Swiss independent watchmaker Romain Gauthier is launching the first series watch of the brand made in stainless steel. The new Prestige HMS Stainless Steel is also Romain Gauthier's first series watch that feature a dial entirely made of meteorite. The Romain Gauthier Prestige HMS Stainless Steel is a 10-piece limited edition and has a price of Swiss Francs 68,000 excluding taxes. For this model, the master watchmaker used a Henbury meteorite, which is much rarer than the fairly common Gibeon meteorite.
Swiss independent watchmaker Romain Gauthier is launching the first series watch of the brand made in stainless steel.
The new Prestige HMS Stainless Steel is also Romain Gauthier's first series watch that features a dial (and not just a subdial) entirely made of meteorite.
For this model, the master watchmaker used a Henbury meteorite, which is much rarer than the fairly common Gibeon meteorite, the choice of most brands for their meteorite dials. Apart from the piece used by Romain Gauthier for this model, the only other known sample of this Henbury meteorite is housed in the South Australian Museum of minerals, meteorites and rocks in Adelaide.
Commenting about the inspiration for this timepiece, Romain explained: “When I first set eyes on this meteorite, the size of its crystal bands and the way they reflect the light, I knew that it was something special. It really stood out from the other iron meteorites that we are used to seeing. Immediately my thoughts turned to how I could use it for a special edition timepiece.”
The meteorite used to make this special dial was discovered in 1931 at the Henbury crater field in the Northern Territory of Australia. Technically speaking, it is an octahedrite composed mainly of the nickel-iron minerals taenite and kamacite and it takes its name from the octahedral (eight-sided) shape of the kamacite crystals.
It is only after a treatment with nitric acid that the grey metal piece reveals the distinctive criss-crossing pattern of silvery-gray blades, known as Widmanstätten patterns or Thomson structures. These structures formed during a long period of cooling within the parent asteroid.
A combination of three-axe machining centre and electrical discharge machining is used to obtain a disc that is 33 mm in diameter and 0.8 mm thick. To ensure that the dial will maintain its unique appearance, an anti-corrosion treatment is then applied.
The choice to frame the dial with a stainless steel case makes perfect sense considering the common iron base.
43 mm in diameter, the case is characterized by clean lines with no visible crown. In fact, the crown is here placed on the back, a choice which increases winding efficiency and water resistance, while reducing wear and stress of components. The crown is pulled out for time-setting.
In terms of finishes, the bezel and caseband are polished, while the caseback, crown and front and back of the lugs are satin finished.
The shimmering dial displays hours and minutes in the large subdial at 12 o’clock with small seconds at 5 o’clock. The hands are all in blackened steel, with the hour-minute hands and the white gold applied hour markers Super-LumiNova-filled to offer excellent readability even with poor light.
Beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour with a power reserve of 60 hours, the beautiful Calibre 2206 HMS is visible through the sapphire crystal case back. Hand-finishing adheres to the highest standards of Haute Horlogerie. Finger bridges feature polished, rounded bevels meticulously created by hand, as well as hand-chamfered and hand-polished jewel countersinks.
The bridges and mainplate are black NAC-treated with straight-graining to make them stand out against the hand-frosted mainplate. As many as 60 hours have been devoted to hand-decorating the movement, even those components that are not visible.
A glimpse of the disc of meteorite forming the dial can be seen through the movement components.
The Romain Gauthier Prestige HMS Stainless Steel is a 10-piece limited edition and has a price of Swiss Francs 68,000 excluding taxes. romaingauthier.com
- Discover more SIHH 2019 novelties
For this model, the master watchmaker used a Henbury meteorite, which is much rarer than the fairly common Gibeon meteorite, the choice of most brands for their meteorite dials. Apart from the piece used by Romain Gauthier for this model, the only other known sample of this Henbury meteorite is housed in the South Australian Museum of minerals, meteorites and rocks in Adelaide.
Commenting about the inspiration for this timepiece, Romain explained: “When I first set eyes on this meteorite, the size of its crystal bands and the way they reflect the light, I knew that it was something special. It really stood out from the other iron meteorites that we are used to seeing. Immediately my thoughts turned to how I could use it for a special edition timepiece.”
The meteorite used to make this special dial was discovered in 1931 at the Henbury crater field in the Northern Territory of Australia. Technically speaking, it is an octahedrite composed mainly of the nickel-iron minerals taenite and kamacite and it takes its name from the octahedral (eight-sided) shape of the kamacite crystals.
It is only after a treatment with nitric acid that the grey metal piece reveals the distinctive criss-crossing pattern of silvery-gray blades, known as Widmanstätten patterns or Thomson structures. These structures formed during a long period of cooling within the parent asteroid.
A combination of three-axe machining centre and electrical discharge machining is used to obtain a disc that is 33 mm in diameter and 0.8 mm thick. To ensure that the dial will maintain its unique appearance, an anti-corrosion treatment is then applied.
43 mm in diameter, the case is characterized by clean lines with no visible crown. In fact, the crown is here placed on the back, a choice which increases winding efficiency and water resistance, while reducing wear and stress of components. The crown is pulled out for time-setting.
In terms of finishes, the bezel and caseband are polished, while the caseback, crown and front and back of the lugs are satin finished.
The shimmering dial displays hours and minutes in the large subdial at 12 o’clock with small seconds at 5 o’clock. The hands are all in blackened steel, with the hour-minute hands and the white gold applied hour markers Super-LumiNova-filled to offer excellent readability even with poor light.
The bridges and mainplate are black NAC-treated with straight-graining to make them stand out against the hand-frosted mainplate. As many as 60 hours have been devoted to hand-decorating the movement, even those components that are not visible.
A glimpse of the disc of meteorite forming the dial can be seen through the movement components.
The Romain Gauthier Prestige HMS Stainless Steel is a 10-piece limited edition and has a price of Swiss Francs 68,000 excluding taxes. romaingauthier.com
- Discover more SIHH 2019 novelties
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