By Jovan Krstevski
Financing the research for the Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy has always been the main goal of the Only Watch charity auction and boy the watches presented here are the most coveted one-of-a-kind watches in terms of design, style, and mechanical prowess. So without further ado, here is ANDERSEN Genève’s first bi-colour “Tempus Terrae” feature an astonishing white gold bezel, a red gold case and a white gold hunter case back. Note that the Bi-colour cases have always been part of the unique collection “Montre à Tact” and this has been going on for more than 20 years. The ANDERSEN Genève brand is known for this style and on itself, it’s already a promise of certain uniqueness but the “Tempus Terrae” goes even further by utilizing the seemingly contrasting elements that are rose gold and white gold.
The 39 mm by 9 mm case is truly a one-off design. Now some of you might be blunt about this color scheme since it’s not the same as titanium against some carbon or ceramic bezel; the rose gold part that is on the side surrounding the case is centered by the emblematic “broken lugs” (probably because of its wide width that is 20 mm, almost reaching the quarter side case) design and the subtle dual crowns for the “Tempus Terrae 25th Anniversary” located at 2 o’clock and 4 o’clock somehow makes the design superb. The overall contrast is amazing particularly the sheen given off by the super smooth lugs. It’s like a pure classic infused by modern standards such as sharp edges and laser cut corners. Plus the white gold caseback comes with a sapphire glass to showcase the amazing movement inside, we will get to this later on. The caseback also has an engraving that reads “ONLYWATCH 2017” and “1/1” which further cements its uniqueness.
On the watchface, the multi-part dial features a rotating ring displaying the 24 hours’ timezones with day and night coloration in dark blue and silvery white metal. The central disc is 18 mm in diameter made of 21 ct “BlueGold” use a hand guilloché “Tapisserie.” The world time zone scale is presented on a silvery white metal disc with dark blue city names and the MONACO in red adds quite a unique flare (this also pays tribute to the Principality of Monaco). The legibility is fine considering the small size of the watch. The brushed “A” Andersen shaped hands are made of 18 ct white gold and although they are as sharp as they are intended to be, the hand guilloché “Tapisserie” central disc appears to affect the legibility of the hands.
Powering the “Tempus Terrae” is a high-quality automatic movement called the calibre 5134. Andersen Genève has further upgraded it with Timezones complication module developed and assembled in the atelier. One of its amazing perks is the 21 ct “BlueGold” rotor hand guilloché “Tapisserie” that is normally showcased in the exhibition caseback. We hope that this is true for the “Tempus Terrae.” Moreover, the calibre 5134 beats at 3 Hz with 17 jewels in total and has the capacity to crank out 40 hours of power reserve.
Furthermore, the “Tempus Terrae” wears on a red alligator leather strap with white stitches. It also features an 18 ct white gold buckle thus completing such an extensive luxury feel. It is estimated to fetch about 46,000 USD to 52,000 USD during the charity auction.