Hands-on with the Chronoswiss Open Gear Flying Tourbillon Meteorit Watch
Friday - 08 July 2022
Chronoswiss releases a new Open Gear Flying Tourbillon watch with a stunning meteorite-inspired grey handmade guilloche base dial, adorned with vivid electric blue elements for precise timekeeping
It used to be considered a thing of the past – a regulator-style master clock, where the minute hand would take centre stage on the main dial and hour-keeping was more of an afterthought, consigned to a smaller off-centre display to ensure precision timekeeping and efficiency when glancing at the time. Today, Chronoswiss is one of few luxury watch manufacturers to keep this method of timekeeping alive and certainly the only brand to do it in such a unique and edgy way. Chronoswiss regulator watches are eye-catching, bold and mechanical-looking. Whilst the Flying Tourbillon watches of the Chronoswiss Open Gear watch collection reveal the depth and complexity of the internal workings of the watch, there is also something incredibly raw, honest and simple about revealing the beating heart of a watch through a skeletonised arrangement.
Chronoswiss extends its Open Gear watch with another Flying Tourbillon model in three new colours: Sunset, Paraiba and Meteorit, the latter of which we’ll be taking a look at in a little more detail here. The watch follows the same design codes as the memorable Chronoswiss Open Gear Flying Tourbillon watch released not so long ago in electric blue hues. Limited to 15 pieces, its colour was achieved using 10 different shades to obtain a hue that symbolised strength, loyalty and wisdom. Its stainless steel case was blue CVD coated and comprised a total of 17 individual pieces. In true form, it featured an hour sub-counter placed at 12 o’clock, surrounded by the minute track around the edge of the dial and one single central minute hand. The 6 o’clock section put the flying tourbillon structure on view through a perfectly round window, whilst the minute ring was raised to create a three-dimensional effect. The “Flying Tourbillon” name was given to this Chronoswiss Open Gear watch since the hours and minutes appeared to float atop of the display. Other key features of the Chronoswiss Open Gear Flying Tourbillon watch included a funnel-shaped structure for the hour display and a completely in-house developed hand guilloche base to which the skeletonised train wheel bridges were positioned above in a complex 42-part dial construction across three levels.
The new Chronoswiss Open Gear Flying Tourbillon Meteorit watch
Each of the three new releases belonging to Chronoswiss’ latest slew of innovative Open Gear Flying Tourbillon watches has a distinct personality of its own and follows these same design codes. Whilst the Sunset iteration presents the time via a dial characterised by warming red-pink hues, the Paraiba version shares the same blue tones used for last year’s Open Gear ReSec watch. The new Chronoswiss Open Gear Flying Tourbillon Meteorit watch brings something altogether new to the wrist for 2022. It's a technical, clean and sophisticated style that will appeal to modern watch collectors with its vivid blue elements set across a deep meteorite-inspired grey-coloured handmade guilloche base. Its progressive design is influential and dramatic, featuring a robust stainless steel case made up of 17 individual pieces.
The new Chronoswiss Open Gear Flying Tourbillon Meteorit watch is limited to just 15 pieces worldwide, making it yet another highly sought-after collectable to own. The case features a screw-down caseback with a satin finish and a sapphire crystal glass viewing lens for admiring the workings of the Chronoswiss manufacture calibre C.303. Measuring a 44mm diameter and sitting on the wrist at a height of 13.35mm, the watch certainly draws attention towards its masculine identity and bold part-polished, part-vertically satin-finished elements. It also features a screw-in onion crown stamped with the instantly recognisable Chronoswiss monogram. The 100-meter water-resistant Flying Tourbillon watch features a polished screw-down bezel with full thread and side knurling, together with a double-coated anti-reflective sapphire crystal glass top to provide optimum protection over the surface of the layered dial.
The new Chronoswiss Open Gear Flying Tourbillon Meteorit watch is powered by the Caliber C.303, which is entirely made in-house by Chronoswiss. It provides a 60-hour power reserve and beats at a rhythm of 28,800 vibrations per hour. Comprising 23 jewels, it also boasts an exclusive blue CVD coated finish with a Cotes de Geneve-decorated mainplate, circular satin finishes, skeletonised bridges, a skeletonised spring barrel, polished screws, and a galvanic anthracite balance wheel.
On the dial itself, the new Chronoswiss Open Gear Flying Tourbillon Meteorit watch uniquely presents the time with cylinder-shaped indexes and “Trigono”-shaped, thermally blued hands that have been treated with Super-LumiNova. The off-centre dial at 12 o’clock presents the hours, whilst the flying tourbillon balances the dial at 6 o’clock. The main minute hand is positioned centrally and reaches out to a minute track around the edge of the dial.
The new Chronoswiss Open Gear Flying Tourbillon Meteorit watch is finished on a textile (Cordura) strap and a hand-sewn black alligator leather strap that secures to the wrist with a stainless steel folding clasp. If you’d like more information on the new Meteorit Chronoswiss Open Gear Flying Tourbillon watch, you can view the spec details on the product page here at Jura Watches, or call and speak to a member of our sales team today on 01335 453453
