CONCIERGE PRICE: $174,056

U10 TOURBILLON LUMIÈRE HERALDS THE REBIRTH OF SWISS WATCH BRAND ANGELUS

THE ANGELUS TOURBILLON LUMIERE FROM ANGELUS WATCHES: THE DESIGN VIRTUOSO
The Angelus Tourbillon Lumiere watch from Angelus Watches makes a quite incredible statement. It offers a gloriously complicated answer to the simple question, “What time is it?” This is the watch re-imagined as retro-futuristic timepiece, Haute Horlogerie executed as a modern art form, a truly unique watch for the cognoscenti. The Angelus Tourbillon Lumiere is not only a celebration of the return to manufacturing of Angelus Watches, recalling as it does many features such as multiple displays so typical of the mythical Swiss brand renowned for its constant innovation, but an exercise in modern virtuoso watchmaking, with strictly limited production for obvious reasons. The case and movement of the Angelus Tourbillon Lumiere combine in a seamless melding of the avant-garde with a multitude of historic design points, resulting in a landmark in modern watchmaking: an exquisitely engineered, groundbreaking movement complete with a number of historically inspired ‘complications’, set in an amazingly sculptural, stainless steel and sapphire crystal case.

The Angelus Tourbillon Lumiere offers us an arresting vision on first sight. Two displays sit side by side, perpendicular to the wrist, spectacularly illuminated as one would expect from the Lumiere moniker, by incredible bevelled sapphire crystal windows, a total of seven of which envelop the stainless case.

To the left sits the main time display: A translucent-grey coated concave inner sapphire with the back outer ring is punctuated with double Super-Luminova points at 12, and single Super-Luminova points at 3, 6 and ) o’clock. Hour and minute hands are brush-finished and rhodium treated with black Super-Luminova that glows blue in the dark. The Angelus U10 Tourbillon Lumiere features a dead beat second hand, an ironically playful ‘complication’ which means the white lacquered second hand behaves just like one in a 70’s quartz watch – the same quartz watches that decimated the Swiss watchmaking industry in the same period – jumping from second to second rather than the hand simply sweeping around the laser engraved dial, a beautiful reincarnation of the industrial design ethics of the 1960s and 70s, the sculptural front in its entirety recalling renowned designers’ work from the period such as Sapper and Zanusa, Dieter Rams efforts for Braun and the output of Achille Castiglioni.

The dual front display design of the case of the Angelus Tourbillon Lumiere is such though, that almost equal prominence is given to the contents of the second display, an exceptionally large, painstakingly engineered one-minute flying tourbillon, which appears almost to float in its distinct, vitrine, visible not only from the front and side with its curved vitrine, but also from the back, offering unparalleled visibility for the fine tourbillon mechanism, which ranks as one of the largest ever seen on a production watch, the sheer visibility of this number of sapphire crystals making it appears even larger. This flying minute tourbillon takes us back to an era a century prior to quartz watches and dead-beat seconds, the golden age of watchmaking innovation and inventiveness, Haute Horlogerie at its finest, watchmaking as a masterpiece. The genius here is, of course, is that this is only possible due to the design of the movement itself. Years in the making, the breathtaking movement with parallel side-mounted flying tourbillon is the fruit of a Switzerland based development team including Sebastien Chaulmontet, long-term aficionado of Angelus timepieces and design team member at Arnold & Son and renowned mechanical movement specialist La Joux-Perret, the latter led by CEO Frederic Wenger. Housed within the annealed, bead blasted stainless steel and transparent, anti-reflective coated sapphire crystal case of the Angelus Tourbillon Lumiere is a movement complete with flying one minute tourbillon that mixes stainless steel, nickel silver and titanium, the two mainspring barrels supported by a laser-engraved, satin finished bridge, alongside a plethora of the type of Haute Horlogerie finishes, hand-polishing, chamfers and differentially grained surfaces that Gustav Stolz, one of the three brothers who founded Angelus Watch and the individual who took the watchmaker to international renown, would have recognized. The end product is indeed a flying tourbillon that appears to float within its vitrine, its only link with the rest of the movement being an almost invisible gear. It should come as no surprise that such a beautifully crafted flying tourbillon of such amazing size (16.25mm), in addition to the dead beat seconds complication necessitate a significant power reserve, a typically innovative feature similarly found in period Angelus watches: thus the Angelus A100 caliber of Angelus Tourbillon Lumiere offers an incredible 90 hours of optimal power, fed by not one but two mainspring barrels, sized to provide a flat, stable torque curve throughout the entire period, thus guaranteeing exceptional power reserve as well as accuracy. As you would expect, this inventiveness is put on full display, in the form a generous power reserve indicator on the side of the watch, set once again in its own transparent crystal sapphire and fed by a large winder placed to the left of the principal hours, minutes and seconds display.

The Angelus Tourbillon Lumiere, or the Angelus U10 Tourbillon Lumiere to give it its full title, stands as testament to the not only Swiss watchmaking of the past, but of watchmaking in Switzerland today: of Angelus, as a brand, willing to design and produce, in limited edition, a watch of incredible virtuosity, that not only answers the question, “What time is it?”, but with its incredible design echoes from the past, exquisitely crafted flying one-minute tourbillon and dead beat second-hand complications somehow manages to bend time itself. A masterpiece.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
REFERENCE : 0LUAS.B01A.C001

– LIMITED EDITION OF 25 PIECES –

MOVEMENT

– Calibre A100, one-minute flying tourbillon movement

– Hand-wound

– Jewels: 38

– Dimensions: 52.10 mm x 30.40 mm

– Thickness: 7.50 mm

– Power reserve : 90 h, double barrel

– Frequency: 2.5Hz / 18,000 vph

TOURBILLON

– 16.25 mm cage diameter

– Swiss lever escapement

– Screwed balance and hairspring with Breguet overcoil

FUNCTIONS

– Hours & Minutes

– Central dead beat seconds

– One-minute flying tourbillon

– Linear power reserve indication (F for Full, E for Empty)

MOVEMENT DECORATIONS

– Material : nickel-silver movement, rhodium treated

– “Haute horlogerie” finishing : satin-finished main plate with laser engraved pattern, satin-finished bridges with chamfered and polished edges, plate dial side with sunray satin-finish, circular satin-finished wheels, screws with bevelled and mirror-polished heads, two laser-engraved and enamelled ratchets

TOURBILLON FINISHING

– Bead-blasted and satin-finished titanium tourbillon bridge

– Entire tourbillon cage with hand-chamfered and polished edges and either satin-finished or mirror-polished surfaces

DIAL

– Colour: translucent-grey coated concave sapphire and black outer ring

– Double white (C1) Super-LumiNova dots at 12 o’clock

– Single white (C1) Super-LumiNova dots at 3, 6 & 9 o’clock

HANDS

– Hour, Minute & power reserve : brushed-finished, rhodium-treated, with black Super-LumiNova that glows blue in the dark

– Dead beat seconds : white lacquered

CASE

– Material: BO-988 specific annealed stainless steel, bead-blasted and treated with black PVD on the inside

– Dimensions: 62.75 mm x 38 mm

– Thickness: 15 mm including sapphire crystals

– Water-resistant: 30 m

SAPPHIRE CRYSTALS

– 7 in total

– All treated with anti-reflective coating

– Back: see-though sapphire crystal

STRAP & BUCKLE

– Hand-stitched black alligator leather

– Stainless steel folding buckle

Slay Billionaire offers free and insured worldwide delivery. You can expect your timepiece to be delivered in average within 2-5 working days for the UK and European Community, and 4-8 working days for the rest of the World.

Concierge Price: $174,056
Includes complimentary worldwide shipping

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