Appreciating Haute Horology Movments

Consuming Haute Horology content has became one of my guilty pleasures lately. I will most likely never been in a position to own a piece such as these but I still enjoy admiring from afar. 😍

These are just the movments that live rent free in my head 🙃😃

MB&F LM Perpetual Evo

Let’s just gloss over the fact that this is a proprietary perpetual calendar that counts months in 28 days instead of 31.

A lot of people over simplify this movement by calling it two chronographs in one. It’s functionally true, as it functions like a split chronograph.

However, it’s actually more like 4 chronographs operating as two as each individual counter can be started and stopped. This gives the watch the unique distinction of being the only mechanical split chronograph capable timing laps and the displaying the seconds measurements for both times. All this was done with the goal of almost eliminating amplitude variation upon engagement of the split chronograph to increase accuracy.

My favorite part: this movement was developed Steve Mcdonald, the 28 day perpetual calander being his first fully actualitized movement, the Perpetual Evo being his second…and he has a degree in theology.

He is entirely self taught and gotten to this level in about 10 years of study. Certified genius 🤯

Hajime Asaoka Tsunami

Another self taught watch maker, this time coming from Japan with a focus on hand making watches.

There is just something so charming about the large balance wheel with the octopus shaped wheel below it….

I made a post about him and his microbrand, Kurono Tokyo, if you want to learn more.

https://www.watchcrunch.com/playswiththelight/posts/kurono-tokyo-appreciation-post-278052

Romain Gauthier Logocal One

This takes inspiration from the old Fusee chain driven clocks; making changes such as using polished rubies to connect the links and remove the need for lubricants.

I love the watch making that Romain Gauthier does but honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about the designs.

Laurent Ferrier Micro-Rotar

The main attraction here is the natural escapement. An idea developed by Breguet himself, the goal is to eliminate fiction and the need for lubricants on the escapement. He managed to produce 20 in his time but was largely limited due to material processes at the time.

Laurent Ferrier’s micro-rotator is the most faithful to his idea, basically producing the same thing but with modern technology and processes.

If you wanna learn more about the natural escapment SJX has a great article here: https://watchesbysjx.com/2019/08/breguet-natural-escapement-evolution.html?amp=1

Christian Klings

If you’ve made it this far…congratulations, I’ve saved the best for last.

Christian Klings is probably not a name you’ve ever heard of unless you read SJX. He’s a mythical independent watch maker who produced every watch by hand. He’s already retired and will only produce 34 watches his whole career.

Not only that but even pictures of his work are hard to come by. One night I tried to find all the pictures I could on the internet and only got to 19 watches.

He’s most known for his tourbillons but his time only movments are what take my breath away.

https://youtu.be/gJ7fqoD0Cro?si=WoCE7Trxb1_3cevu

Those polished bridges are something else….

Anayways, those are some of my favorite haute horology movements. What are yours?