Angelus U30 Tourbillon Rattrapante. Few days after the presentation of the U20 Ultra-Skeleton Tourbillon, the Angelus manufacture has another surprise with the U30 Tourbillon Rattrapante, a new creation which features a one-minute tourbillon, a fly-back double column wheel chronograph, a split-seconds (rattrapante), a self-winding mechanism and a power reserve indicator. Produced as a limited edition of 25 pieces, the Angelus U30 Tourbillon Rattrapante (ref. 0CRAC.B01A.C003U) has a price of Swiss Francs 55,600 (without tax).
Few days after the presentation of the U20 Ultra-Skeleton Tourbillon, the Angelus manufacture has another surprise with the U30 Tourbillon Rattrapante, a new creation which features a one-minute tourbillon, a fly-back double column wheel chronograph, a split-seconds (rattrapante), a self-winding mechanism and a power reserve indicator.
All of these complications are fully integrated rather than modular add-ons and have been engineered based on structural optimization and skeletonized to reveal as much of the movement as possible on the dial side.
To further increase the impression of depth, the movement is fully transparent around the tourbillon and treated in various shades of black and grey.
Interesting detail, the skeletonized bridges create a form evoking the “A” of Angelus.
Legibility is ensured by high-contrast black movement bridges underneath light-coloured hour and minute hands. Additionally, the hands have slightly curved profiles to catch the light from any angle.
Fast beating a 4 Hz (28,800 vph), the one-minute tourbillon is positioned at 10 o'clock. Its cage is entirely made of non-magnetic material and reduced to the maximum to further minimize mass and optimize performance.
The power reserve indicator, with visible gears and wheels, is positioned at 8 o'clock directly integrated onto the skeletonized bridge: a green sector indicates ideal torque while red highlights that it's time to wind the watch (the power reserve is 45 hours).
The split-seconds chronograph is rarely combined with a tourbillon because the energy consumption of a rattrapante mechanism is pretty high. This function allows the timing of different events that begin but do not end together. Two separate chronograph second hands are set one over the other. When the chronograph is started, both hands start moving in lockstep together, until a press of the pusher in the crown "splits" them, with the top hand continuing and the bottom split-seconds hand stopping to allow an intermediate time to be noted. By again pressing the pusher, the split-seconds hand will instantly catch up to the main chronograph hand, ready again to record a new intermediate time.
Integrated onto the bridge at 3 o'clock, a 30-minute counter completes the chronograph functions.
The column wheel for the split-seconds function is visible at 4 o'clock allowing the wearer to watch it when activated. The second column wheel, controlling the chronograph, is displayed on the back of the movement.
Additionally, the U30 Tourbillon Rattrapante is a fly-back chronograph, i.e. the timing operation can be directly reset and restart without having to be stopped first. The fly-back function is very useful as it allows instant restarting of the chronograph with one push of the button instead of the three pushes necessary for standard chronographs. In case of a rattrapante chronograph, this function is particularly challenging because the fly-back mechanism has not only one, but two, central chronograph hands to reset and restart.
On the back, the black ADLC-treated rotor is also skeletonized and features a solid 22-karat white gold segment.
The 47 mm x 15 mm case is crafted from grade 5 titanium with black coating on the case band.
Produced as a limited edition of 25 pieces, the Angelus U30 Tourbillon Rattrapante (ref. 0CRAC.B01A.C003U) has a price of Swiss Francs 55,600 (without tax). angelus-watches.com
All of these complications are fully integrated rather than modular add-ons and have been engineered based on structural optimization and skeletonized to reveal as much of the movement as possible on the dial side.
To further increase the impression of depth, the movement is fully transparent around the tourbillon and treated in various shades of black and grey.
Interesting detail, the skeletonized bridges create a form evoking the “A” of Angelus.
Legibility is ensured by high-contrast black movement bridges underneath light-coloured hour and minute hands. Additionally, the hands have slightly curved profiles to catch the light from any angle.
The power reserve indicator, with visible gears and wheels, is positioned at 8 o'clock directly integrated onto the skeletonized bridge: a green sector indicates ideal torque while red highlights that it's time to wind the watch (the power reserve is 45 hours).
The split-seconds chronograph is rarely combined with a tourbillon because the energy consumption of a rattrapante mechanism is pretty high. This function allows the timing of different events that begin but do not end together. Two separate chronograph second hands are set one over the other. When the chronograph is started, both hands start moving in lockstep together, until a press of the pusher in the crown "splits" them, with the top hand continuing and the bottom split-seconds hand stopping to allow an intermediate time to be noted. By again pressing the pusher, the split-seconds hand will instantly catch up to the main chronograph hand, ready again to record a new intermediate time.
Integrated onto the bridge at 3 o'clock, a 30-minute counter completes the chronograph functions.
The column wheel for the split-seconds function is visible at 4 o'clock allowing the wearer to watch it when activated. The second column wheel, controlling the chronograph, is displayed on the back of the movement.
Additionally, the U30 Tourbillon Rattrapante is a fly-back chronograph, i.e. the timing operation can be directly reset and restart without having to be stopped first. The fly-back function is very useful as it allows instant restarting of the chronograph with one push of the button instead of the three pushes necessary for standard chronographs. In case of a rattrapante chronograph, this function is particularly challenging because the fly-back mechanism has not only one, but two, central chronograph hands to reset and restart.
On the back, the black ADLC-treated rotor is also skeletonized and features a solid 22-karat white gold segment.
The 47 mm x 15 mm case is crafted from grade 5 titanium with black coating on the case band.
Produced as a limited edition of 25 pieces, the Angelus U30 Tourbillon Rattrapante (ref. 0CRAC.B01A.C003U) has a price of Swiss Francs 55,600 (without tax). angelus-watches.com
Technically very interesting but I find the dial a bit confusing to be honest
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