From JustLuxe content partner iW Magazine
Chronoswiss deftly adds a guilloché spiraling leaf pattern to one of its best sellers, creating the eye-catching Open Gear ReSec Jungle.
The 44mm watch, with the familiar Chronoswiss multi-layer regulator dial, knurled bezel, and onion crown, features a separate hour hand and a prominent central minute hand.
Named for its premier function (ReSec stands for Retrograde Seconds), the watch’s jumping seconds hand along the lower half of the dial operates in a half-circle, leaping from the thirty seconds position back to start its arc to complete counting each minute.
For this new limited edition of fifty pieces, Chronoswiss coats handcrafted wavy guilloche with a green chemical vapor deposition. The combination creates a color-changing effect that appears much deeper than it is.
“The wavy, moiré pattern on this timepiece is emotionally inspired by what you would see in that situation, its vivid colors changing seamlessly from racing green to silver-blue and shadowy black,” says Chronoswiss owner and director Oliver Ebstein.
He explains that Chronoswiss artisans create the watch’s distinctive multi-layer effect by stacking the dial within black galvanized bridges, subdials, and skeletonized gear train wheels – all framed by an internal (luminescent) marker track.
“With many patterns, you can create 4–5 waves by simply changing the diameter with a switch, explains Chronoswiss designer Maik Panziera. “But with the palm leaf-inspired moiré pattern it’s a different story.”
He adds that the brass wheels that guide the movement of the machine must be changed after each wave is cut.
“But it is worth it – in the end, you have such a great pattern that you cannot compare with CNC-made products. To produce guilloché by hand really excites me because it gives every watch an individual soul,” he adds.
Chronoswiss powers its 44mm Open Gear ReSec Jungle with the automatic Chronoswiss Caliber C. 301. Price: $9,700