Romain Gauthier - Logical One
In 2013, Romain Gauthier released the Logical One, which in his belief was his first complicated wristwatch, with a caliber built to the highest level of attention to detail. He was proved right when it went on to win the prestigious Grand Prix d’Horlogerie award for the best complicated men's watch of 2013.
The award winning timepiece that also happens to be my personal favourite is best known for its constant force escapement mechanism. I have written on this escapement with examples from F.P.Journe's Remontoir D'Egalite and Girard-Perregaux's Constant Force Escapement L.M.
Girard-Perregaux Constant Escapement L.M. and F.P.Journe's Remontoir D'Egalite
To better understand why this timepiece is so highly regarded, one must first understand the challenges of delivering constant force through a watch. In traditional watchmaking, the accuracy of a watch is compromised as the power stored in the mainspring barrel reduces. This has been a challenge for watchmakers for centuries. The constant force mechanism in a high-end mechanical timepiece enables it to deliver a consistent amount of power from the mainspring barrel to the escapement irrespective of whether the barrel is fully wound or is unwound and low on power.
Romain Gauthier designed the Logical One by modifying the concept of the centuries old fusée and chain escapement found in pocket watches. Invented in the 15th century, the fusée and chain arrangement consists of a chain wound around a cone shaped pulley linked to the mainspring barrel. As the mainspring unwinds, the chain unwraps itself from the cone and wraps itself around the mainspring barrel.
Video Credit: Tommy Jobson
The diminishing power in the mainspring barrel is compensated by the increasing circumference of the chain around the cone. When the power stored in the mainspring barrel is at its lowest, the chain is unwinding from the widest point of the cone, in a system akin to bicycle gearing. This provides constant torque to the escapement at a time when the barrel can only provide diminished power.
The Logical One watch replaces the traditional fusée or cone with its own rotating snail cam. Assembly of its chain is an extremely painstaking and time consuming process and can only be performed by a handful of highly skilled watchmakers. Twenty-seven ruby rollers are inserted in between the multi-level links of the chain. These help reduce friction. To reduce friction in the movement, the mainspring barrel is housed in between two synthetic sapphire plates.
The entire constant force mechanism in the Logical One is beautifully displayed on the left side of the dial and can be seen through the face of the watch. Looking in, the workmanship seen in the hand beveling, polishing, straight and circular graining as well as hand frosting are of the highest degree of perfection by highly-skilled.
Another distinctive design detail, is that the bridges of the Logical One have a unique rounded bevel finish to them. The work is done by hand, first using a steel file to buff out imperfections, followed by the use of a woody stem from a plant that Gauthier hand picks and collects himself from source.
Some bridges take over twenty hours to hand finish while the entire movement may take up to ninety! Diamond coated bridges contribute to the stunning polish finish that you see in the Logical One.
The push button winding system in the Logical One as opposed to the traditional crown is a feature that needs to be mentioned. The pusher located on the left side of the case and pressing it repeatedly stores power builds the mainspring. The action of this mechanism is a pleasure to behold. The crown at two o'clock sets the time.
On close observation of the multi-level construction of the watch, you notice different sections, some with light and others with darker tones resulting from contrasting finishes applied on different components of the movement. A mix of both traditional and contemporary design blend together in beautiful harmony to give the Logical One it's overwhelmingly stunning appearance.
As the steel hands marking hours, minutes and seconds traverse two enamel dials of the watch, their colours play off each other to add to the allure of this elegant timepiece. The in-house winding movement has a 46-hour power reserve and a balance that beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour (vph). It is made up of 359 parts, of which 63 are jewels. One may argue as to why a watch that only tells time should be priced as high as a hundred thousand Swiss francs! Hopefully, this question has been answered in the detailed explosion above of how this masterpiece is created.
Independent watchmakers are like beacons of light in a world dominated by mass production. Watchmakers like George Daniels, François Paul Journe, Philippe Dufour, Roger W. Smith and Romain Gauthier lead from the front. Romain Gauthier represents all that is good in the world of watchmaking. His timepieces resonate with an ideology of creating meticulously hand finished and extremely accurate movements. Here's hoping time stands still for him while his watches tick on to infinity.
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