Simply Abu Dhabi III

Christophe Claret Adagio Christophe Claret hails fromLyon and studied watchmaking inGeneva before beginning his career by restoring antique watches. At the Basel Show in 1987, the owner of a major Swiss watch company requested that Mr. Claret develop an exclusive minute repeater movement. To meet this order, he founded a company in 1989 along with two other talented watchmakers, Giulio Papi and Dominique Renaud. In 1992, however, Christophe Claret felt the need to be independent and bought up his partners’ shares, renaming the company Christophe Claret SA. The following decade brought growing recognition and a number of high-end customers. In 1999, he acquired an historical manor house named the Soleil d’Or and located on the heights above Le Locle. This marked the start of a new era: within just two years, his client roster grew dramatically and his workforce rocketed from 17 to 62. The Manufacture Christophe Claret soon needed more space and a first 500 sq.m. annex was built in 2002, followed by another of the same size in 2004. Equipped with a large array of state-of-the-art machinery, the company currently employs 90 people and makes almost all its movement components, as well as many exterior watch parts. ADAGIO: A classic model giving pride of place to watchmaking traditions in terms of both its mechanism and its exterior, this exceptional watch is equipped with Calibre SLB88, naturally created entirely in house and composed of 455 parts. The Adagio features central hour and minute hands, small seconds at 9 o’clock in a window or subdial, depending on the versions; along with a large date at 6 o’clock and a dual time-zone (hours and minutes) display complete with day/night indication in a subdial at 2 o’clock. In tribute to his Manufacture’s first calibre introduced over 20 years ago, Christophe Claret wanted to equip this timepiece with a minute repeater, a particularly intricate fine watchmaking complication that has become one of the great specialities of the Manufacture. Striking the hours, quarters and minutes on demand, the “cathedral gongs” of the striking mechanism are fitted with a patented device preventing them from knocking against each other when they vibrate under the hammer blows. The equally patented large date display features an unprecedented construction. This 34 mm-diameter movement is adorned with finely decorated bridges and endowed with a 48-hour power reserve. The crown is also equipped with a security system: when the mainspring is fully wound, a mechanism disconnects the winding stem so as to avoid any potential damage due to excessive tension. Such a mechanical gemnaturally deserved the perfect stage-setting. Available in three colours – rose gold, white gold or platinum – the 44 mm case is water-resistant to 30 metres. It is fitted with two pushers at 2 and 4 o’clock to adjust the large date and dual time-zone displays, as well as a slide-piece controlling the striking mechanism at 9 o’clock. Meanwhile, the dial comes in a choice of three versions. The first highlights the ancestral art of guilloché-work or engine-turning on gold – white gold in this particular case – elegantly enhanced by the blued hour, minute, seconds, and dual time-zone hands. The second is adorned with gemstones such as black onyx, ruby, jade, opal or lapis lazuli. And finally, the third features a rhodiumed anthracite gold base punctuated by stamped dials, creating a three-dimensional effect. All models are supplied with an alligator leather strap and issued in limited edition of eight per dial and case version. Simply Stunning.