Teamwork: the Opus X by Harry Winston
After graduating in engineering and microtechnology, Jean-François Mojon quickly made a name for himself researching and developing movements and complications for numerous brands. Following stints with IWC and Swatch Group, in 2005 he set up his own company, Chronode SA, in Le Locle. As a specialist in the development of grande complication movements, he was Harry Winston’s natural choice to design the Opus X.
“I try to take a practical approach with a lot of work upstream. My team of 15, including five design engineers and five assemblers, and myself produce endless simulations. We use kinematics a lot, a branch of mechanical engineering that studies the movements of bodies without considering the forces that cause this movement,” Jean-François Mojon explains.
Two years went by between the original idea and the remarkable timepiece that was ultimately produced. The Opus X dispenses with hands to display time by means of indicators in constant three-dimensional rotation. Mounted on a frame that makes a complete revolution in 24 hours, hours, minutes and seconds are shown on orbiting wheels. Moving independently of each other, they keep the same orientation, irrespective of the frame’s position, thanks to a mechanism that enables them to turn in opposite directions.
“This was a joint effort that called on numerous skills,” insists Jean-François Mojon, convinced that the time when the different professions worked in isolation is now over.
