GTG With Special Guest - Romain Gauthier - Part 1 - Independents

It is not often you host your friends from Instagram when they are in town but this time around, we had three watch friends coming in to town and both Ben and Moe had contacted me about putting a group together. As it was, I was already planning another GTG so the timing was perfect.

So who are these special friends? Well, one of them goes by the handle @thewindingstem and another @1815chronofan and the "special" guest was Romain Gauthier himself. Coincidentally, they were visiting Singapore and had reached out to me. Of course we would be happy to have them. As with other events we have had in the past, we have a theme around our gatherings. This time around, the two themes were (1) Independent brands and (2) Dual time zone or Worldtimer. This blog post features all the independents.

Let's start with the most obvious choice - at the gathering were 4 Romain Gauthier timepieces... And the awesome one must be the Logical One.

What a timepiece! The oven-fired Grand Feu white enamel dial comes with a Fusée and Chain system providing constant-force to the movement.

And that movement is a sight to behold.

And then there is the Continuum, also known as C. Featured here is the ultra-light Titanium C with an integrated bracelet. Romain has explained how he was inspired by AP (having worked there) and the Royal Oak. He had wanted a timepiece that is fully integrated - that the watch includes the bracelet and the bracelet is the watch.

The entire case and dial is made from Grade 5 titanium and so is the movement. That makes the watch ultra light. Then there is the C Platinum (below) featuring a platinum case but the timepiece is on a strap.

You immediately feel the heft of the platinum piece especially when it comes with a 18k white gold movement too.

What's the difference between the titanium movement and the white gold movement? It's in the finishing. The titanium version has a more matte finishing (polished titanium is difficult) while the white gold is more polished.

Then there is also the Insight Micro-Rotor on the wrist of Moe...

Continuing with the Independent theme, there is the F.P. Journe LineSport Chronographe Monopoussoir Rattrapante as well as the more dressy Chronometre Souverain.

Exquisite sample of the Chronographe Monopoussoir Rattrapante belonging to one of our fellow collector... you know who you are.

And the Chronometre Souverain (below)...

This CS, at least for me, was the one that got away... should have pulled the trigger when it was introduced and available. But it is what it is. No point regretting what got away. I am definitely fortunate and grateful for what I already have.

And the brand that has been getting lots of attention is Gerald Genta and here is an example of the Retro Solo. Perhaps the rebirth of a brand?

And who can miss this very well made Lang & Heyne Georg Sincere Edition. Limited to 12 pieces when Sincere launched the Haute Horlogerie in MBS.

Gorgeous front and back. If only...

And the one belonging to me - the Vitreum Watch Honeycomb enamel dial.

I am so enamoured with this piece. The enamelling is very well done and fact is that no two pieces are alike makes this pretty unique.

And this is an earlier year H. Moser - when it was still called the Mayu.

Now called the Endeavour, this example features a removable escapement with 3 days power reserve and with a sub-dial for the second hands. I believe this is already discontinued.

And this is from one of our guest, Ben - a Gronefeld Principia.

And what about Alain Silberstein?

This chronograph is when Alain Silberstein was still Alain Silberstein. Iconic colours

And two Baltic MR01 at the same gtg?

The salmon (above) and the silver dial (below). Featuring a micro-rotor, this is one well made timepiece for the price point. Great quality-price-ratio.

Not to be outdone, we have two Habring chronographs.

One is the Chrono Sport Sincere Haute Horlogerie edition (above) and the other the Doppel 3 (below).

Fact is Habring makes one of the most affordable doppelchronograph stemming from his time at IWC where he also developed the Pilot Doppelchronograph.

What about the Black Sector by Furlan Marri. The first mechanical timepiece by the brand featuring a 37.5mm case. Nice size.

What's also interesting is the Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Vianney Halter, a collaboration between Louis Erard and Vianney Halter.

This is one of the first collaborations with many more to come for Louis Erard and their Regulateur series.

And another enamel beauty is none other than the Ulysse Nardin Marine Tourbillon.

The dial is a Guilloche Grand Feu enamel blue dial which is not common.

It is always fun to have friends and collectors meet and share the passion of collecting. It's not just the expensive timepieces that are on display but many varied styles for any budget. Watch collecting can be fun and it doesn't have to be expensive.

This was a special gtg with the presence of Mr. Romain Gauthier, Moe and Ben. We don't normally have guests from overseas but in this case, 3 came! We enjoyed ourselves with Romain's presentation of the brand, his philosophy, his work and how he sees his brand evolving. We learnt a lot about the brand and the timepieces he brought along.

Stay tuned for for Part 2 where we unveil the Dual Time and GMT timepieces at the event. Can you guess what those are?

Watch GTG - BurgerLabo Part 2

The unique thing about our watch gatherings is around some theme - everyone tries to come double wristed around some theme. In this GTG, the two themes were (1) non-round case timepiece and (2) timepieces below SGD5,000.

In our Part 1, we featured the first theme - timepieces with non-round cases. And what a range there was. I think the most jaw-dropping of the lot had to be the white ceramic AP Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar. Uber rare... And then there was the Urwerk UR-110, another stunning piece with their orbiting satellite system. And when you think rectangular cases, the JLC Reverso is always on our minds.

For the second theme, I had asked the group to bring a timepiece below SGD5,000. Allow me to qualify - while some timepieces are now above 5k, some of the featured timepieces were 5k when the owner first bought it.

One such timepiece is the original Grand Seiko Chronometer Diashock. Encased in a gold case and automatic winding, this Chronometer is in pretty good condition and the owner said he paid less than 5k for it. Beating within the Diashock movement is the Grand Seiko manufacture caliber 3180. What a catch!

In today's watch collecting journey, most brands hardly have a timepiece below SGD5,000 (USD3,600). So it was challenging for many but we had such a great range of timepieces in this GTG.

Grand Seiko below SGD5k? Yes, that was then possible when we bought it in the early to mid 2000s. One example is this SBGM003 with a solid case back.

What about pocket watches? Well, this IWC pocket watch can be had even for now, below 5k

Surprise, surprise in this category is that all popular MB&F MAD2

You wouldn't normally associate MB&F in this category but that's what makes the brand interesting.

Then there is a local home-grown brand Vilhelm Watches. A very interesting bronze version of an earlier release.

I brought along the Union Glashütte 1893 Johannes Durrstein Edition.

Featuring an exclusive movement from ETA, Union Glashütte got this one right. Love the dial and the silicium hairspring and all for under SGD5k. I'll be featuring this in another blogpost later on.

It was good to see the Hamilton Pan-Europ. This piece is a tribute to the original Pan-Europ released in 1971. But at the price point, this Hamilton should be a hit.

What I like about such GTG is the fact that you get to see some timepieces you never knew existed. Take for example this Citizen Hisonic Tuning Fork timepiece.

First impression... Retro vibes!

Notice the front sapphire glass?

Originally made in Nov 1973, this Accutron movement was licensed by Bulova to Citizen.

The front sapphire glass gives that an added charm.

Next up is the Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000TR

Titanium cased, this G-Shock is ultra-light and for those not familiar, the GMW-B500TR can be connected to an app via Bluetooth connection. The titanium alloy is a joint development between Casio and Nippon Steel.

Another timepiece that is worthy of any collection is the MIH Annual Calendar. Not only is this an annual calendar, it is also a chronograph.

Developed by Mr. Ludwig Oechslin utilizing the ETA7750 movement with an annual calendar module, the MIH Annual Calendar is perhaps one of the most reasonably priced annual calendar even to this day.

And then there are those guys who "did not get the memo"...

Since when does this retail for SGD5k?

Then there is someone who tried to sneak this one in...

The La Semaine Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Blanche ... I'll give it to you. It's "slightly" above SGD5k :-)

The highlight of the evening must have been the Moritz Grossmann Hamatic. Didn't fall into any of the theme for tonight but was a special request to see the timepiece first hand as the owner had just picked it up a few days earlier.

The opaline dial with Roman numerals gives it that vintage feel. Plus the ultra thin purple hands... it's a winner!

And the reverse is the highlight...

Instead of the traditional automatic rotor, the Hamatic used a pendulum-style hammer to wind the movement. Quite a large timepiece, this Hamatic comes in rose gold case of 41mm.

The Moritz Grossmann Hamatic was surely the highlight of the evening and thanks to our friend, we got to see and feel the timepiece up close and personal. Thanks to Mr. W for bringing it along.

And the mandatory table shot of what was on display that night.

It is always fun to have such gatherings. As I have said before time and time again, the diversity of collection is mind boggling. If we only open ourselves to other brands.

Another successful gathering and happy ending for everyone. Looking forward to the next one.