hands-on’ experience with the modern Angelus. Rather than have all of them in the one post I thought that I would leave the other 2016 pieces I photographed to a second one, so look out for it coming soon.

Basel2016AngelusU40RacingTourbiSkeleton2

To whet your appetite here is a glimpse of the U40 which at 26,350 CHF is quite frankly, not bad at all.

Categories
Calendar Watch Cartier Replica Hands-on Swiss Replica

Reviewing The CARTIER road tosuccess

So we’ve decided to have a bit of a cushion case week this week. Meet the new cushion-cased Drive de Cartier collection, which was launched at SIHH 2016 with three inaugural models (plus one colour variant of one).orologi replica omega

 

The three models that have been launched are the entry level model utilising the Calibre 1904-PS MC with the time, small seconds and a date window, the Calibre 1904-FU MC which has a day/ night indicator, second time zone indicator, date and small seconds, and at the pointy end of the collection, a flying tourbillon with the Calibre 9452 MC.

The dials of all of them are quintessentially Cartier, with their Roman numerals, guilloché dial and blue sapphire winding crown. With these first models the new cases are available in pink gold or stainless steel, and come with black, grey or white dials.

 

I don’t yet have the Australian prices but as a general indication, USD prices are $6,250 for the stainless steel time only model, $19,300 for time only in 18K rose gold, $8,750 for the time zone model, and $89,500 for the Flying Tourbillon.

The new Cartier Drive comes with its own hashtags and a request by Cartier to “Share your drive with @Cartier on social: #DrivedeCartier #WhatsYourDrive”.

Secondly we have the model with he retrograde second time zone, day/ night indicator and large date. It uses the in-house Calibre 1904-FU MC, created in 2014 and launched in a Rotonde case. As I noted at the time, that the functions are all operated by a single crown will be appealing to many, and for those who prefer their cases in non-round shapes, you may find this more appealing than the Rotonde version.

The base model first. Inside the 40.00mm x 41.00mm case is the automatic in-house Calibre 1904-PS MC movement that was launched in 2010 and most notably, made its inaugural appearance in the highly successful Calibre de Cartier collection. With a 48-hour power reserve, this is now a solidly road tested movement and one of Cartier’s ‘backbone’ movements of today.

Lastly we come to the Drive de Cartier Flying Tourbillon replica watch, in which resides the manual wind Calibre 9452 MC. If you seem to recall Horologium writing about a Cartier Flying Tourbillon not so long ago you are not mistaken. It was in the form of a diamond bedecked Clé, 2015’s new case shape from Cartier. This one is obviously a bit more versatile to wear, not to mention a good deal cheaper, than that version.

If you look at the link above, you will see that the large date, retrograde and small seconds are no longer ‘eating into’ the numerals – they have now done away with the half numbers. To my mind it looks a lot cleaner and better this way.

 

So, bearing in mind my comment from the earlier post about the positioning of that other cushion-shaped replica watch, what do you think?

The Cartier Drive collection will be available from May 2016. Keep an eye out at your local Cartier boutique/ authorised dealer or at this link for updates.

Categories
Cartier Replica

Replica CARTIER : the road tosuccess

So we’ve decided to have a bit of a cushion case week this week. Meet the new cushion-cased Drive de Cartier replica collection, which was launched at SIHH 2016 with three inaugural models (plus one colour variant of one).

The dials of all of them are quintessentially Cartier, with their Roman numerals, guilloché dial and blue sapphire winding crown. With these first models the new cases are available in pink gold or stainless steel, and come with black, grey or white dials.

The three models that have been launched are the entry level model utilising the Calibre 1904-PS MC with the time, small seconds and a date window, the Calibre 1904-FU MC which has a day/ night indicator, second time zone indicator, date and small seconds, and at the pointy end of the collection, a flying tourbillon with the Calibre 9452 MC.

The base model first. Inside the 40.00mm x 41.00mm case is the automatic in-house Calibre 1904-PS MC movement that was launched in 2010 and most notably, made its inaugural appearance in the highly successful Calibre de Cartier collection. With a 48-hour power reserve, this is now a solidly road tested movement and one of Cartier’s ‘backbone’ movements of today.

Secondly we have the model with he retrograde second time zone, day/ night indicator and large date. It uses the in-house Calibre 1904-FU MC, created in 2014 and launched in a Rotonde case. As I noted at the time, that the functions are all operated by a single crown will be appealing to many, and for those who prefer their cases in non-round shapes, you may find this more appealing than the Rotonde version. If you look at the link above, you will see that the large date, retrograde and small seconds are no longer ‘eating into’ the numerals – they have now done away with the half numbers. To my mind it looks a lot cleaner and better this way.

Lastly we come to the Drive de Cartier Flying Tourbillon replica watch, in which resides the manual wind Calibre 9452 MC. If you seem to recall Horologium writing about a Cartier Flying Tourbillon not so long ago you are not mistaken. It was in the form of a diamond bedecked Clé, 2015’s new case shape from Cartier. This one is obviously a bit more versatile to wear, not to mention a good deal cheaper, than that version.

I don’t yet have the Australian prices but as a general indication, USD prices are $6,250 for the stainless steel time only model, $19,300 for time only in 18K rose gold, $8,750 for the time zone model, and $89,500 for the Flying Tourbillon.

The new Cartier Drive comes with its own hashtags and a request by Cartier to “Share your drive with @Cartier on social: #DrivedeCartier #WhatsYourDrive”.

So, bearing in mind my comment from the earlier post about the positioning of that other cushion-shaped replica watch, what do you think?

The Cartier Drive collection will be available from May 2016. Keep an eye out at your local Cartier boutique/ authorised dealer or at this link for updates.

Categories
Cartier Replica

REPLICA CARTIER : Clé de Cartier FlyingTourbillon

The new Clé shape/ collection has been Cartier’s focus this year, and we recently shared some photos of the Clé de Cartier Mysterious Hour that was added to January’s base collection. Today is about another Clé launch – the Flying Tourbillon. No time is being wasted; it seems that this new collection is in a hurry to catch up with the others in terms of complications.

Yes your eyes aren’t deceiving you, that’s an entirely diamond-set case whose rather spectacularly glittering presence courtesy of 3.56 carats of brilliant-cut diamonds makes it perilously close to drawing the eye’s attention away from the presence of a flying tourbilllon (a thing not to be sneezed at) with its Cartier ‘C’, and powered by the in-house manual-wind Calibre 9452 MC.

Underneath the 478 brilliant-cut diamonds totalling 3.56 carats is a 35mm-sized rhodium-finished white gold case that is 11.3mm thick. The eponymous ‘key’ crown is of course set with a sapphire.

The dial is all Cartier cues, with a brass flinqué sunray-brushed dial and blued-steel sword-shaped hands. It comes on an alligator skin strap with an adjustable folding rhodium-finished 18 carat white gold buckle set with 41 brilliant-cut diamonds.

Oh and if you’re wondering how much this will set you back, the Cartier website says that the Australian RRP is $222,000. Also, you may note the URL and in what collection this replica watch has been placed, although we like to think of it as unisex.

[Horologium attended Replica Watches & Wonders 2015 by invitation of Richemont Australia]

Categories
Richard Mille Replica

Hands On Replica Richard Mille RM26-02 ‘EvilEye’

Intended less as a device to aim at those to whom you wish to give the ‘the eye’ and more as a talisman against bad luck, Richard Mille’s RM26-02 ‘Evil Eye’ was launched a couple of months ago, and we had the opportunity to spend a little bit of time with this striking replica watch.

The 48.15mm x 40.10mm x 13.10mm case has a TZP black ceramic bezel and caseback and is not just very light, but also very scratch-resistant. TZP black ceramic contains 95% ytria-stabilised zirconia (a ceramic in which the crystal structure of zirconium dioxide is made stable at room temperature by an addition of yttrium oxide) and makes for an interesting case texture, with an almost ‘grained’ look. The middle band of the Evil Eye tripartite case is 5N red gold, the replica watch has the Mille torque limiting crown to prevent over-winding, and water resistance is 50m. The red gold/ black theme is presumably to do with fire and darkness. It’s al about dial drama with this luxury replica watch.

The eye is red gold with grand feu enamel and lacquer by Olivier Vaucher. The flames and eye have been hand-carved using small custom-made chisels after the enamel firing process is completed.

Inside is the manual-wind Calibre RM26-2 with a power reserve of approximately fifty hours. The plate and bridges are PVD-coated Grade 5 Titanium and the tourbillon 3 Hz. To a large degree the tourbillon almost seems surplus to requirements on a replica watch with such a prominent design feature

This being a Mille replica watch there is, of course, skeletonisation; in this instance of the baseplate and visible through the open case back.

The RM 26-02 is produced in a limited edition of 25 timepieces which are available exclusively from Richard Mille boutiques. The price is USD575,000.

[Horologium attended Replica Watches & Wonders 2015 by invitation of Richemont Australia]

Categories
Jaeger-LeCoultre Replica

Replica Jaeger LeCoultre Hybris Artistica Duomètre Sphérotourbillon pocketwatch

Some of you may remember Jaeger-LeCoultre’s monumental Hybris Artistica set of twelve timepieces releases from 2014. As an exercise in saying “hey look at all the things we can do”, it was pretty successful.

Today is about one of those twelve, with which we had the opportunity to spend some time a little while ago.

The Duomètre Sphérotourbillon pocket replica watch is a 48mm white gold case and blue enamel re-imagining of the Duomètre Sphérotourbillon wrist replica watch – the first pocket replica watch with a sphérotourbillon. As per the wristwatch Sphérotourbillon, the multi-axis tourbillon is equipped with a cylindrical balance with double terminal curves; in addition to the carriage axis there is a second axis inclined at 20°.

The first big change from the wrist version is of course the moving of the crown to 12 o’ clock, which now places the tourbillon at the bottom. As well as the time at 12 o’clock there is a second time zone on a sub dial between 8 and 9 o’clock, and seconds on the subdial between 3 and 4 o’clock. These three dials are grand feu enamel. There are also two slim power reserve indicators.

As you can see the ring above the crown, case’s side and bezel have blue enamelling work, with ‘sectional’ markers acting both as decoration and hour indicators. Very elegant. However, what I particularly like about the main dial is the plate’s ‘grained’ texture (achieved through hand chiselling), whose ‘coarseness’ is not just attractive in and of itself but also as a textural contrast to the enamel. If you look carefully you will notice that the ‘sectional’ markers aren’t he only things marking the hours; the dial is attached to the bezel at twelve points, making it almost float.

The back shows the beautifully finished movement with the Duomètre dual wings. For those new to the Duomètre timepieces, what is special about them is their movement, which is characterised by two independent energy sources (thus the two independent power reserve indicators on the dial), each devoted to a different function. Two separate gear trains and main spring barrels, one for the time and the other for the relevant complication. The gear trains are connected by a single shared regulating organ.

This is not the only Duomètre Spherotourbillon in enamel that is part of the Hybris Artistica. There is also a wristwatch with a blue paillonne enamel dial for which a block of solid silver is chipped and formed for the dial after which it is heat-treated and polished. Further steps in the creation include an extreme heat treatment and finally its polishing which ultimately makes the dial look as a starry night sky.  That wristwatch also has a blue enamel bezel ring.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Hybris Artistica was and still is, meant to showcase some of their most significant timepieces, brought together to illustrate their in-house horological and artistic prowess, often in unexpected ways.  This pocket replica watch, limited to three pieces, definitely achieves this goal, it is a beautiful piece of horology.

Categories
Swiss Replica

The ‘mystery’ of Thomas Prescher’s Mysterious Double-axisTourbillon Replica

ThomasPrescherMysteriousAutomaticDoubleAxisTourbillon17

Almost a year ago we did a post about Thomas Prescher’s Mysterious Double Axis Tourbillon. Although the time spent with this replica watch was very short it stayed in my thoughts, and I wondered whether I would ever have the opportunity to see it again.

It turns out that I did have the chance to look at it again during a visit with a member of the Horologium team and #thewatchnerd to Thomas and Heike Prescher early this year. I have already mentioned some of his Tempus Vivendi dials we saw on that day, and in particular the Qatar one for which we saw a dial and completed version, but today it is time to revisit the Mysterious replica watch.

I received many queries about how the ‘mystery’ behind ‘the Mysterious’. People puzzled over it. Thomas Prescher is a highly specialised independent replica watchmaker, and perhaps it is in some part due to this status that this piece, although not a new model, is not as widely known as it should be, that its ‘firsts’ and the astonishing ‘mystery’ are not as widely known as it should be. Hopefully, today we can introduce it to a new audience.

ThomasPrescherMysteriousAutomaticDoubleAxisTourbillon14

You may recollect my mentioning in the previous post that the focus on this replica watch was visibility – of the (double axis) tourbillon, and of the oscillating weight with its integrated calendar. Today is all about sharing what could not be seen in the previous post.

Thomas Prescher’s idea was to create an automatic movement with a horizontal swinging oscillating weight, with the movement hidden on the left and right sides of the case, inside the bezel.

ThomasPrescherMysteriousAutomaticDoubleAxisTourbillon11

So about the movement. It is the automatic Calibre TP MANDAT No1. Developed and made by Thomas Prescher, it measures 38mm x 33mm in diametre, 12.35mm in height, and has 394 components.

This replica watch was the first double-axis tourbillon wristwatch with a constant force mechanism in the carriage, the first wristwatch with a calendar in the oscillating weight, the first automatic movement with a horizontal oscillating weight, and the first automatic movement with upright mainplates – these are what you can now see in these photos but which are hidden from view in the replica watch’s final form.

ThomasPrescherMysteriousAutomaticDoubleAxisTourbillon7

At 36.75mm wide, 41.20mm high and 16.50mm thick, this replica watch may appear hefty and angular to some, but not only does it feel perfectly fine on the wrist, but there is a reason for its shape and thickness, and that lies in what Thomas Prescher sought to achieve (and did) with this replica watch. In this sense it is a very minimalist replica watch, but it is not only a remarkable piece of horology but also very intriguing and appealing aesthetically. In a way it is almost easy to forget its timekeeping aspect when examining it, but this is a replica watch that I would be more than happy to have on my wrist.