DualTow, an exceptional watch for an outstanding occasion

Is Christophe Claret, the man behind many of the great Manufactures’ exceptional models, finally stepping into the spotlight? The answer is no. Other than a few talked-about appearances at Jean Dunand (Tourbillon Orbital and Shabaka), Harry Winston (Opus IV and Tourbillon Glissière), Les Maîtres du Temps (Chapitre 1) and de Grisogono (Occhio Ripetizione Minuti), his role as Fine Watchmaking’s eminence grise seems to fit him like a glove. Not that he is letting his personal achievements, and one milestone in particular, slip by unnoticed. Indeed, this year marks the 20th anniversary of Manufacture Christophe Claret, which is based at the historic Soleil d’Or manor, overlooking Le Locle.

Needless to say, there could be no true commemoration of the event without a timepiece capable of encapsulating two decades of watchmaking creations, each as accomplished as the next. Enter the DualTow, which the Manufacture unveiled at the recent Baselworld fair. This watch combines a “belt” hour and minute display with a single-pusher planetary-gear chronograph with striking mechanism and one-minute tourbillon. A timepiece available as a limited edition of 68, and which this time the master has signed with his name.

Technical prowess

“We started out from a project on the basis of an in-house competition which I organise each year to encourage innovation within the Manufacture,” Christophe Claret explains. “This was for a differential-gear chronograph, which was actually impossible to make. It did however become the basis for this timepiece, whose aesthetics and technical specifications have been painstakingly researched.” For nothing has been left to chance with this first ever grande complication watch to bear the master-watchmaker’s name, and this includes a major patented innovation: the three identically-structured planetary gears at the heart of the single-pusher chronograph.

Without going too far into technical specifications, this innovative operating mode ensures a regular rate, as torque is consistently identical in every position. Hence the movement is not subject to major variations in amplitude. Christophe Claret has further refined this complication by incorporating a striking mechanism that signals each phase in the start, stop and reset sequence. In another feat of innovation, the chronograph hours, minutes and operating mode are read from a sapphire crystal which also serves as a bridge for the chronograph counters. This transparency draws the eye deep into the chronograph mechanism, which is composed of a column wheel surrounded by hammers and levers, nine in all to activate the chronograph whose movement bears every resemblance to a walking spider. Each of these elements is fixed to a component that is joined to the main plate. It has been named the “barillot” for its shape, which is that of a revolver cylinder.

Customisation

The one-minute tourbillon is clearly visible at 6 o’clock. Its carriage is enhanced with the back-to-back “double C” cipher that is the watchmaker’s distinctive signature. Power is supplied by two barrels, which the CC20A calibre transfers to a system of pulleys which drive the two belts on which hours and minutes are displayed. These belts have been specially imagined by the Manufacture, and each has its own integrated tensioning system. The minute belt also conceals the winding and time-setting system. Openings have been made in the sides of the case to afford a view of this original driving mechanism.

In a final touch of genius, each of the 68 DualTow watches can be entirely customised with a range of colours and materials, from the main plate to the screws, from the hands and markers to the tourbillon bridge, from the pulleys to the differential gear elements, right down to the pusher and the crown. No fewer than 400 possible configurations in all. The watchmaker is at pains to emphasise that “the DualTow isn’t intended to launch the Christophe Claret brand. When the Manufacture celebrated its 10th anniversary, we marked the occasion with musical watches. We have made this timepiece in an identical spirit.” Rendezvous in September, when the DualTow is launched.