Way back in 1988, Chronoswiss was the first brand to bring the regulator display to the wrist.

Originally developed in the nineteenth century, a regulator was a precision pendulum clock that the clockmaker used as an accuracy reference for all the other clocks he was working on. The regulators were the most precise timekeepers in their day: a true regulator dial vertically aligns a large central minute hand between smaller dials for hours (top) and seconds (bottom). This means that every hour on the hour the minute and second hands should both point up and line up. At midnight all three hands line up, so it’s easy to use as a reference.

Chronoswiss founder Gerd-Rüdiger Lang recognized what the quartz crisis might bring: seen from today’s perspective, his idea of transposing an ancient display into a modern watch and launching a new mechanical watch brand deeply rooted in the noble traditions of Swiss horology was progressive and forward-thinking.

Chronoswiss, founded in Germany, was one of the handful of pioneering watchmakers in the renaissance of high-quality mechanical wristwatches.

Now based in Lucerne, Switzerland following an ownership change in 2012, Chronoswiss joined Watches & Wonders for the first time in 2021.

“We have put a lot of effort into our digital communication this last year, which is really changing things for us,” says Oliver Ebstein, owner and director of the independent family-owned company. “We are more in direct contact with our clients, and in the last year we have been able to present unique types of groundbreaking, color-changing, handmade guilloché as well as the new collection SkelTec, from which we release two new models during Watches & Wonders.”

Chronoswiss now employs 20 skilled craftspeople focusing on its regulator-style timepieces and at Watches & Wonder 2021 the company presented several new watches in a variety of stunning colors and techniques.

Let’s dig right in.

Chronoswiss Open Gear ReSec Paraiba: Brazilian vibes

The Chronoswiss Open Gear ReSec Paraiba is packed with interesting Chronoswiss characteristics including a regulator display, knurled bezel, and the company’s unique color-shifting handmade guilloché.

“Chronoswiss is the only brand with color-shifting, handmade guilloché. And you cannot simulate this effect in any way – you simply have to experiment,” Chronoswiss head of design Maik Panziera reveals.

After months of testing a plethora of treatments, coloring agents, lacquers, finishes, patterns and materials, Panziera found the best result came from a unique type of nano-decorative chemical vapor deposition (CVD) combined with a short-wave guilloché pattern executed by hand in the Lucerne workshop.

The dial of the Open Gear ReSec Paraiba –a 42-piece hybrid of a dial and a functional module board – changes from a soft, tropical lagoon turquoise to a jungle-like dark green with touches of petrol blue and blue-violet thrown in – these are all colors present in the Paraiba tourmaline, an extremely rare gemstone found in the Brazilian state that lends this timepiece its name.

Seconds are displayed with a 30-second retrograde hand, and through the sapphire crystal case back we see a skeletonized rotor with turquoise CVD coating and Geneva waves. Other elements of fine finishing include a polished pallet lever, escape wheel, and screws. Bridges and plates are adorned with perlage.

Quick Facts Chronoswiss Open Gear ReSec Paraiba
Case: 44 x 13.35 mm, stainless steel
Movement: automatic Caliber C.301 (base ETA 2895 with added module for regulator and retrograde seconds), 4 Hz/28,800 vph frequency, 42-hour power reserve
Functions: regulator hours and minutes, retrograde seconds
Limitation: 50 pieces
Price: €9,800 / CHF 9,700 / $10,400

Chronoswiss Open Gear ReSec Black Ice: back in black

With a complicated dial boasting several shades of black, the Open Gear ReSec Black Ice brings new aesthetics to the regulator collection with its 30-second retrograde seconds display and a variety of black tones.

To achieve the looks of a frozen lake or coarse, glittering, black sand, heavy metal industrial operations involving structure-cutting laser beams and pressure stamping take place before a galvanic bath giving the dial its final pearly luster.

“This watch is like 50 shades of black, and the different blacks really contrast with each other thanks to the different structures, finishes, and coatings; despite the monochrome palette they almost appear like different colors,” Panziera observes.

The 44-millimeter case and polished screws securing the bridges to the hybrid dial are coated with DLC. The bridge holding the 30-second retrograde function is sandblasted and galvanized black.

“When I was designing this watch, I was listening to heavy metal all day long, especially the Black Ice album by AC/DC. That’s where the model name comes from,” laughs Panziera.

As on all Chronoswiss Open Gear regulators, the dial is a sort of hybrid, also serving as a plate holding the bridges, screws, wheels, and jewels – an elaborate 42-part construction on two levels.

Quick Facts Chronoswiss Open Gear ReSec Black Ice
Case: 44 x 13.35 mm, black PVD-coated stainless steel
Movement: automatic Caliber C.301 (base ETA 2895 with added module for regulator and retrograde seconds), 4 Hz/28,800 vph frequency, 42-hour power reserve
Functions: regulator hours and minutes, retrograde seconds
Limitation: 50 pieces
Price: €10,000 / CHF 9,900 / $10,600

Chronoswiss Flying Regulator Open Gear Pink Panther: think pink

A modern mechanical regulator watch in a black 41-millimeter DLC-coated case with a sparkling pink CVD-coated dial, the Chronoswiss Flying Regulator Open Gear Pink Panther is both a colorful statement and a celebration of handmade guilloché.

“Pink can be kind of childish and Barbie-like, and that is a hue that I dislike,” Panziera continues. “But the Pink Panther dial is kind of noble and it connotes values of ancient wealth. The color pink is also a nonconformist cultural progression. Just think of the pop art of the 1960s and 1970s, ‘Pink Panther’ cartoons hitting the airwaves in 1969, the pink mohawk hair of British punk rock bands and their rowdy crowds in the late 1970s, and even 1990s computer art.”

Pink’s suggestion of nudity suggests erotic undertones, and the Flying Regulator Open Gear even offers an horological peepshow through an aperture on the top of the hybrid dial. What you see is what you get: these wheels reveal the gearing of the decentralized hour hand.

On the back, the main protagonist characterizing automatic Caliber C.299 is its skeletonized rotor. Not only is it decorated with côtes de Genève and a colimaçon (spiral) pattern, it also boasts a pink CVD coating in the same hue as the dial.

These colimaçon spirals are also applied to the bridges and plates of the movement.

Quick Facts Flying Regulator Open Gear Pink Panther
Case: 41 x 13.85 mm, DLC-coated stainless steel
Movement: automatic Caliber C.299 (base ETA 2895), 4 Hz/28,800 vph frequency, 42-hour power reserve
Functions: regulator hours, minutes, and (hacking) seconds
Limitation: 50 pieces
Price: €9,600 / CHF 9,500 / $10,200

Chronoswiss SkelTec Pitch Black: not afraid of the dark

Inspired by science fiction, the latest Chronoswiss SkelTec takes its openworked horology into the dark. Glistening, matte black components make for an extremely reduced and yet transparent timepiece powered by a hand-wound, 166-part movement housed in an organically shaped 51-part case.

“We wanted the case to have seamless organic shapes like you often see on science fiction vessels. Achieving this was a challenge because with watches it is not possible at the moment to injection-mold stainless steel with haute horlogerie quality. Thus we had to combine different parts made with five-axis CNC machines,” Panziera explains.

The minimalistic hand-wound C.304 movement was designed in the Lucerne atelier and manufactured by Concepto exclusively for the Chronoswiss SkelTec collection.

The first thing you notice is the open screw balance at 6 o’clock. “It is a fundamental principle of design,” adds Panziera. “When you remove a lot of surrounding material, whatever remains takes on the leading role.”

Four triangular bridges anchor the fundamental parts of the movement at 11 and 1 o’clock, including the balance, mainspring, and the halo-like minute track encircling the perimeter with white numerals and hashmarks.

The central, soot-black X-shape – achieved using a black chrome coating – carries the white-lacquered hands filled with black Super-LumiNova. The wheels are covered with a dark grey rhodium plating and a circular grain providing contrast to the exposed moving parts.

Quick Facts Chronoswiss SkelTec Pitch Black
Case: 45 x 15.15 mm, DLC-coated stainless steel
Movement: hand-wound Caliber C.304, produced by Concepto exclusively for Chronoswiss, 4 Hz/28,800 vph frequency, 48-hour power reserve
Functions: hours, minutes
Limitation: 50 pieces
Price: €19,900 / CHF 19,900 / $21,300

Chronoswiss SkelTec Azur: so blue

SkelTec Azur is a horological striptease revealing sensually ticking mechanics. The 166-component, hand-wound C.304 movement boasts a striking design with a central X-shaped monobloc bridge. I also love the pure view of the screw balance at 6 o’clock.

The mechanics are surrounded by a contemporary twist on one of the most royal colors in existence – the endless blue of a cloudless summer evening sky.

In the distant past such an intense blue was achieved by pulverizing azurite, a deep blue copper mineral, and mixing it with oil to various viscosities. “Here at Chronoswiss we chose to re-create this ancient hue in a contemporary way by using chemical vapor deposition (CVD),” says Panziera.

Through the screw-down sapphire crystal case back with double anti-reflection treatment we can see a more classical approach to movement decoration, even if it is hard to recognize. One example is the dexterously stretched crown spring doing the horological equivalent of three-legged splits. Equally eye-catching is the movement’s satin-brushed finish with chamfered, polished angles.

The design of the SkelTec case features organic, sculptural curves, down to the sensually hollowed-out lugs. When these revolutionary elements come together, the overall look is delicate yet bulletproof.

“I love the SkelTec case,” says Panziera. “The architecture of it really pushes the limits of what is possible with a five-axis CNC machine.”

Quick Facts SkelTec Azur
Case: 45 x 15.15 mm, stainless steel coated with blue CVD and black DLC
Movement: hand-wound Caliber C.304, produced by Concepto exclusively for Chronoswiss, 4 Hz/28,800 vph frequency, 48-hour power reserve
Functions: hours, minutes
Limitation: 50 pieces
Price: €20,900 / CHF 20,900 / $22,400

For more information please, visit www.chronoswiss.com.

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