BY DHANANJAY PATHAK
The world of microbrands is quite fascinating. Fueled by a strong passion for Horology and creativity, quite a few microbrands these days manage to create intriguing watches that are well equipped and priced competitively to offer consumers a nice value proposition. ZEROOTIME is one such boutique brand from Japan, and today, we take a quick look at the Archer, their latest collection of relatively affordable Tourbillon watches that are live now on the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform.
Chief designer of ZEROOTIME, SYUU
Tourbillon is a mechanism that was developed by Abraham Louis Breguet in 1795 to improve the accuracy of a mechanical movement. In a tourbillon, the escapement of the watch is placed inside a rotating cage to negate the effects of gravity, which helps improve timekeeping. Since its genesis, the complexity of the mechanism, and the many controversies surrounding its impact on overall accuracy, have restricted the use of a Tourbillon to a select few high-end watches that cost tens of thousands of dollars. With their new Archer collection, ZEROOTIME has attempted to change this and elevate the concept of a Tourbillon to a new level, that too at a respectable price point.
Offered in a round and square shape, both T1 and T2 models from the Archer collection are powered by a Tourbillon-equipped hand-wound movement. Furthermore, to fully appreciate the functioning of the Tourbillon and see the gears and levers in action, the movement has been heavily skeletonized. The bridges have been presented in black to offer a nice contrast to the steel parts, and the movement offers 70 hours of power reserve using a twin-barrel assembly. And yes, you can very well see the spring tighten up when the movement is wound. Reading time is taken care of using a combination of skeletonized lume filled hands and a black or blue printed minute chapter ring on the outer periphery, which also features small circular lume plots at intervals of five for better low light visibility.
While the movement inside the Archer T1 and T2 watches has been skeletonized for the wearer to appreciate it from the sapphire crystals on the front and the back, the designers at ZEROOTIME wanted to make these watches special and unique. They wanted to create a watch that offers exceptional transparency when viewed from every angle. And to do so, they went a step ahead and developed custom cases that feature transparent sidewalls to ensure exceptional transparency and give the wearer a 360-degree view of the elegant inner structure. That sounds cool, doesn’t it? And while I have certainly seen some other watches that offer such high levels of transparency, they cost a fortune and still do not feature a tourbillon. Moving further, the T1 features a round case with skeletonized lugs, whereas the T2 comes equipped with a square-shaped case that has short angular lugs. The case on both models has been crafted from stainless steel, and there is rose gold PVD coated variation on offer as well for those formal occasions.
The new ZEROOTIME Archer T1 and T2 watches would come mated to either a black or blue leather strap depending on whether you opt for the stainless steel or the Rose gold, or the Yellow gold PVD coated variation. The watches would be first available to purchase at a 35 to 53 percent discount through the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform. After the campaign ends, the watch would retail for USD 3,000.
