Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Its a bird! Its a plane! No its Concord C1 QuantumGravity Tourbillon Watch.

Phew, my imagination is reaching beyond the limits of the outer galactic disk from planetary nebulae. Some Sci Fi mind is definitely at work behind the curtains of Concord. The uncanny resemblance to a space ship is remarkable, and the wait to see this "out-of-this-world" timepiece is just a couple of days away. The Concord C1 QuantumGravity Tourbillon will be unveiled
in BaselWorld from March 26th- April 2, 2009. The exact docking location will be in Hall 1.0/D03. Please excuse any Sci Fi references that filter through, I cannot seem to help myself.

The remarkable sand blasted skeletonized Gravity dial drew inspiration from space exploration. The titanium case is
48.5 mm in diameter and a almost canyon like 22mm in depth. Potentially this watch could turn to be quite bulky to wear, but this is avoided by the highly flexible rubber strap and the super lightweight metals, titanium and aluminium.


The first thing one notices about this manually wound Concord C104 movement is the "green stuff" in a cylinder. It almost looks like a wacky scientist experiment that could explode at a moments notice. In actual fact this liquid is the three day power reserve, a far cry from the traditional dial. Nothing boring or traditional about this baby. The cylinder operates on a pressure system whereby the green-stuff (actually photo-luminescent green liquid) rises and falls in proportion to the amount of power left in the main spring.

As depicted in the image adjacent to this text, a "Quantum Tourbillon" is visible, suspended via cables and attached to a bridge. The bi-axial motion is visible through the dial so that one may perceive the horizontal and vertical movement of the Tourbillon. A Tourbillon was initially invented in 1795 by French watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet,to reduce the effect gravity has on a pocket watch. I have a feeling the Tourbillon in this watch is to increase its out of this world experience.
In order to enjoy all the superb complication, the Concord C1 Quantum Gravity Tourbillon has no less than 5 separate Sapphire Crystals, so that nothing misses the eye.

Other unique features are scattered throughout the watch like the seconds hand which is placed vertically on the side of the watch. The crown is hidden probably at the 2 'o'clock position, but it is on to BaselWorld where the hidden crown shall be revieled. Now the great aspect about this watch is the decision by the watchmakers to make the dial, traditional and simple. If the dial would have been complicated mechanisms like the Urwerks (which I truly love), it would have been too much.
Built from 511 parts and countless of hours in research, development and crafting, this watch is a fascinating plethora of unique components as well as exuding a distinct Sci Fi feel which will attract many watch enthusiasts who relish in high tech luxury mechanical timepieces .