When it comes to establishing a memorable brand ethos, Chronoswiss have never had an issue. Their innovative, dreamlike impulses have enchanted luxury watch collectors all over the world, whether that be with their rare use of colour, hand guilloche patterns or their famous regulator complication. Today, we got our hands on one of their latest releases, the Chronoswiss Flying Regulator Open Gear Purple Haze watch, to see what all the fuss was about.
Before we dive straight into the details of the new Chronoswiss Flying Regulator Open Gear Purple Haze Limited Edition, let’s first turn back the clocks to 1983, to when Chronoswiss was first founded. The company, still relatively new in an industry of century-old manufacturers, was founded by Gerd-Rüdiger Lang who wanted to bring closer attention to the fascination of timekeeping mechanisms. One mechanism which quickly became the brand’s flagship design was the regulator, or as Chronoswiss calls it, The Régulateur. In 1988, the Swiss watch brand debuted the world’s first serially manufactured wristwatch with a regulator display. What’s a regulator watch? It’s a timepiece with a dial separating the minutes, seconds and hours, rather than them being all positioned at the centre. The layout had been done before on pre-atomic clocks such as marine chronometers and radio broadcasting timekeepers, but never before on a wristwatch.
Today, the Chronoswiss Regulator is the brand’s crown jewel with the collection hosting some of their best-selling designs. Over the years, the regulator display has been seen in some colourful liveries from blue, to orange, yellow and red. Two of our favourites includes the Chronoswiss Open Gear ReSec Limited Edition nicknamed “Chocolate” for its dark brown case and chilli-red varnished dial and last year’s Watches & Wonders star, the Chronoswiss Flying Regulator Open Gear Pink Panther which as its name suggests debuted a pink guilloche dial. Now the design meets a new shade of colour with the Chronoswiss Flying Regulator Open Gear Purple Haze delivered in a hue of deep purple.
Drawing all eyes to its centrepiece, the Chronoswiss Flying Regulator Open Gear Purple Haze watch features an unmissable purple hand guilloched dial which has been created entirely in-house by the Swiss manufacturer. Maik Panziera, Head Designer of Chronoswiss, creates each of these inimitable lines by hand in the Lucerne Atelier using a 100-year-old machine. Although it may sound simple, the process of this is challenging with the 60 individual lines just a mere 0.275mm apart.
While the bottom level of the dial is hand-guilloched with a purple CVD coating, the upper presents screwed on skeletonised wheel bridges and funnel like constructions for the hours and seconds display. The former is positioned at 12 o’clock and the latter directly beneath at 6 o’clock. Both are equipped with Trigono-shaped lacquered hands, just like that of the large minutes hand at the centre of the dial, fitted with Superluminova inlays and tips.
Powering the regulator display of the Chronoswiss Flying Regulator Open Gear Purple Haze watch is the Chronoswiss Calibre C.299, an automatic winding mechanism equipped with 31 jewels, a Glucydur balance, Nivarox 1 balance spring and Incabloc shock protection for ultimate resilience and reliability. We’re also promised a frequency of 28,800 semi-oscillations per hour, a power reserve of 42 hours and a stunning skeletonised rotor exhibited through the glass case back. Just like the dial, the rotor is CVD coated in purple and finished with Cotes de Geneve decoration.
As for the case of the Chronoswiss Flying Regulator Open Gear Purple Haze Limited Edition, you can expect much of the same spec as previous regulator pieces in the collection including a solid 16-piece case engineered from stainless steel with a diameter of 41mm and a height of 12.7mm. To match with the rest of the aesthetic, the case is treated to a purple DLC coating with a combination of satin-finished and polished surfaces. On top, the case features non-reflecting sapphire crystal which alongside the screw in onion-style crown and screw down case back ensures a 100 metre water resistant rating. Completing the Chronoswiss Flying Regulator Open Gear Purple Haze watch is a plain black Cordura textile strap and a folding buckle.
If you’d like to learn more about the Chronoswiss Flying Regulator Open Gear Purple Haze watch and get your hands on one of the 50 limited edition pieces, head over to the Jura Watches website here. Alternatively, get in touch with the team by calling 01335 453453 or send us a message at help@jurawatches.co.uk.
