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?

Affordable Micro Brand - The Baltic Micro Rotor MR01

Baltic Watches first started life via Kickstarter but they have gone from strength to strength after their initial launch. Their aim was to "offer timeless pieces, of the highest quality, for fair prices." And they have succeeded.

One of the biggest hit (at least for me) is their Micro Rotor MR01 which was re-released in January 2022 after a very successful initial run. Coming in three variants - Blue, Salmon and Silver, I managed to get the Salmon and Silver with a matching "beads" bracelet.

Aesthetically, what really strikes me are the fueille (leaf) hands with Breguet numerals - I am a sucker for Breguet style Arabic numerals

Then there is the textured dial and the off-centre seconds sub-dial.

No date? No problem!

In fact, I was having a conversation with another fellow collector and we were discussing about the date feature. Personally, I like "no-date" or "big-date". As one ages, the eyesight fails and a small date window is not functional. And one other thing - I cannot accept the date window at 4 o'clock... call me traditionalist, but the date window at 4 o'clock just don't work for me.

At €605 (excluding local taxes) for the bracelet version, this 36mm MR01 has great Price-Quality-Ratio. The hesalite glass adds to the retro vibes of this timepiece.

Beating inside is the automatic Micro Rotor movement supplied by the Hangzhou Watch Company. The Calibre CAL5000A features a micro rotor which keeps the thickness of the timepiece rather slim at 9.9mm (glass included).

Finishing, while industrial, is excellent for what you are paying. The power reserve is a respectable 42 hours.

But what is surprisingly done well is the bracelet - "beads" as they call it is highly polished on one side...

And brushed on the other side.

Comes with a quick release too - no tools required. Base price of the MR01 is €545 with a leather strap and with a stainless steel bracelet comes to €605 excluding local taxes but including shipping (to Singapore). Looking back, I should have opted for the strap version for the silver dial - the contrast would have been nicer. So I guess I will be making a change soon. But the salmon dial with the bracelet is a clear winner for me.

Given the current market conditions on the more sought after brands, I would definitely recommend going for micro brands. They offer great value for money and are worthy of our support. Paris based Baltic is one such brand I think got it right - making affordable timpeieces that presents an excellent Price-Quality-Ratio proposition.