Kong's detailed report captures the exclusive Kuala Lumpur unveiling of the Bell & Ross Vintage WW1 Heure Sautante. This event, themed around 1950s Shanghai, showcased the watch alongside captivating photography and jazz performances. The article provides a behind-the-scenes look at the launch, highlighting the fusion of horology, art, and cultural ambiance.
On 26 July, FJ Benjamin and Cortina
Watch launched the Bell & Ross Vintage WW1 Heure Sautante in Kuala
Lumpur at Estate, The Intermark. The vintage-related theme brought the
guests back in time, to the post-war era of 1950s Shanghai.
The
evening featured the work by a leading Malaysia photographer, Vincent
Paul Yong (aka VPYP), featuring the Vintage WW1 Heure Sautante in the
50s theme. Following was a performance by Shanghai-based jazz songstress
Jasmine Chen, who serenaded the crowd with mesmerizing songs from the
1950s
A relive of the wonderful evening ...
Entrance of the venue ... Estate at The Intermark.
A look at behind the scene before the event ... The photography work of Vincent Paul Yong arrived and pending to be mounted ... Will have pic of the Bell & Ross WW1 Heure Sautante photographed by Vincent Paul Yong below ...
Models with their make-up artists ...
Final check and tuning of the piano ...
Restaurant staff in meeting...
DJs also testing their system (in the interesting background) ...
Cheoregraphing the walk for later ...
One of the models practising her walk ...
Emcee rehearsing too with Tong Chee Wai, General Manager of FJ Benjamin Luxury Timepieces Sdn Bhd observing ...
Catalogues for guests ...
FJ Benjamin team on standby at the reception .... dressing in cheongsam for the Shanghai night theme ...
Some
pictures of the collaborative work of Vincent Paul Yong (aka VPYP),
featuring the Vintage WW1 Heure Sautante & Tourbilons ...
Emcee running through the programmes with the DJ ...
Will be fabulous if this bike could be placed in front of the photo-board ....
Sun about to set ... at 7:15pm ...
Guests arriving ...
Having their pictures taken ...
Two of the models in cheongsam came out to accompany guests for photos ...
Nicely embroidered dragon ...
Tong Chee Wai, General Manager of FJ Benjamin joining guests for a photosession ...
After registration ...
Guests ushered in to the club ...
The early birds were served drinks and canapes ...
Bar was kept busy ...
Tong Chee Wei, General
Manager, F J Benjamin Luxury Timepieces) & Mr SK The (General
Manager, Cortina Watch) chatting with guests ...
Kitchen running on high speed to churn out canapes for over one hundred guests ...
Our friends in Kuala Lumpur
Guests mingling ...
One interesting section of lady guests dressed to the theme ...
A picture of the ladies in their cheongsam ...
Tong Chee Wei with our friends ...
Master of ceremonies began the evening ...
Followed by a video by Carlos Rosillo, CEO of Bell & Ross introducing the Vintage WW1 Heure Sautante ...
The collection movement was by the famous, Vincent Calabrese, featuring a jumping hour, minute and power reserve indicator.
Available in two versions, platinum and pink gold.
Also mentioned the material
used for the Striking Pocket Watch - Argentium which consists more
Silver, giving a brighter case and slow oxidation.
The short video ...
Followed by a short speech by the General Managers of both companies ... Tong Chee Wei, General Manager, F J Benjamin Luxury Timepieces) & Mr SK The (General Manager, Cortina Watch)
A few words from Tong introducing VPYP's work....
“I'm
very excited about our collaboration with VPYP in launching the new
Vintage WW1 Heure Sautante. His skills and artistic ingenuity is fully
expressed in his interpretation, where tradition is respected and
modernity is celebrated,”
A short filmlet about VPYP ...
The Malaysia photographer, Vincent Paul Yong (aka VPYP) ...
Followed by the models with the Vintage WW1 Heure Sautante pieces and several tourbillons ...
More watch pics later ... The BR 01 TOURBILLON AIRBORNE leading the walk ...
Followed by WW1 Heures Sautantes
Guests surrounded to have a closer look at the pieces ...
Other press members covering the event ...
BR Minuteur Tourbillon
Vintage WW1 Heure Sautante Platinum
Vintage WW1 Heure Sautante Rose gold
BR MINUTEUR TOURBILLON PINK GOLD
BR MINUTEUR TOURBILLON TITANIUM
Shanghai songstress Jasmine Chen discussing with her pianist ...
Following she took the stand ...
Guests were serenaded by Shanghai-based jazz songstress Jasmine Chen ...
Evening continued with more drinks and canapes and the company of the wonderful voice of Jasmine Chen ...
Before
Ieaving, one last pic of the three beautiful ladies. In the middle is a
regional celebrity, Danielle Graham flanked by her friends.
Now the watches ...
Starting with the stars of the evening - VINTAGE WW1 HEURE SAUTANCE WITH POWER RESERVE
The
Vintage WW1 Heure Sautante which movements was designed by Vincent
Calabrese, comes in two versions - a rose gold and platinum version. The
layout is legible and straight-forward - jumping hour at 12H,
minute-indicator in the middle and the power-reserve-indicator at 6H. The
conspicuous placement of the power-reserve indicator is to ensure the
owners know to 'power up' the watch to ensure accurate time-keeping, as
the jumping-hour requires power to trigger hourly.
Above is the 42mm pink gold case version with blue-hands,
opaline white dial and anti-reflective coated sapphire crystal, limited
to 50 pieces.
Wire handles were soldered and paired with thin leather straps, close resemblance to the first wrist watch. Sapphire caseback, and water resistance rated to 100m 50m.
Actual
power reserve was not in the specifications. As the base is an ETA,
some would guess it should be about 36 hours. However with the power
consumed by the jumping hour, it may be lesser than 36 hours.
Movement is decorated with perlage and Geneva stripes.
The second option is the 42mm platinum case with opaline grey dial and black-minute hand and power reserve indicator. Limited to 25 pieces. Case is also rated to 100m 50m water resistant.
Serial number is engraved onto the caseback. Same as the pink gold version.
Both pieces are available exclusively at Cortina Watch Boutiques in Kuala Lumpur.
Other heavy-weight pieces displayed that evening ...
BR MINUTEUR TOURBILLON Pink Gold
Limited to 30pieces. Case is 44mm x 50mm. Carbon fibre dial.
Function (from the crown side) - hours, minutes. Small second counter tucked around 6H position, just beside the tourbilon.
At
12H position is the 3-day power reserve indicator. Around the 9H area
is Minuteur with flyback* function (2 graduations into one subdial :
60 minutes and 10/10th of hours).
BR MINUTEUR TOURBILLON Titanium, limited to 30 pieces.
Same case dimension as the pink gold version. The case is titanium and DLC-coated.
BR01 TOURBILLON Airborne, limited to 20 pieces.
Case is 46mm diameter, titanium and DLC coated.
Regulator dial layout too. Hour at 12H (Skull) and central minute-hand. Power indicator (for 5 days) at 9H .
BR 01 Tourbillon Pink Gold with Aluminium fibre dial, limited to 20 pieces.
Regulator dial layout - Central minute-hand with hour-indicator at 12H position. Power reserve is 5 days.
46mm diameter case, water resistance rated to 100m.
Manual wind movement.
Another variation, the ultra-stealth BR 01 Tourbillon Phantom, limited to 18 pieces. Titanium case with DLC coating with carbon fibre dial.
Next BR 01 Tourbillon Pink Gold, limited to 20 pieces.
Thanks to FJ Benjamin Malaysia for the invite and the wonderful evening.
Kong
Related Post:
FX's Baselworld 2012: Bell&Ross Report, please click here to access.
This message has been edited by Kong on 2012-08-08 13:12:48 This message has been edited by Kong on 2012-08-09 05:59:01
Key Points from the Discussion
A contributor noted the prevalence of jumping hour watches with movements based on Vincent Calabrese's work, sharing a personal pilgrimage to Lausanne for one of his original pieces.
The author clarified that the blue hands of the watch appeared black due to lighting conditions and confirmed that the wire lugs allow the watch to sit well on various wrists, despite its size.
A user inquired about the different hands on the featured jumping hour model compared to another report, preferring the hands shown, and asked about the watch's wearability due to its lug design and availability in Singapore.
A contributor provided specific details about the watch, mentioning the 42mm pink gold case, blue hands, opaline white dial, anti-reflective sapphire crystal, and its limitation to 50 pieces, calling it 'charming'.
The author confirmed that the jumping-hour pieces, especially knowing they are done by Vincent Calabrese, are very appealing and encouraged readers to check them out.
A user, not typically a fan of Bell & Ross, expressed intrigue and admiration for the Heure Sautante models, particularly the platinum version, despite not having seen them in person.
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The Discussion
FO
foversta
Aug 8, 2012
Thanks a lot for the comprehensive report Kong.
I prefer the PG version. My only concern about these watches is about the reliability. I do hope that it has been improved because the first versions several years ago faced some troubles. But I really like their designs. Fx
KO
Kong
Aug 9, 2012
+1 for PG version ...
prefer the white dial with blue-hands :-) Thanks for viewing. Kong
MT
MTF
Aug 8, 2012
Jumping Hour mini-complication
Thanks for the report. We often forget our neighbours in Malaysia where many original PuristS live and play. My New Year's resolution is to do more in Malaysia......more live and play! :-) We (the current Mrs MTF and me) have a small collection of jumping hour watches from different brands. Many of them, we later found, had movements based on the Calabrese work. Mr Calabrese is a nice but underestimated co-founder of the AHCI. Eventually, we made the pilgrimage to Lausanne for one of his origina
KO
Kong
Aug 9, 2012
Thanks for the insights!
The PG piece I photographed, has precise jump, as I could observe the longer hand touching the 60th-minute-marker. The Pt seemed alright, may not be accurate observation as the minute-hand is shorter and wonder into a white area ;-) I remembered your visit to Vincent Calabrese's atelier with HTF, quite a while ago. Kong
MA
Marcus Hanke
Aug 9, 2012
Oh yes, the jumping hour is a rather old complication ...
... and popular already in the 19th century. However, I also doubt it might have been used in a wristwatch already as early as 1914. Anyway, the B&R versions of this complications are extremely nice, I especially like the platinum version's power reserve display. Regards, Marcus
RE
respo
Aug 20, 2012
Hi MTF, how about sharing photos of your jump hour pieces?
Please? Or if you have posted them, can you direct us to them? I love this particular complication and would love to see some additional examples. Which ones are based on the work of Calabrese, as you wrote? Best, respo
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