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?

Honeycomb, Honeygold! Vitreum Champlevé Enamel Dial

When they first launched, most of us have not heard of Vitreum Watches. But what intrigued me was their limited production of an enamel dial with Honeycomb motif.

Based in Randers, Denmark and founded by Kasper Reisner the folks at Vitreum launched in limited quantities two versions of the Champlevé enamelled dial - the Starry Night and Honeycomb. Was it Starry Night or Honeycomb? Tough choices but I settled for the Honeycomb.

The hand wound FH01 launched the brand. The enamel dials are made in Wales but the timepiece assembly is done in Denmark.

These mechanical timepieces come with a Grand Feu Enamel dial and for the Honeycomb, uses the Champlevé technique. What that means is that the cells in the Champlevé dial are first shaped in a solid piece of silver, after which each cell is engraved by hand creating the miniature sunbust pattern. Then honey-coloured vitreous enamel (raw enamel) is carefully filled into the recess (in this case the honeycomb) and then fired at 850°C to achieve the grand feu enamel dial.

As with any hand crafted products, no two are alike. Similar but never the same. With hand crafted enamel work each layering, firing, polishing will bring different results. Even between cells of the honeycomb, you can see differences guaranteeing that its hand crafted and not commercially done - not sure if you can actually do commercial enamel dials like these.

And with hand made enamel dials, there are bound to be imperfections. Because they are hand made, no two dials are alike as each dial will have a different colour configuration. When one buys the Vitreum Honeycomb, they will get a unique piece.

The FH01 is released in a a limited quantity of 5 per variant. As I understand it, this might not be the only Honeycomb Vitreum might do. Seems like there will be future releases too. In what form and shape, I don't know.

The overall package is a compelling one. Even the hands are pretty well made too...

My only gripe is the case back... closed case back. I wish they had an exhibition case back also showing off the movement. Beating inside is a hand wound Sellita SW210 movement.

And a nifty detail... there is a recess in the case. Pulling out the crown is that much easier.

The timepiece also comes with a signed buckle...

The watch also comes with a strap with quick change mechanism. For a strap change clutz like me, this is a nice detail.

The 39.5mm steel case comes with a combination of satin and polished finishing. The size is perfect for someone like me with a smallish wrist size.

Many challenges along the way, but the folks at Vitreum have come through with a very unique product. Congratulations to Kasper and the Vitreum team. Can't wait to see what's next in the line up.