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?

Year End Fun with Microbrands and Dials - Part 1

As with our other get-togethers, there is always a theme around our gtg. This time around, the two themes are - Microbrand and special dials. Simple enough right?

So what constitutes a microbrand? Any brand that is "independent" that has production of not more than 2,000 pieces per year can fit into this definition. And what a range of timepieces were on display last night!

And what a start for the microbrands... the C by Romain Gauthier, Titanium Edition Three! Wow, what a timepiece! What's so special about this 38 piece limited eidition you might ask? Well, the case and movement is made from Grade 5 Titanium and so is the dial. Now if that does not qualify as special, I don't know what does...

So what do you have after R. Gauthier? No less impressive is the De Bethune DB8 Monopusher Chronograph with a 45 minute counter - so appropriate for the current season while the World Cup is ongoing...

Rumour has it that the founders are soccer fans and that is the reason for the 45 minute counter as opposed to the "traditional" 30 minute counter. For those non-soccer fans, soccer is played over 2 halves and each half lasts 45 minutes.

Those blue hands and the lugs are the signature of early year De Bethune. Unfortunately, they also come (mostly) with closed case back.

On to something more recent with the release of the Baltic Micro Rotor salmon dial. A quick strap change and that transforms the timepiece altogether.

Another microbrand that has caught the eye of the collectors is Ophion Watches and featured here is a piece unique salmon coloured radial dial.

The next one is probably one you have not heard of - Atelier de Rijke also know as De Rijke & Co. They are a Dutch independent watch company that crafts timepieces for the drivers. And you will see why it's for the drivers...

This example is the Miffy Moonphase 1/25. I know, you wanted to check it out right? Sorry but this timepiece has long been sold out. For this timepiece, Miffy was etched out of brass, polished and silver plated. It is filled with blue paint and after that it is hand filled with Superluminova in the correct Dick Bruna colors. And the owner of this timepiece told me the customer engagement and customer service from De Rijke is top rate.

Another microbrand featured is Semper and Adhuc, a French outfit. This example is the l'Instantanée LIP Limited Edition with a slate green dial and a vintage manual winding movement.

Next up, Magrette Timepieces. They are a boutique dive and sport watch brand based in Auckland (City of Sails), New Zealand and the model name proudly says Moana Pacific Waterman Bronze. What I would love is to own one of their engraved Leoncino Creation.

Another brand in focus of late is Unimatic. In this case, it is the Unimatic Modello Uno U1-BTP (below) which is an exclusive collaboration with BIOTOP, the first store to carry the brand in Japan. This was launched on the occasion of the opening of their new store in Fukuoka, after the success in Tokyo and Osaka.

Then there is a homegrown, Singapore brand Movas Watches and this is their dive piece, the Oceaner II. Rated to 300m water resistance, the divers' watch is equally good on land as in the depth of the seas.

To round off the microbrand round up, the up and coming Felipe Pikullik. Already making waves, this is an earlier piece from him and for those who might not know, he has a wait list of about 3 years for his hand finished time pieces.

The young German watchmaker uses ETA and UNITAS base movements, modifies and skeletonises them before finishing by hand.

And he is now working on a moonphase timepiece that (hopefully) will be launched soon.

Microbrand or special dial, dinner at Zing by XiYan was an enjoyable affair. We got to handle timepieces we might never have had the opportunity to lay our hands on and the wide variety certainly gives you an idea of the type of collectors there are within the group. Stay tuned to Part 2 of the gathering as I feature "Special Dials" next.