Comparison is often said to be the thief of joy, but the numerous attributes of the Patek Philippe Nautilus ref. 5610P and Vacheron Constantin Overseas Self-Winding Ultra-Thin ref. 2500v are arguably best understood in a side-by-side format. The watches are extraordinarily similar — each watch features a platinum case and bracelet, a slim micro-rotor automatic movement, and a rare two-hand, no-date configuration.

Beyond their tangible similarities, both watches are limited editions priced within 7% of one another, and were launched to mark milestone anniversaries of their respective collections.

Initial thoughts

Rarely do rival brands treat collectors to such a perfect match-up. Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin could hardly have done more to go toe-to-toe, and have unexpectedly made 2026 the golden age of the platinum sports watch.

The original Patek Philippe Nautilus from 1976 was provocative precisely because it was made in steel at a time when ‘high-end’ still meant precious metal. Five decades later, the steel sports watch trend has arguably peaked, making the stealthy platinum ref. 5610P a fitting tribute. It captures the look of the original without diluting its legacy with yet another steel variant.

While Vacheron Constantin has dabbled in steel sports watches since as far back as 1977 with the 222, the Overseas collection only debuted in 1996. Now in its third generation, the Overseas has evolved into a substantive rival to both the Patek Philippe Nautilus and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak.

The new ref. 2500V is the first Overseas to feature a platinum case and bracelet, and serves as the launch platform for the all-new micro-rotor calibre 2550 that appears destined for service across the brand’s collections.

Naturally, the watches differ mainly in design and colour. The Nautilus sticks closely to the look of the original 1976 ref. 3700, with its signature Gerald Genta design and horizontally grooved navy blue dial. The Overseas, on the other hand, pairs its platinum case with a copper-hued salmon dial.

I prefer the earlier ref. 2000V’s more subtle sunburst grey dial, but copper pink is a popular colourway — especially when paired with platinum — and helps create more aesthetic distance between itself and the Nautilus.

Both watches should prove widely appealing given their high-end construction, premium materials, and aesthetic versatility, to say nothing of the collector hype that still surrounds both collections. For collectors who can’t get both, the choice between them may well rest as much on access as personal taste, as demand will surely outstrip supply.

In this duel, Vacheron Constantin finds itself in the unusual position of being priced slightly higher than its rival. The 7% premium is arguably justified by the greater limitation — just 255 pieces of the ref. 2500V will be produced, while Patek Philippe has pledged to make 2,000 pieces of the ref. 5610P. Of course, six figures is a lot of money for a time-only watch from a major brand, but the market will surely bear it.

Understanding their place in history

The Nautilus ref. 5610P was introduced to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original Nautilus ref. 3700 in 1976. The two-hand format, sans running seconds, results in a slim hand stack that goes a long way toward capturing the spirit of the original — magic that subsequent references with central seconds hands arguably failed to achieve.

The lack of a date indicator is a welcome surprise, making it the first two-hand Nautilus — alongside the 41 mm ref. 5810G — to delete the date. While it’s tempting to think this is a nod to contemporary collector preferences, it likely has more to do with the characteristics of the cal. 240, which has never been configured with a date ring and instead has always indicated the date with a pointer on a sub-dial, if at all.

Like all platinum watches from Patek Philippe, the Nautilus ref. 5610P denotes the material with a discreet diamond, in this case placed at nine o’clock.

The use of the cal. 240 rather than a thicker central seconds movement like the cal. 26-330 was critical to achieving — even exceeding — the elegant proportions of the original ref. 3700. With a diameter of just 38 mm and a case height of just 6.9 mm, the ref. 5610P is roughly the same diameter (when measured corner to corner) and about 0.6 mm thinner than its historical predecessor.

In contrast, the Overseas ref. 2500V calls back to a more recent moment, though it is itself an anniversary edition of sorts, debuting 30 years after the launch of the Overseas collection and 10 years after the first Ultra-Thin ref. 2000V.

The white gold ref. 2000V was not a limited edition, but it was produced in small enough numbers that it remains sought-after and trades well above its original retail price. At just 7.5 mm thick, it was the thinnest Overseas ever made, and cut an elegant profile on the wrist.

The ref. 2000V was powered by the cal. 1120, based on the same Jaeger-LeCoultre cal. 920 ebauche Patek Philippe used to create the cal. 28-255C in the original Nautilus. This platform was used briefly by Patek Philippe, but it remained in Audemars Piguet’s collection for 50 years and continues to power some of Vacheron Constantin’s perpetual calendars, and is still the thinnest full-rotor automatic movement in production.

But its days are numbered. Audemars Piguet — which has produced the movement since 2000 — recently replaced it with the more industrial cal. 7121, and the debut of Vacheron Constantin’s cal. 2550 is another nail in its coffin.

The new ref. 2500V builds on the legacy of the ref. 2000V, trimming the diameter from 40 mm to 39.5 mm and reducing the thickness by 0.15 mm thanks to its slightly thinner micro-rotor calibre. It retains its predecessor’s two-handed configuration and lacks a date, giving the dial a degree of discretion typically reserved for dress watches.

Battle of the bracelets

The bracelets of both watches are arguably class-leading in their own respective ways. The iconic Nautilus bracelet was penned by Gerald Genta, and I think it’s fair to say the design has aged like a fine wine. The tapered, almost organic-looking H-link design has become synonymous with the Nautilus and Patek Philippe in general, though it’s been widely copied. The smooth, pebble-like links are soft against the skin, and slide easily under a shirt sleeve without snagging.

The Nautilus bracelet’s iconic status is partly due to its familiarity — it’s been a feature of the fine watchmaking landscape for much of living memory. But the design itself is universal — had history taken a different course, we might associate it with a different brand. In contrast, the Overseas bracelet design is something that only Vacheron Constantin could make, distinguished by its recurring Maltese cross motif up and down the tapered links, matching the bezel.

The bracelet of the Overseas is slightly thicker than that of its rival, though both bracelets feel similarly proportional to their respective case thicknesses. But it feels entirely different owing to the limited articulation of its links, which give the bracelet a sturdy, cuff-like feel. In contrast, the Nautilus bracelet feels more supple, and drapes on the wrist more like a piece of jewellery.

Both bracelets are well-matched in another respect, which is the approach to micro-adjustment. Though the implementation is slightly different between the Nautilus and the Overseas, both bracelets enable the wearer to easily extend the bracelet on each side of the clasp to accommodate swelling when the weather turns warm.

This is a welcome ergonomic detail expected by many contemporary collectors, but this feature is rarely executed with such elegance. For example, the adjustable clasp of the Odysseus from A. Lange & Söhne is a bulkier design that wears its functionality on its sleeve — quite literally — in the form of an obvious adjustment button. In contrast, the discreet extension functionality on the Nautilus and Overseas is not immediately obvious.

Of course, for those who prefer the option of wearing a watch on a strap, the Overseas offers the benefit of interchangeable leather and rubber straps that can be swapped in seconds without tools, and without the risk of scratching either the case or bracelet. This functionality makes the Overseas a bit more versatile, especially for those who might grow tired of the intimidating heft of the platinum bracelet.

For collectors focused on preserving like-new condition, the ability to wear the watch on a strap — and keep the bracelet out of harm’s way — makes the Overseas arguably more suited to daily wear.

That’s true in another respect as well, since the 950 platinum case of the Overseas is alloyed with copper and gallium rather than ruthenium. According to Vacheron Constantin, this composition makes the case and bracelet 2.7 times more scratch resistant than ordinary 950 platinum.

Micro-rotor match up

While the Patek Philippe cal. 240 is a familiar face, the cal. 2550 powering the Overseas is a completely new construction. Its contemporary make is evident in its dimensions — its 30.6 mm diameter is sized for larger modern watches, while the cal. 240’s versatile 27.6 mm diameter is a reflection of its era, having been developed in the 1970s. Though larger in diameter, the cal. 2550’s 2.4 mm height makes it is a hair thinner than its cross-town counterpart, though the 0.13 mm difference is trivial.

The cal. 2550 looks more modern on paper as well thanks to its lengthy 80-hour power reserve — almost an eternity for such a slim construction. The twin stacked mainspring barrels unwind in series — a configuration reminiscent of the Chopard cal. 1.96. The Patek Philippe cal. 240’s single mainspring barrel offers 45 hours of autonomy, a figure considered ample when the movement debuted, and one that is still adequate for daily wear.

The oscillators in both movements are free-sprung, with flat hairsprings mounted to Geneva-style stud carriers. Each is adjusted with two pairs of inertia blocks, and the regulating organs could hardly be more well-matched.

Interestingly, the cal. 240 found in the Nautilus is arguably more technically advanced than its more modern counterpart thanks to Patek Philippe’s active role in championing the development of silicon components over the past two decades. As a result, the 20th-century calibre has a distinctly 21st-century silicon hairspring, which helps this historical movement deliver state-of-the-art performance of -1/+2 seconds per day.

While Vacheron Constantin’s cal. 2550 should easily eclipse the threshold for the Geneva Seal of +/- 1 minute per week, Patek Philippe does not get enough credit for pushing the bounds of performance. That the brand can squeeze this kind of timekeeping from a nearly 50 year-old platform running at 3 Hz is quite the achievement, and demonstrates the tangible advantages of silicon hairsprings.

The case-matched platinum micro-rotor in the Overseas’ cal. 2550 is a thoughtful detail, and offers the benefit of slightly more mass relative to the 22k gold micro-rotor in the Nautilus’ cal. 240. That said, 2026 is the latter’s golden jubilee, so the choice to stick with the standard yellow gold rotor is rather poetic.

Both rotors are mounted in ceramic ball bearing races, though only the cal. 2550 winds in both directions. This implies greater efficiency, though the topic remains disputed and depends on numerous factors. As a point of reference, F.P. Journe is an example of a brand that has abandoned bidirectional winding in favour of unidirectional winding for the sake of winding efficiency.

If I could change one thing about the 50th anniversary treatment applied to the cal. 240, it would be the overly simple choice of font for the engraving on the rotor. In the brand’s marketing materials, Patek Philippe uses a stylised ‘0’ in the ’50’ shaped like the Nautilus case — such a detail would have elevated the anniversary engraving.

One critical difference between the two calibres in the layout of the gear train. The cal. 240 was developed primarily as an ultra-thin base calibre for Patek Philippe’s perpetual calendar modules, so the position of the fourth wheel — and hence the running seconds — seems not to have been a key priority. As a result, the movement features a natural running seconds at the unusual four o’clock position when thus equipped, which limits the movement’s versatility.

On the other hand, the Vacheron Constantin cal. 2550 positions the fourth wheel at the six o’clock position, suggesting it was purpose-built to accommodate a small-seconds configuration.

In terms of finishing, both calibres are a credit to their makers. Both Geneva-made movements express their native terroir with Cote de Geneve, and feature rounded bevels polished well enough to reflect their surroundings. While both brands utilise industrial techniques to produce, and party to finish, these movements, the finishing touches are applied by hand.

For movements developed nearly half a century apart, the cal. 2550 and cal. 240 are surprisingly well matched. Both movements reflect the market preferences of their respective eras, both in terms of size and trade-offs between autonomy and torque. More importantly, both movements embody the best traits of traditional Genevan fine watchmaking, being slim, well-finished inside and out, and technically competent.

Closing thoughts

It’s not necessary to declare a winner in a well-balanced match-up like this. The Nautilus leans into nostalgia with its original 1970s design and supple bracelet, but manages to stay technically relevant thanks to its silicon hairspring-equipped cal. 240. The Overseas feels more contemporary, with its round dial, popular salmon-hued colourway, longer power reserve, and interchangeable bracelet system.

They are more defined by what they have in common, being the slimmest variants yet in their respective collections — this obvious commitment to on-wrist elegance transcends the norms of the ‘sports watch’ category and makes them appealing alternatives to some dress watches. Visually, both watches possess the easy-wearing subtlety of steel, but on the wrist they offer the commanding heft that only platinum can provide.

Key facts and price

Patek Philippe Nautilus 50th Anniversary
Ref. 5610/1P-001

Diameter: 38 mm
Height: 6.9 mm
Material: Platinum 950
Crystal: Sapphire
Water resistance: 30 m

Movement: Cal. 240
Functions: Hours and minutes
Frequency: 21,600 BPH (3 Hz)
Winding: Automatic
Power reserve: 45 hours

Strap: Matching bracelet

Limited edition: Yes, 2,000 pieces
Availability: At Patek Philippe retailers and boutiques
Price: US$112,529 excluding taxes

For more, visit Patek.com.

Vacheron Constantin Overseas Self-Winding Ultra-Thin
Ref. 2500V/220P-H028

Diameter: 39.5 mm
Height: 7.35 mm
Material: Platinum 950
Crystal: Sapphire
Water resistance: 50 m

Movement: Cal. 2550
Functions: Hours and minutes
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 21,600 beats per hour (3 Hz)
Power reserve: 80 hours

Strap: Matching bracelet with interchangeable rubber and leather straps with folding clasp

Limited edition: Yes, 255 pieces
Availability: At Vacheron Constantin boutiques
Price: US$120,000 excluding taxes

For more, visit vacheronconstantin.com.

Accomplished movement constructor Dominique Renaud makes a compelling return with the Pulse 60, a slow-beating timepiece featuring a 1 Hz oscillator. An important name in the post-quartz era, Mr Renaud has recently re-emerged alongside Julien Tixier under the Renaud Tixier brand. The Pulse 60 marks his first signed watch in nearly a decade — following the million-dollar DR01 Twelve First, which resulted in a single unique piece.

Initial thoughts

When speaking today of advancing the theory and practice of horology, the conversation usually centres around cutting-edge materials, novel tribology research or reimagined complications. The Dominique Renaud (DR) Pulse 60 contradicts this trend and instead goes back in time to put a new spin on an old idea. 

The slow beating 1 Hz Pulse 60 bets on classic chronometry, when heavy balances paired to slow and steady running rates were the champions of precision. Going one step further, DR slowed the oscillator to 1 Hz — or just one oscillation per second. In the era of ever-higher frequencies, the counterintuitive choice seems at first like a deliberate act of self-sabotage. 

But after analysing the novel movement in the Pulse 60, it’s my opinion that it should prove to be a reliable timekeeper, and more than just a proof of concept. After Antoine Martin’s ill-fated Slow Runner, DR has produced a fully functioning 1 Hz timepiece by employing a smaller balance and — crucially — raising the amplitude ceiling to over 360°.

As a timepiece, the Pulse 60 is a successful exercise in avant-garde design. Proper sizing and light construction make the Pulse 60 a wearable watch. Surely it won’t slide too easily under the metaphorical cuff, but thankfully it won’t look excessive either. Although not as visually engaging as a lightning seconds hand or a fast-turning tourbillon, the large 1 Hz balance still holds lots of hypnotising charm.

Priced at just under CHF50,000 in its basic configuration, the Pulse 60 is priced reasonably by the standards of low-volume watches with novel escapements. The visual effect of the massive balance is unique, and distinguishes the watch from a field crowded with simple, well-finished time-only watches.

A humble hyper watch

The Pulse 60 is fashioned with a certain industrial-futuristic look in mind. The case doesn’t follow the usual format and instead has a pod-like structure, with the integrated shrouded lugs screwed laterally. The lug connectors are a proprietary design, and are both easy to use and feel quite sturdy. That said, when small independents opt for integrated bracelets or proprietary straps, there is always the fear of a lack of strap options should the product be discontinued.

The Pulse 60 comes with an assortment of colourful high-quality rubber straps — the ability to easily swap between them should appeal to a wide range of tastes. The soft, supple feel of the rubber straps and the sturdy, click-heavy action of the strap connector reminds me of the Apple Watch — which is a compliment. 

The case is made from brushed titanium, but can also be delivered in a bi-colour configuration with 18K rose gold lugs. At 40 mm in diameter, the Pulse 60 wears well, in part due to its lugless design.

The unpretentious case and the lack of a proper bezel effectively guide the eye toward the broad dial. The 1 Hz balance feels slow by contemporary standards, but the decelerated motion allows the onlooker to follow the full swing of the oscillator, lending it a more human scale and an intimate sense of dynamism.

The large balance measures 20 mm in diameter — exactly half of diameter of the cased watch. The entire movement is just 33 mm in diameter, so the balance is positioned on the dial side of the mainplate, free from typical constraints on size — namely the position of the centre wheel pinion.

The hours and minutes can be read on a sub dial at 12 o’clock, which is flanked by two other indications. The balance is so large that it extends and oscillates under each of these dials, which display the running seconds and the level of remaining torque.

The torque indicator is an unusual choice compared to the more-common power reserve indicator. A normal power reserve indicator only displays the number of developing turns left in the mainspring barrel; a torque indicator actively measures and shows the available torque strength. This is why when the Pulse 60 is wound, the torque indicator instantly shoots towards the maximum position, then settles back for the true reading. 

Although they are uncommon, we’ve seen these sort of “dynamographs” before, notably in the Audemars Piguet Concept Watch 1 and some early watches from Richard Mille. Given the rarity of the complication, it’s not surprising that in both of these cases the movements were developed by Renaud & Papi. The choice of a torque gauge is a deliberate nod to Mr Renaud’s storied career. 

The movement is rated to run at 96 hours from a single barrel. By having a real-time gauge of the available torque, the wearer will probably be tempted to wind the Pulse 60 more often, as to always keep the torque level in the green.

The seconds hand is an unusual sight as well, since it jumps just twice per second. A 1 Hz balance completes two vibrations every second, or 7,200 beats per hour. With every vibration, the escapement is unlocked and advances, thus making the seconds hand jump twice every second. Visually, the look is similar to that of a deadbeat seconds, just with smaller, quicker steps.

Inside the small seconds sub-dial sits the pin curb regulator for the long hairspring. Although it looks like a pinning point at first, the long hairspring is pinned somewhere under the main dial. The regulator can move laterally, with its radius of gyration centred on the balance staff — so it behaves like a classic pin regulator affixed to the balance bridge.

The component is well-thought, with an eccentric screw fine adjustment system and two large clamping screws to keep it securely in place. The small seconds hand peers through the regulator, another creative construction choice made to accommodate the particular size of the balance wheel. 

Though the balance is not fully free-sprung, it features four timing weights on its rim. Their purpose is presumably for poising and gross regulation, while the curb-pin regulator is likely used for the final adjustments after the movement is assembled. DR is still perfecting the rate-testing protocols for the Pulse 60, since regular sound-based timing machines are as-yet incompatible with this construction. 

Proper finishings

Turning the watch over, the caseback offers a good view of the movement itself. Apart from the openworked escapement region, most of the movement is concealed under two large straight-grained bridges. 

The crown wheel assembly is on full display, along with a sector of the barrel click wheel. Compared to the revealing front of the Pulse 60, the back is relatively dull. Brushed surfaces dominate the view, complemented by a few highly polished steel parts.

Notably, the escapement bridge is a long piece of polished and beveled steel, which anchors the balance assembly, escapement and seconds wheel. The bridge design has drawn some comparison with a similar remontoir bridge used in the Lange Zeitwerk’s cal. L043.6 . In truth, both architectures allow a generous view of the mechanics underneath.

The Pulse 60 movement also uses proprietary screw-heads — which is no small feat coming from a small independent like DR. There are two types of screw heads employed — one with two slots and another with four slots.

A question of stability

Having considered the design of the watch, it’s worth a detailed look at its starring attraction — the 1 Hz oscillator. In terms of mechanism design balancing taxonomy, the hairspring-balance model is filed under force-balanced assemblies. This means the system’s linear momentum is null and the center of mass of the system remains stationary. A propriety of forced balanced mechanisms is that they remain insensitive to linear accelerations in any direction. 

In more practical watch-related terms it means that a watch balance will beat the same, regardless of how fast and in which direction the watch is linearly accelerated — considering changes in pivot point friction negligible. The sprung balance model (Figure I) is however not inertially balanced, which makes it sensitive to certain outside angular accelerations. 

Figure I. Simplified model of a sprung balance wheel.

So in practice, any shakes and arm rotations can add a bias to the balance’s beat, disrupting its accuracy. The best way to counter — or at least minimise — these effects is to make sure the balance carries a healthy amount of angular momentum, such that it is harder for outside angular accelerations to disrupt its run.

The industry has now mostly settled for fast-beating 4 Hz light balances, which have proven to perform well on a large scale. The Pulse 60 asks the question, how stable can a 1 Hz balance be? We can attempt a comparison using some basic theory. 

The large balance found in the Pulse 60 has a 20 mm diameter. Any standard ETA/Sellita 4 Hz movement has a balance between 9-10 mm in diameter. Given the geometry of the balance, we can cautiously assume that the mass of the Pulse 60’s balance is at least twice that of a regular balance m.

By applying the simplified moment of inertia formula (Figure II, row 2, mass times the radius squared) we immediately get that the Pulse 60’s moment of inertia is almost ten times that of a regular 4 Hz balance.

Figure II. Angular momentum expression derivation.

Since stability is directly related to the angular momentum L (Figure II, row 1) rather than just to the balance inertia value, let’s take a look at that formula too. Angular momentum is the product of balance inertia (which is constant) and angular velocity (which oscillates between a maximum and a minimum along with the balance).

The expression of angular velocity (Figure II, row 3) is the angular position derived over time. We have covered oscillators before and we won’t go into deeper detail now regarding the theory behind these expressions. 

For easier understanding, we’ll focus on the absolute value of the computed angular momentum (Figure II, row 4). Being a vector quantity, the sign of angular momentum serves only to point to a change in direction, not magnitude. The absolute value of the sine function goes from zero to one.

Finally, we see how the angular momentum of the balance goes from zero to a maximum (maximum expression in Figure III, last row), as the balance oscillates. This quantity only reaches zero when the balance momentary stops at the end of one swing, before changing directions. We also see how the final angular momentum expression is also dependent on the amplitude of oscillation A (maximum angular displacement of the balance wheel from the equilibrium point). 

The optimal running amplitude for modern watches is over 270°, although movements in good shape can get nearer to 300°. Anything over 310° becomes perilous for the escapement, as the balance wheel might run into over-banking. The phenomenon happens when the oscillation arc is too large and the impulse pin on the roller knocks against the outside of the locked escape lever. This greatly upsets the oscillation and can harm the components. 

Figure III. Angular momentum comparison.

The Pulse 60’s construction allows the balance to turn over 360°, since the special architecture of the escapement doesn’t impose any physical blocks. Dominique Renaud claims the system can theoretically reach over 700° in amplitude, but the pieces we examined were running closer to about 400° over one vibration.

Keeping m an unknown constant, we plug these values into the angular momentum equation. Not knowing m in this instance doesn’t affect the end result. Finally, we get that the Pulse 60’s balance maximum angular momentum is about 3.5 times higher than a standard 4 Hz balance (Figure II, last row). 

This is not to say the larger balance is necessarily three and a half times more stabile than its lighter, 4 Hz counterpart. The relationship however points toward a significantly larger resistance to the effects of outside acceleration. This should be enough to assure sceptics that the Pulse 60 is indeed a wearable proof-of-concept timepiece. 

Concluding thoughts on construction

A few more points on this special construction. In order to be able to exceed 360° in amplitude, the large balance is separated from the impulse roller and jewel. The impulse roller is geared to the balance and the broad Swiss lever anchor “hugs” around the balance pivot. The light escape wheel and lever are manufactured using LIGA, which allows them to have a light and intricate construction. 

The meshing ratio between the balance and roller reduces the amount of angular travel the roller has to do over one oscillation. So although the balance turns over 360°, the roller’s travel stays inside the  270°-300° range, without risking any over-banking. A similar separation of the roller from the balance can be found in Konstantin Chaykin’s ThinKing. 

Also since the total oscillation arc is so large, the disrupting interaction with the escapement is minimised over a full oscillation. This lets the balance run its course more freely, closing the gap between the real-life system and the ideal harmonic oscillator model. 

Purists might object to the lack of a Breguet overcoil in the Pulse 60. An argument can be made that due to the increased size of the hairspring, any defects resulting from its uneven breathing are multiplied. While this might be true, applying classic overcoil theory to a hairspring with these proportions might not really work, so it is perhaps better that DR left such experiments aside for now.

Key facts and price

Dominique Renaud Pulse 60

Diameter: 40 mm
Height: 12 mm
Material: Titanium or titanium and 18k pink gold
Crystal: Sapphire
Water resistance: 30 m

Movement: Pulse 60
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, and torque indicator
Winding: Manual wind
Frequency: 7,200 beats per hour (1 Hz)
Power reserve: 96 hours

Strap: Interchangeable rubber strap

Limited edition: No
Availability: Available for pre-order through Dominique Renaud retailers
Price: CHF49,000 (titanium) or CHF59,000 (titanium and 18k rose gold) excluding taxes

For more, visit dominiquerenaud.com.

Shin Ohno is the winner of the 12th F.P. Journe Young Talent Competition. The young Japanese watchmaker clinched the prize with the Fuyu-Geshiki, a small grande et petite sonnerie tourbillon clock inspired by the winter landscape of Nagano, a northern prefecture of Japan. Made by one man with a watchmaker’s lathe, desktop CNC mill, and not a lot of sleep, the ebony-cased timepiece is one of the most impressive works produced by the competition yet.

From Nagano

Mr Ohno describes Nagano as “defined by the purity of its air, by the flow of spring water, and by melting snow”. It is also the heart of Japan’s watch industry, boasting the country’s largest movement assembly plant (Citizen’s Saku plant) and is home to Mr Ohno’s employer — Seiko Epson.

Specifically, Mr Ohno works as an engineer within the company’s watch division, but it should be noted that this timepiece is entirely unrelated to the (now discontinued) Credor Spring Drive Sonnerie and Credor Minute Repeater. Mr Ohno designed the movement from the ground up, citing the creative works of past winner Norifumi Seki and Masahiro Kikuno as key inspirations.

A closer look at the tourbillon cage. The teeth are polished to catch the light like slick stones.

While he learned how to design watch parts at his day job, it was someone else’s job to manufacture them. With the Fuyu-Geshiki, Mr Ohno had to master production as well as design. He cites his colleague, master watchmaker Ikukiyo Komatsu, as a mentor, but also attended local training programmes, cold called instructors, and even turned to YouTube to learn all the skills required.

Remarkably, Mr Ohno managed to design and realise the timepiece in only 11 months while working full time. “I woke up at 5 a.m. to work on it for two hours before going to the office, then returned to my bench from 7 p.m. until midnight every evening. All of my weekends were devoted to it as well.”

A striking start

The Fuyu-Geshiki is a clock by the traditional definition, meaning it strikes the time on each quarter hour. In grande sonnerie mode, as the French call it, it strikes the hours and quarters on each quarter. It also has a petite sonnerie mode which suppresses the hour strikes except on the new hour. Additionally, it can repeat the current quarters on its piano-wire gongs on command by depressing the crown.

The Fuyu-Geshiki’s finely adjusted and decorated movement demonstrates Mr Ohno’s skills as both an engineer and a watchmaker. The striking mechanism is modular to aid in adjustment, and automatically silences itself when the strike barrel is exhausted to prevent the watch from jamming.

The movement and strike works separated.

Equally telling is Mr Ohno’s gift as a designer — his ability to marry technical ambition with genuine beauty. The decision to model the movement after a rocky stream was inspired, and the execution rises to meet it. If the project has a flaw, it may simply be the standard it sets: with Mr Ohno now committed to independent watchmaking full time, the bar for what comes next sits remarkably high.

We congratulate Mr Ohno and look forward to what he has in store next.