BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Romain Gauthier has been making some of the finest independently-made wristwatches money can buy for years. We last encountered this style of watch in the forms of the Continuum when it launched in 2021, and then we published about it again in 2022 when it became the C by Romain Gauthier. The C by Romain Gauthier collection has now been split further with the ‘Freedom’ range of watches that have a titanium case and the ‘Heritage’ line which this new watch falls into. The ‘Heritage’ models all have platinum cases, and this one also has a platinum bracelet.
The watch has an interesting and funky appearance to it. It’s also contemporary in size featuring a diameter of 41mm and a thickness of 9.55mm. The tapered bracelet features brushed and polished segments, which looks like the ones from previous Vacheron Constantin Overseas models. Thanks to platinum’s density, this beast weighs 340 grams, 20 grams heavier than the solid 18k gold Rolex Deepsea reportedly weighs.
While it may have the air of being ‘just another integrated bracelet watch’, don’t be so quick to write this one off. The dial is crafted from white gold and finished in a guilloché style known as bouchardé which translates as bush hammered. A bush hammer is a type of tool used in stone masonry which adds texture, the head has a similar spiky texture to a meat tenderiser. Here, it creates a wonderful pattern and a blue PVD coating gives it its colour. The offset small seconds, a feature of Romain Gauthier’s designs, feature here to good effect making this not your run-of-the-mill watch.
Of course, it’s not an independently-made watch if we can’t see the movement, and Romain Gauthier watches always offer a fantastic view. The new watch is no different; the manually-wound in-house movement with its three bridges looks sensational and is characterised by the style of the wheels. There’s also plenty of depth to appreciate. 154 individual components go into this movement, which runs at 4Hz for a respectable 60 hours.
As one would imagine, a watch of this calibre (hehe) made of platinum and presented with a platinum bracelet and butterfly clasp isn’t cheap. This one is especially not cheap, costing CHF118,000 pre-tax. It’s a lot but this is an exclusive club.
