Edouard Koehn - The Legacy Rattrapante & Tempus III

Edouard Koehn recently released the new Tempus III Chronograph and a very attractive Rattrapante Chronograph called the Legacy Rattrapante.

In my last report I shared their worldtimer and the Tempus II Open heart chronograph. The Tempus II is very masculine - large and imposing, if I may say. Comparing the two, I'd say the Tempus III is a much better proposition.

The Tempus III Ice Blue (above) and the Skeletonised Ice Blue version (below).

I had the opportunity to handle the Tempus III and their new Legacy Rattrapante and I have to say the Legacy Rattrapante is really something.

And I'd like to start with that too...

Why Legacy you may ask? Well, the Chronograph's layout and dial is based on an old pocket watch Chronograph

The original chronograph comes with a Grand feu white enamel and this version draws inspiration from the original pocket watch dial. However, the movement is a Concepto base movement modified specifically for Edouard Koehn.

I believe the rattrapante module is built on the movement (non-column wheel) and that's why it accounts for the thickness.

This limited edition is a breath of fresh air in the chronograph space. Grand Feu Enamel with a 12/6 layout makes this a very attractive chronograph - and a split second (rattrapante) at that!

The blue hands are gorgeous as with the white enamel dial. Some might ask what a split seconds chronograph does. The split seconds complication came about as one needs to record two events that are starting at the same time but may not stop at the same time, hence the two coloured hands. In this case, the blue and red recording hands represent the first and second event.

Enjoy the rest of the photos on this amazing complication on this beautifully crafted chronograph.

Now on to the Tempus III Chronograph. What I saw were 2 variants - both ice blue. First one below is the Tempus III Ice Blue Guilloché.

And this one the Tempus III Ice Blue Skeleton (below). The skeletonised version comes with a date window at the 4 o'clock position but not the Guilloché.

As compared to the Tempus II, the Tempus III is more wearable as the size is smaller. The Tempus II is 43mm and the Tempus III is 41mm - the 2mm reduction is a world of difference.

As much as I like the Ice Blue Skeleton, date window at 4 o'clock is a deal breaker for me. But nonetheless, the design and execution is spot on. The skeleton comes with Grade 5 Titanium case and a Titanium bezel. But on the wrist, you can feel the heft - possibly due to the movement weight.

Again, the execution on the guilloché is excellent. The colour combination on the hands are well coordinated as I especially like the organe hands on the subdial and indices. For the ice blue, the case is made of Grade 5 Titanium with a ceramic bezel.

Whether it is the ice blue or the ice blue skeleton, both are pretty well made and worth its weight in gold. The brand has been making waves, first the the Tempus II. And now both the Tempus III and the Legacy Rattrapante are a hit. I love the Legacy Rattrapante and if there is something they can improve on, perhaps change the blue chrono hands to yellow, making the display even livelier. Right now, it is a blue/red combination but if it were a yellow/red combination with blue time telling hands, that would be great - at least for me.

All said and done, I absolutely love the Legacy Rattrapante except for a minor change. And for the price point (USD16,800), it is definitely great value for such a complication and with Grand Feu Enamel too.

November GTG - Non Swiss Gathering

In November, we all got together and the two themes were Non Swiss watches and Thematic watches. In Part 1 of the blogpost, I shared the watches for the Thematic genre. In this part 2, what watches represent the non-Swiss?

When we say Non-Swiss watches, two other countries come to mind - Japan and Germany. But here, I feature a Russian watchmaker Stefan Vinogradov and a Singapore watch brand Feynman Watch.

This was the first piece Stefan made for me after visiting Singapore in 2015.

This year, Feynman Timekeepers unveiled their Feynman VI - this being the Founder's Edition.

Feynman is a Singapore brand and much of their work has focused on promoting local talent - not just the timepieces but also straps and accessories too.

Most notable is the promoting of enamel dials handcrafted by Charlotte Teh of Royal Insignia. Below a picture of the enamelling work of Charlotte on the Dragon piece for Feynman.

From Singapore, we head to Japan - plenty of choices here... Let's start with the Kurono Toki

And the new watch in town is this Credor Locomotive. In fact, there were 2 collectors with the Credor Locomotive but then one of them brought the Greubel Forsey instead... lucky us :-)

What about this Orient Star watch?

This is the Orient Star M34 F8 Date with a blue dial.

And this (below), the M34 Diver 1964 Titanium.

Then there is the vintage Seiko... This is the Seiko SCVL001 using the 6810 movement.

Outwardly, it looks like a quartz piece but when you turn over, you marvel at the mechanical movement within - just 1.98mm thin!

The next one is this Seiko with a Swiss 5328A movement. Born in the eighties, this small seconds timepiece created quite a stir when it was released.

And then there is the Grand Seiko... A High-Beat no less.

This is the 4520-8000 model.

Now on to a German. Nope, its not the usual suspect but an equally compelling piece from Dornblueth. This is the reference 99.0

Their signature rose gold plated UNITAS base movement decorated with Geneva stripes.

Le Blues is represented by this Le Forban La Malouine with a blue dial.

This 39mm divers comes with a unidirectional aluminium bezel

Then there are the other two that came off theme...

First, the Bvlgari Diagono Regatta (above) and the Zenith Defy Skyline (below) the timepiece is fitted with the El Primero 3620 high-frequency automatic manufacture movement with the very first 1/10th of a second indicator.

Of course the star of the evening was this Greubel Forsey Double Balancier.

Gorgeous is an understatement.

And then there was the food...

This is the chawanmushi topped with very sweet Dungeness crab meat

And this is the Signature wild caught sword razor shell with fried shallots (above)

And this, the pan-seared "hotate" yesso scallop

And my favourite - the crispy grilled wild caught Steenstrup's bay squid made into a pancake. And while it might be a pancake, no flour was used! What a meal. I missed out the Donabe as I was busy eating and mingling. But miss the table shot? Definitely not!

It was another evening of fun with friends - excellent range of watches and great food. What more can you ask for?