At BaselWorld 2010, Pierre Deroche will present its GrandCliff TNT BelCanto, integrating 19th century hand-crafted know-how with 21st century technologies. Authentic 19th century LeCoultre hour & quarter repeater and chronograph pocket-watch movements, modified by Numa Robert-Waelti in around 1894, have finally found the case, dial and hands they deserve in order to set them off to their best advantage.
In 2007, Pierre Dubois, Managing Director of Pierre Deroche, discovered these “movement blanks” at an antique dealer’s. Having fallen under their spell, he decided to give them a new lease on life in wristwatch form, thereby paying tribute to the great watchmakers who have forged the history of the Vallée de Joux. He also opted to make the least possible technical modifications.
Thanks to the encounter between Pierre Dubois and one of the most innovative artisans in the field of dial-making, the stunning crystal dial serves to admire the wealth of the historical movement: sandblasted on the dial side, and then metallized by PVD on the smoked parts. The voluminous hour-markers were then made by galvanic growth and coloured by 4N gold plating. This masterpiece was then housed within an imposing 55.5 mm rose gold case with a highly contemporary design.
In parallel, an instrument was developed by a luthier in the Vallée de Joux based on the principle of guitar soundboards. The extremely pure sound of the repeater strike is thus magnified when the BelCanto is placed on this base made from spruce wood from the forests of the region.
Technical Specifications
Limited Edition of 201 Pieces – 21 Pieces in Rose Gold and Titanium
Movement
Hand-wound PDR Calibre 4013 with “Maltese Cross” barrel-spring stopwork, originally made by LeCoultre & Co, modified by Numa Robert-Waelti (patent registered in 1894), 22 jewels, 18,800 vph, 2.5 Hz, Breguet-type balance-spring, balance with screws, circular-grained mainplate, bridges adorned with “Côtes de Genève”, sunburst barrel, chamfered and circular satin-brushed wheels, openworked hour and minute wheels and lower balance bridge, 30-hour power reserve.
diameter: 43.7 mm, 19 lignes, 9.2 mm thick
Functions
Hours, minutes, seconds, quarter repeater and one-minute column-wheel chronograph
Case
18-carat rose gold, 55.5 mm in diameter
18-carat rose gold pushers, crown and crown guard
back and upper bezel fitted with 2 sapphire crystals
repeater slide at 9 o’clock
water-resistant to 30 metres
Dial
Sapphire crystal
coloured by metallization; laser engraving
hour-markers created by galvanic growth
18-carat rose gold hour, minute and seconds hands
Strap
Crocodile leather, folding clasp with 18-carat rose gold cap and grade 2 titanium fold-out piece
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