The winner of the “Aiguille d’Or” prize at the 16th Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève —GPHG 2016— and a now six-year-old manufacture Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud is a very well-known name in the horological world but sometimes forgotten by many. Resurrected by Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, the co-president of Chopard and founder of Chopard's in-house manufacture L.U.C division, Ferdinand Berthoud comes back with the concept of the Chronomètre FB 1.4-3 is inspired by an 18th-century armillary sphere whose movement, created by Ferdinand Berthoud, indicated the time on a glass dial.
The sapphire half-bridges reveal the beauty of the manual wound calibre FB-T.FC-2, rhodium-plated and dotted with blue accents, its pillar-type architecture, and its reversed and suspended fusee-and-chain transmission mechanism. Thanks to its bead-blasted titanium case, this timepiece with its contemporary design weighs only 80 grams, which is extremely light for such a complex timepiece.
The Ferdinand Berthoud calibre FB-T.FC-2 powering the Chronomètre FB 1.4-3 offers an exceptional level of readability thanks to its three sapphire half-bridges, finely chamfered with sandblasted bevels. This choice highlights the striking beauty of the components. The words "CHRONOMÈTRE SUISSE 45 RUBIS FERDINAND BERTHOUD" are engraved and highlighted in blue. This movement provides a power reserve of 53 hours when fully wound.
In addition to being a COSC certified chronometer, the FB 1.4.-3 Unique Piece is a constant force tourbillon with fusée-and-chain transmission featuring a suspended fusée, suspended barrel and suspended power reserve. This movement composed of 1,120 parts including the chain —the chain is composed of 790 parts with a length of 28.5 centimeters—, features a tourbillon with direct-drive seconds does a full rotation every minute and is composed of 67 components including a titanium tourbillon carriage supported by three polished titanium pillars and balanced by two blued 18K gold inertia blocks.
The silver-toned dial with straight-grained lines and an open-worked center bears a blue-toned counter at 12 o’clock displaying the hours and minutes. At 9 o'clock, the power reserve appears through a recessed opening with beveled edges with an arrow pointing to the words ‘HAUT’ —high— and ‘BAS’ —low. The seconds are indicated by a central hand on a translucent matt sapphire inner bezel ring, colored in blue. All finishes are entirely hand-crafted. Visible through the central dial opening, the fourth wheel is independent of the wheel driving the tourbillon carriage. Extremely thin at 0.22 mm and exceptionally long at 24.68 mm, the seconds hand is made of bronze with a blue CVD treatment, meanwhile the hour and minute hands are dagger-shaped made out of 18K white gold.
The octagonal case in bead-blasted titanium measuring 44 mm in diameter is fitted with two transparent sapphire portholes that allow for partial views of the calibre profile.
The watch is presented on a rolled-edge hand-sewn alligator leather strap made from a single piece of leather and equipped with a length-adjustable double-blade titanium folding clasp. A pin buckle is available upon request. This unique piece is one of the most impressive watches ever presented by Ferdinand Berthoud.
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