By Harlan Chapman-Green
I was actually pretty pleased to be handed the responsibility for this article by the boss. If you’ve read my bio, you’ll know I’m not much of a fan of the smaller boutique brands. While I don’t mind their pieces and I respect their achievements, they just don’t light my fire. Then the GMR came along and I thought “wow, that’s just amazing”. There was no sarcasm there either, I really love this watch, read on to find out why.
When I think of design, I think of modern things. For instance, if I was given the choice between a 1920s mansion and a 2015 newly built mansion, I’d go for the modern. I like the comforts and the advanced design and it’s pretty much the same story with the GMR. My favourite parts of the watch are the hands. They are very Breguet-esque, the big loop near the end of the hand being the key there, with an enlarged ending after the circle. There’s also a loop acting as a counterbalance for the running seconds hand in the 6 O’Clock sub-dial.
Speaking of the sub-dial, it’s at 6 O’Clock. But you knew that anyway, because I’ve just told you. And it’s in the pictures. Anyway, the silver hand with the large counterbalance is the running seconds hand and the red hand below that points to the hours of the second time zone. It’s a slick approach to the dilemma that a second time zone can cause, which is whether to create a whole new sub-dial specifically for the other time zone (the most notable example being the Lange 1 Time Zone) or go with a more slick approach as seen on the GMR. Under the Roman numeral for 12 O’Clock there’s the semicircular power reserve indicator with a red hand, making viewing the time remaining before the watch stops much easier.
The dial of this watch is completely hand worked. It takes a very very long time to make this pattern with hand tools, it then needs to be finished off properly too and inspected. The movement of the watch is also hand made. It’s a manual wind Voutilainen calibre finished in rhodium and is made of 250 individual parts, some of which are visible through the sapphire caseback. The movement had a special system which advances the hours of the second time zone by jumps instead, meaning you can be even more precise when setting the time zone while on your travels. If you’re quick you’ll be able to get your hands on this watch in either 18k white gold, rose gold or platinum. But you must hurry as there’s only going to be 12 of these masterpieces made in the blissfully tranquil Swiss village of Môtiers. For more info, please visit voutilainen.ch
Harlan Chapman-Green – Contributing Editor
First introduced to horology with the Patek Philippe Calibre 89 by his father few years ago, Harlan enjoys his passion for fine horology. He prefers to spend his time in the boutiques of upmarket brands, trying out new pieces constantly. His preferred 3 brands are A. Lange & Söhne, Breguet and Vacheron Constantin. Although not much for the smaller brands, he still finds the complications intriguing and wishes to own one watch from each of his three favourites. Read his articles here.
