GP Cat's Eye - A Creative Way of Expressing the Annual Calendar

Girard-Perregaux’s Three Bridges Tourbillon is perhaps their signature timepiece but the Cat’s Eye range is their quintessential ladies range. From simple time only to complications to high jewellery, the Cat’s Eye is the epitome of feminine timepiece.

The range has further expanded but what I managed to get my hands on for my wife was an earlier year Cat’s Eye Zodiac with the unmistakable ellipse case. A very novel and creative way of time telling.

Aptly named the Cat's Eye Annual and Zodiac Calendar, this white gold example comes with a white dial. The layout of the timepiece makes it easy to read and very intuitive.

The Zodiac calendar is displayed on the bottom half of the dial with the window stretching from the 8 o’clock to 4 o’clock position. The diamond marker points to the day within the zodiac sign (Pisces below) corresponding to the actual date and you can see the zodiac signs on the rotating disc.

The calendar display found at the 2 o’clock position and shaped like a shell is an Annual Calendar complication which means one needs to only adjust the date when it comes to the month of February. Unlike the perpetual calendar which takes into consideration the leap year, annual calendar timepieces don’t.

Another complication is the moon phase indication found at the 6 o’clock position.

Not only do you find the diamonds on the case, two diamonds are found on the dial as indicators. One is the Zodiac indicator and the other representing the stars in the celestial sky.

Finishing on the dial side is nothing short of phenomenal as can be seen here.

On the backside, the open case back gives you the full view of the automatic movement - base calibre being the GP3300 workhorse with an annual calendar and moon phase module.

A nicely engraved gold GP rotor.

Women's timepieces don't get enough coverage. Many mechanical marvels are made for women timepieces as they are more intricate and being smaller in size, requires a lot more skills and craftsmanship to make them elegant yet functional. The world's smallest mechanical movement (JLC Calibre 101) was made for women's timepiece. And at at time when pocket watches were the norm, that was surely a marvel!

The Swatch Diaphane One - A Revolutionary Timepiece

Every now and then, watch behemoth Swatch comes up with something revolutionary (pun intended) and it was in 2001 when they launched the Diaphane One.

It took watch collectors and Swatch fans by surprise that not only did Swatch come up with a mechanical piece, the "complication" was something different.

Technically not a Tourbillon nor a Carousel, the platform (if that is what you can call it), rotates one full revolution in half an hour.

The Swatch DNA was on the Diaphane One - signature plastic casing. But cheap looking it is not and it comes with a nice leather strap too.

However, the finishing on the bridges could be better. Rough on the edges.

The finishing is rather industrious if I may say so and for that price (think EUR3,300 in 2001), I would have expected better.

The timepiece was release as a 2,222 numbered Limited Edition and was sold out very quickly.

On the back of the timepiece you can see a diamond on the case back.

The back side is quite an eyeful - not typical Swatch with a battery but a nicely crafted movement no less

I believe the movement may be hand engraved

Seems like the back end is finished better than the front

Within the 2,222 limitation was 222 which were a limited-limited-edition for the Place Vendome in Paris. What is the difference you may ask? Well, the case back comes with three precious stones - Sapphire, Diamond and Ruby, signifying the tricolours of the French flag.

Swatch came up with another version of the Diaphane but I am happy with what I have - the Original.

I'd be grateful if anyone can point me to who manufactured the movement for Swatch. I read somewhere that it might have been JLC but very little literature on the actual movement and who made it.

What’s in a Name - Project Coalesce

Unite, combine, merge… but more importantly, coalesce is to bring together to form one integrated body and that’s what Project Coalesce by Feynman Timekeepers did. When YK was planning for the project, little did he know the challenges in bringing concept and design to fruition let alone the need to bring together several masters in their own field to craft one set of 3 timepieces.

From left to right - The Lotus, The Peony and The Peacock

Like a conductor in a symphony, YK had to coax the best out of each individual. Almost two solid years from start to finish, the road was anything but easy. Networking and chance played a key role but it was not as easy as picking up the phone and calling. Even while they manage to find an expert, some masters have turn down the request for collaboration - all for different reasons. But those that agreed contributed to the success of Project Coalesce we know today.

Right from the start, YK worked with Chrono.Design to conceptualise the project (Made in Singapore for Singaporeans) and it was through the suggestion of Minxiang of Chrono.Design that the idea of using the Peranakan theme was born. What better way to showcase local culture than selecting the Peranakan theme. Peranakan or Straits-born Chinese have a rich heritage straddling both the Chinese and Malay culture and in earlier days, many such Peranakan homes were well decorated with elaborate tiles and ornaments. The idea struck and the timepieces were born.

How many parties were brought together to finalise the project you ask? No less than 8 different parties with the movement, case and hands coming from overseas suppliers and the rest are local source befitting of the term Made in Singapore!

The Overall Theme & Design

One person which contributed much to Project Coalesce is Minxiang from Chrono.Design. He is the first ever designer Feynman worked with and has been instrumental throughout the whole design process of Project Coalesce. The concept of Peranakan was actually suggested by him and he was part of the team which designed the watch dial.

The Dial

The Lotus

The centre of attraction is the dial - and the Peranakans are well known to use enamelled tiles for and in their homes. Richly coloured tea cups with intricate motifs adorn many Peranakan homes and many such ornaments are still in existence today. So the search for an enamelist began. Through an introduction, YK got to know Charlotte whose family makes specialised bespoke jewellery. Perhaps one of the few enamelists in Singapore, Charlotte has had several years of experience working with enamel and precious metals like gold and silver.

The Peony

While YK had some ideas of what he had wanted, the consultation with Charlotte went to and fro and the final product was somewhat vastly different from the initial impression. I will be posting a separate post on the journey of the enamelling and the challenges. But what I was told was that they had to go through 20 different dials to finally get to the final product we see today.

The Peacock

I asked Charlotte about the series and which dial was the most challenging one and her response was "Definitely Peacock!". I shall be doing an in-depth post on her enamelling and the journey from concept to actualisation.

The Strap

Leading the charge for the strap is Shuyi of Yi Leather. She worked with YK on the strap concept and how they could further enhance the strap. Beading was the answer. If you think the enamelling journey was difficult, finding someone who can do the beading on the strap was no walk in the park either. Initially having found a master, the discussion came to a dead end as the master does not want to work on watch straps. But all was not dead when he suggested they approach Peranakan Beadworks Maker Raymond Wong. As with the enamelling journey, I hope to be able to do a separate post on the excellent work of Shuyi and Mr. Wong on the beading on the strap and the strap making process. The details of the beadwork and that of the strap is very intricate and compliments well the watch dials.

The Watch Engineering

With the design firmly moving in the right direction, YK needed to find the right movement, case shape, hands etc. In comes Alvin Sim, Feynman resident watchmaker and engineer. First things first - deconstruct the whole into smaller parts and find the source that can be integrated into a whole package. Needless to say, Alvin and YK had to go through several trial and error to ensure the final product works, not just aesthetically but also functionally. When they managed to find a pinion, it could be too short and the hands would be pressing on the dial. Too long and the hands would brush on the top sapphire glass. Just on the pinion alone, they went through 8 iterations finally getting it right. Then came the hands - choosing the right material and hand type was critical as the weight of the hands would impact the power loss and amplitude. 4 iterations and 10 meetings later, they settled for titanium hands made by a supplier in Europe.

Case was coming from China and the movement was chosen as the Peseux 7001 (ETA) manual winding movement. Finished to a higher standard than the normal ETA ébauche, the 7001 was a nice fit for the project.

And if you ask why the crown was set at the 4 o’clock position, that’s in line with the Feynman range - their signature. That will be another post on why that is but in short, it has everything to do with the Golden ratio. Perhaps more of that in a separate post.

The Box and Tray

Not only did Feynman focus on the timepiece, they paid attention to the whole package including the box and the tray. Not only is the timepiece important, the whole embodiment of the entire package must be befitting the effort and telling a compelling story. YK had been a fan of the work of Wanyu (IG Deletrium), having seen her pictures she shot for Bovet. She actually had another client at the time when YK engaged her and it was a coincidence that the client was also dealing with Peranakan products. Wanyu took a leap of faith and took both their products and combined into a photoshoot. The results turned out very well and they decided that they should work together. That picture was subsequently published in "The Watch Annual 2022" magazine too.

The box and tray makers commissioned the work and chose the Marina Bay Skyline as the landscape on the box. But what made it even more special was sourcing the talent from the Pathlight School. Pathlight, as some of you may know, is a school for special needs persons and the school’s Artist Development Programme (ADP) brought forth talent like Glenn Phua who also won the F1-UBS Art competition. The makers commissioned Glenn to draw the skyline of Singapore which appears on the box.

Having spoken with YK, Shuyi and Charlotte about the project, I have just begun to understand the challenges and pain that they have gone through to make Project Coalesce a success. For now, I enjoy the set with my wife and look forward to the next project from Feynman Timekeepers.