The significance of Time Aeon Foundation’s Naissance d'Une Montre 2
The Naissance d’Une Montre 2 ( Source: www.phillips.com)
At Esperluxe, we focus on showcasing excellence in the realm of independent watchmaking. That excellence can vary across different aesthetics, watchmaking philosophies, price ranges – everything from the most traditional to the most avant garde. We love indies because it fills the whole spectrum of watchmaking possibilities, and frequently broadens the horizons of discipline with new techniques, designs, and mechanisms. One of the projects that push the boundaries of watchmaking is the latest Naissance d'Une Montre 2.
Auctioned this past weekend (May 13-14 2023) in Geneva for ~ US$450,000, we’re diving into the backstory of this extraordinary timepiece and its significance in modern independent watchmaking.
The Naissance d’Une Montre 2 ( Source: www.phillips.com)
Time Aeon Foundation and the “Birth of a Watch”
Founded in 2005, Time Aeon Foundation is dedicated to preserving historical watchmaking know-how for future generations. Basically, can watchmakers today create timepieces using the same tools and techniques as their 19th century predecessors? The short answer is yes.
The foundation’s first timepiece, Naissance d'Une Montre (“birth of a watch,” in French), was announced in 2007 and unveiled more than a decade ago in 2012. Philippe Dufour alongside Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey (of their eponymous brand, Greubel Forsey) acted as lead mentors, collaborating with talented watchmaking teacher Michel Boulanger throughout the process. Developed over six years, Boulanger would travel monthly from Paris to La-Chaux-de-Fonds to collaborate with Dufour, Greubel, and Forsey. The end result, the Naissance d'Une Montre was a smashing success. Beautifully executed, the prototype sold at auction for more than US$1.4m with all proceeds going back to the foundation.
The Naissance d’Une Montre 2 ( Source: www.christies.com)
In the decade since its release, Time Aeon’s raison d’être only seems to only grow stronger and more relevant. Driven by what the foundation views as a substantial loss of traditional handicrafts in the discipline, the adoption of automated manufacturing solutions to meet global demand is far from slowing down. While the rise of industrialization has brought the industry to previously unimaginable heights, there are certainly far fewer watchmakers capable of creating a mechanical timepiece from initial idea through its completion. Time Aeon uses Naissance d'Une Montre projects as exercises to familiarize more watchmakers with the classical forms of watchmaking. Fortunately for watchmakers, collectors, and enthusiasts, the success of the first project created more than enough space for its latest release, Naissance d'Une Montre 2.
The Naissance d'Une Montre 2
Announced in 2019, the Naissance d'Une Montre 2 is an interesting evolutionary step in the foundation’s projects. The first Naissance d'Une Montre held a more traditional look – round case, crown at three o’clock, tourbillon at six o’clock. The Naissance d'Une Montre 2 is significantly more modern in aesthetic while sticking to classical watchmaking techniques.
The Naissance d’Une Montre 2 ( Source: www.phillips.com)
With the guidance of Greubel Forsey and Urwerk, the Naissance d'Une Montre 2 was led by two young watchmakers, Cyrano Devanthey and Dominique Buser. Both have worked with Urwerk and now create timepieces with their brand, Oscillon. Their time at Urwerk as well as Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei’s fingerprints are all over this project with respect to the case profile and crown at twelve o’clock. Greubel Forsey’s fingerprints are on the technical aspects of the timepiece as well as the superlative quality of finish. It is a timepiece that brings together the best of the best – Urwerk’s avant-garde aesthetic, Greubel Forsey’s finish, and Oscillon’s technical innovations.
While the movement’s architecture may appear fairly straightforward with two bridges for balance wheel and mainspring barrel, looks can be deceiving. Cyrano and Dominique’s experience with Oscillon and the in-house caliber “l’Instant de Vérité” shines through with the Naissance d'Une Montre 2. The duo invented an entirely new balance – shaped like a bowtie. This helps better showcase the oscillation of the balance, and tracking the movement is much simpler e CD on the eye than observing traditional circular balance wheels. The mainspring barrel also consists of a “Tensator” construction – a system that incorporates a pair of mainspring barrels with one small and one large. Both are connected by an extra-long, S-shaped spring that winds through using a central planetary gear. This set-up creates constant torque, ensuring that the release of energy is neither too slow or too fast for chronometric precision. Whereas this first in watchmaking is concealed in the duo’s Oscillon work, the Naissance d'Une Montre 2 inverts the movement so both the balance wheel and mainspring barrel are observed, front and center, while on the wrist.
As one would expect, it isn’t only the technical aspects of the timepiece that are astounding. The case stands out to us for a variety of reasons. First, the case’s complexity is astounding. To create such a case, all of its components, with only traditional, hand-driven equipment is insanity (in the best possible way). Second, this is the proof of concept, par excellence, that traditional methods can sit alongside even the most technically sophisticated automation, even when creating the most modern timepieces.
The significance of handmade timepieces today
While the importance of preserving historical watchmaking methods is paramount to the discipline, the Naissance d'Une Montre 2 is not really about pitting industrial and handmade watchmaking against one another. Cyrano and Buser both leverage industrial equipment with their work at Urwerk while practicing a different style of watchmaking with this project as well as Oscillon. The watch community and even parts of the industry can sometimes create an ideological battle, “purists” siding with handmade classical watchmaking and everyone else accepting industrialization in modern, avant garde timepieces. But both have their place – the diversity of approaches to watchmaking is what creates such exciting, varied aesthetics and mechanisms.
The Naissance d’Une Montre 2 ( Source: www.phillips.com)
The truth is, we’re at a moment in history that is comparable to the invention of photography after thousands of years of painting. Painters hated photography – it shook the disciple at its core. It was viewed as a lazy way of representing something, requiring a mere click of a button. The human element was removed by machinery.
Nearly 150 years later, many of us don’t really think of photography as a competitor to painting. Both serve their own roles, create different vibes, and many display photos and paintings side by side in homes without any notion that 19th century painters (and photographers) may be appalled by such an idea. Over the past 150 years, we now have a much better sense of what painting is good at (abstraction) and what photography is good at (realism). With projects like the Naissance d'Une Montre 2, it feels like watchmaking is sorting out the value of each industrialized and handmade watchmaking. That there is space for both to sit alongside one another in the same way photography and painting do now.