Horological Meandering

An evening with Mr Roden and de Grisogono

 

Last Thursday, several guests had the big chance to attend a dinner organized by the de Grisogono team in Paris with the presence of Mrs and Mr Roden at a prestigious place: the Hôtel de Vendôme located a few steps from the de Grisogono Boutique in Paris. We were very happy to be able to share this moment with them because we had the will to learn more about Gérald Roden's new position, the future de Grisogono projects without forgetting the reminder of some good old souvenirs some of us had with him.

I already presented in details the OtturatOre which is an important watch for de de Grisogono as a symbol of the new ambition: the objective is to develop creative watches with, let's say, more credible horological contents than during the first years of the watchmaking history of the brand.

If we speak about the building process of a watch, the goal is to be able to design the architecture of the movements and to assemble them but not to produce each and every part of these future movements. The idea is not to become the new JLC or Patek as a highly integrated manufacture. But in the future the share of de Grisogono watches which will house exclusive calibers will raise up.

Let's take this OtturatOre: it is typically the path de Grisogono will follow:
- an innovative movement due to the presence of the rotating dial system
- a powerful design with a lot of character
- a fun and interactive watch

But the first steps on this path were done with the Meccanico dG. The Meccanico dG was created to celebrate the 15th anniversary of de Grisogono and this celebration highlighted an innovative caliber combining analogue and digital time displays.

Of course, Gérald Roden also came with other watches belonging to the current collection like the Occhio Minute Repeater (using a Claret movement combined with a diaphragm dial opening and closing system) or the Fuso Quadrato which shares in common with the Occhio Minute Repeater the diaphragm.

We can feel Fawaz Gurosi's inspiration in the watches size: their purpose is not to play on the understatement field: a de Grisogono watch has to  reveal the bright and hedonist side of the personality of its owner.

To learn more about the OtturatOre:
home.watchprosite.com

To learn more about the new ambition of the brand and the way to achieve it:
home.watchprosite.com

I propose you now to share pictures of the warm atmosphere under the charm of the de Grisogono team of Paris... Big thanks to Steyr who took these wonderful pictures in quite difficult light conditions. He managed to catch the atmosphere of the event:

The two symbolic watches from de Grisogono, the Meccanico dG and the OtturatOre:

The Fuso Quadrato:

I like the use of the Diaphragm which allows to unveil the second timezone display. You really get two watches in one. But the size of its big square makes it very big. This watch deserves a more subtle case IMHO.

I remember very well when I first saw the Meccanico dG a few years ago, for me it was an UFO which landed on Earth...

Beauty and the beast...

The Occhio Minute Repeater. I really find this watch fascinating because it is like a small theater... the curtain opens to let the music play... but I would have prefered it without the engraved words on the bezel!

Or at least without the number:

The OtturatOre provoked mixed emotions. All the guests were seduced by the concept, some understood the need to "pump" before pressing the rotating dial pushers... and some regretted it. A guest underlines that an added complication which displays the 90° rotations left would be a nice idea. I remind you that you need to "pump" 20 times to get enough energy to press the rotation pusher 10 times (so 2 and half full revolutions).

It is a bit painful to wind the watch due to the big pushers around the crown. I found the trick by using my thumb. Hopefully, the watch is automatic and the power reserve display is useful in this context.

The rotating dial mechanism:

Two rectangular aesthetical achievements:

Ready to pump and to play?

The watch and its engine:

The atmosphere of the event, classy and casual at the same time...

Gérald Roden gave us a lot of further explanations about the OtturatOre:

How lucky I was being surrounded by 4 charming ladies!

Two guests:

De Grisogono without glamour is not conceivable!

A JLC moderator is hidden on this pic... are you able to find him?

We would like to thank a lot de Grisogono for the perfect organization of the event. We spent a very nice evening all together. But what we really enjoyed was the feeling to see Gérald Roden found himself in an appropriate context which  makes him express his ideas and projects. He will contribute a lot to the achievement of the de Grisogono ambition in the future. It is the reason why we are very keen to discover the upcoming novelties which will be unveiled at the 2012 Basel Fair.

Fr.Xavier

This message has been edited by foversta on 2011-11-05 16:23:09