It was a time for celebration for the representatives of Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud, the highly specialized, exclusive and young watch brand. It had acquired its first U.S. retailer, Cellini, the independent watch and jewelry store in New York. However, Vincent Lapaire, general manager and Jonathan Richard, marketing manager, were at work in Chopard’s New York boutique ready to meet more potential clients.
For a small watch brand that produces about 20 pieces per year (Lapaire says he likes to see that increase to 30) it’s a big deal. The U.S. market is lucrative and large. Cellini is officially the 10th retailer worldwide to sell Ferdinand Berthoud watches. Lapaire said the deal was struck with Cellini’s owner, Leon Adams, in January during the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in Geneva and Lapaire delivered four watches to the retailer a week ago.
Lapaire’s job isn’t easy. Even among luxury timepieces that appeal to a small group of collectors of high watchmaking, Ferdinand Berthoud requires some understanding. There are only a few retailers in the U.S. capable of selling such exclusive and complex timepieces with its unique brand story and Cellini is one of them.
The brand, which released its first watches in 2015, was founded by Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, the co-president of luxury brand Chopard, as a separate, distinct company. This explains why our meeting was at the Chopard boutique. The company produces chronometers with artisan hand-made movements and finishes in the tradition of the its namesake, Ferdinand Berthoud, an 18th Century scientist and master watchmaker, who produced navigational chronometers for French sailing vessels that journeyed throughout the known world. The company tries to combine this chronometric precision with beautiful exteriors using old world artisan techniques.
Lapaire explains that the company was established in Fleurier, Switzerland, in the Val-de-Travers region that was the birthplace of the master watchmaker, even though he gained his fame in France. It employs 15 artisan workers that produce both the movements and the finishes. The cases and crowns are made by Chopard to Ferdinand Berthoud standards, using a combination of metals and finishes. The case shape is inspired by the marine chronometers designed by Ferdinand Berthoud beginning in 1760. So far the brand has produced three watch lines and two chronometer movements with a number of additional complications like a tourbillon, power reserve and moonphase.
Among its newest releases are the FB 1L and the FB 1 “Oeuvre d’Or.”
The Chronomètre FB 1L combines an in-house tourbillon movement with a new display of the age and phases of the moon. It’s available in two ten-piece limited editions: In an 18k white gold case with black ceramic lugs (“Near Side of the Moon”), or in anthracite “ceramised” titanium and sandblasted 18k white gold case (“Far Side of the Moon”). It displays the hours and minutes on a dedicated subdial at 12 o’clock, seconds in the center and has a 53-hour power reserve on the back of the movement. It also displays the age and phases of the moon, which are two separate measurements—combining chronometric precision and astronomical measurement.
The in-house caliber, FB-T.FC.L, features an original suspended fusee-and-chain construction that delivers a constant force to the escapement throughout the operation of movement. In addition, for the first time, it is complemented by a patented complication: the age of the moon. This consists of two indications. The first is the display of the moon's age in days, marked from 1 to 14 on a sector swept over by a hand moving back and forth. Day “1” is the first day since the new moon. Facing this “1” is a circle symbolizing the latter. The next three quarters are spread over the same sector as the days go by. Facing the 14th day is a solid disc, symbolizing the full moon. At this point, the hand performs a gradual backward move passing through the same quarters in the opposite direction until it returns to the new moon.
This display of the age of the moon is complemented by another function revealed through a dial opening between 4 and 5 o’clock, showing the current moon phase, waxing or waning, thereby indicating whether the moon-age indicator hand is rising (up to day 14) or returning (to the new moon). Since this hand progresses at a rate imperceptible to the naked eye, this precious moon-phase indication makes it possible at a single glance to see whether one is heading towards a full moon or a new moon.
This age-of-the-moon display is provided by an arrow surrounding a half-sphere accurately depicting the two large faces of the Moon – visible and hidden – on both versions of the FB 1L collection.
This scientific measuring instrument, coupled with the chronometric measurement of time, made it possible to determine longitude at sea with unparalleled accuracy nearly 270 years ago. It was inspired by a system for displaying the equation of time developed by Ferdinand Berthoud in 1752. It was based on the use of a feeler-spindle arm that followed an equation of time cam. In this instance, however, it is an age-of-the-moon cam. This invention earned him the title of master watchmaker a year later, by decree of the King's Council. This contemporary interpretation provides a disc-free display of the age of the moon with an accuracy of 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 15 seconds – corresponding to a one-day difference in 577 years of continuous operation.
Chronomètre FB 1 “Oeuvre d’Or” consists of two new variations of this watch line, in white gold (FB 1.1-2) and rose gold (FB 1.2-1), with new hand-crafted decorations on the dial and its engravings, as well as the movement half-bridges, entirely crafted in 18k gold. Each is limited to five pieces. The white gold version has a case set with baguette-cut diamonds, making it the first gem-set creation from Ferdinand Berthoud.
The rose gold dial uses a number of engraving techniques. First, the gold is finely grained with a graver. The surface is then crafted using a tool called a "rocker," giving it a textured finish. Each of the dials is hand-engraved with, “Ferdinand Berthoud - Chronomètre - Val-de-Travers – Suisse,” followed by the individual limited-edition number and the power reserve indicator “Haut” and “Bas” (High and Low).
The FB-T.FC caliber that powers the watch uses a suspended fusee-and-chain transmission system. The latter serves to deliver constant force to the escapement throughout the running time of the movement, providing a 53 hour power reserve. The caliber is also equipped with a direct-drive seconds tourbillon, made possible by the correlation between the fourth wheel and the wheel driving the tourbillon carriage, both identical and visible on the dial side.
Finally, the power-reserve indicator operates in an atypical manner. It rests on a mobile cone which, in association with the rotation of the cylinder, moves up and down according to the state of wind. A jewel-tipped mobile arm (feeler spindle), takes an accurate measurement, which it then transmits to a visible hand on the dial side.
Four patents have been filed for this movement.
