Horological Meandering

Of all the Franck Muller timepieces it is the Cintree Curvex case that I most associate with the brand. At once modern, but with a Baroque feel, and a design that hasn’t been copied extensively. The curved case also adds to the comfort on the wrist.

 

I had the opportunity to try on three different tourbillons, a RG, black dialled jump hour tourbillon, a Pt Crazy Hour Tourbillon and a WG Tourbillon with a more conventional display of time.

 

As we don’t discuss Franck Muller watches very often, I thought you may like to see these.

 

Andrew

Crazy Hour Tourbillon

Tourbillon. Note the engraved tourbillon cage. Unsure what you use as a reference point for the seconds.

Jump Hour Tourbillon

The tourbillon would be less obscured by this design ...

I do like this case design.....

j

them, but dont think i would really buy or wear them.  i find them to be a bit to femenim.  i was reading an interesting article about his design and manufacturing steps.

"feminine" is apt--and i do like a sense of the feminine in watches....

J

Andrew,

Thanks for the photo-report.

The current Mrs MTF likes the case shape too but it took her 8 years to convince me to make a purchase.

You stated: "...a design that hasn’t been copied extensively", that I disagree with.  Back in the late 1990s and through early 2000s, the most copied and faked watch brand behind Rolex was possibly F. Muller !  As Muller was one of the earliest "independent" watchmakers to re-emerge as a brand name, Nearly every fifth 'office lady' or secretary in Japan seemed to have one on their wrist but that is probably an over-estimate on my part! 

In fact, the headless chicken fashionista syndrome was the reason that I held out against the brand for so long.  Later, it emerged that the real owner was not Mr Muller and the designs got funkier; that did not endear to us.  It was only after the frenzy had died down and massive price "market correction" occured that I finally got one of the classic and brand iconic models for Mrs MTF.

She is happy with the design, I am happy not to have pandered to fashion frenzy, and the wallet is happy to have shelled out very little money for a new watch. Strangely, after 8 years of bugging me, Mrs MTF has only worn the watch twice in 2 years!

Regards,

MTF

 

Thanks Melvyn,

I agree that there are plenty of fake Franck Muller watches out there. One of my staff is wearing one as I type. A souvenir of a holiday in Vietnam!

But there are not too many legitimate companies using this case shape in their designs, at least not recently, as far as I am aware. But I don’t look at ‘fashion’ watches much either. J

Andrew

I love Franck Muller's Cintree case and I think it deserves more credit..But it's my belief that FM's list prices on many of it's cintree watches keep buyers away!  

Independent of price, I love this case.  It's incredibly comfortable on the wrist and it's quite unusual. The numbers are laid out nicely to the shape of the watch.  Furthermore, the Cintree adds a nice mix to a collection and I think I favor it, even more so than a non-tourbillon JLC reverso or a GP 1945 (both of which I love as well)

However, IMHO, all three of these tourbillons could be more appealing.

1) The Crazy Tourbillon is over the top with the painted eight.  A watch of this price, with this painted 8, will probably drive you literally CRAZY!

2) On the second watch, the painted seconds outside of the tourbillon and the tourbillon itself, are probably to busy for my taste.

3) On the third tourbillon, the jump hour is too small and ackward, and oprobably out of proportion to the dial and minute numbers.

The lettering of "Franck Muller Geneve" is probably too tight to the top of the dial on all three watches.

Personally, the asking prices for these FM tourbillons put me off in any event, simply because JLC, for instance, offers a much better value in my opinion.

But thank you for posting these pictures as FM never fails to impress!

Best,

Palmasea

 

g

Thanks for the contribution to this thread. Actually I like the 8 built into the Tourbillon cage of the Crazy Hour. The only difficult thing was waiting for it to align to capture the image!

Andrew

...is very attractive, but I've never liked the dials.  The crazy dial in particular, well, it drives me crazy.

Great to see the unusual watches though.

Cheers,
Daos

No message body

... which means the watch didn't have a backside that did anything for me!

Actually my recollection is that they were all solid backs with the usual Muller engraving.

Andrew

.. according to Mrs sidneyc is unbelievably comfortable on the wrist. The curve at the back makes the watch sit perfectly on top of the wrist, and with the bracelet adjusted correctly, the watch wraps seamlessly around. It's this unmatched comfort that led the missus to buy the watch in the first place.

... I snapped a couple with my iPhone and the unlucky thing happened! My phone stopped recognising any cables (probably USB port fried) and I had to get an exchange unit from Apple. So all my data's gone (fortunately nothing too important). Will need to do another spy shot

i like the FM Watches, well at least most of the Older Models. ( not crazy about the most recent Pieces)

 it's unfortunate that His watches are under appreciated. no doubt that the Man Himself is a Genious.

 if i had the $$$$$,  i'd buy one of those Tourbillon.

 thanks for posting

 Tony

i was blown away...truely an amazing piece (huge tourbi hence the name giga) and very skeletonised and has the signature case of FM

... on some investment bankers wrist.  Let me just say I didn't like it at all....   Seemed like made for showing-off flashers   I truly liked FM's round masterpieces long time ago and I really miss them.

Ken

Think I have some similar picts!!

It seems to be fashionale beating down FM, myself guity of it as well. But these are really beautiful and appealing pieces, other then the price tags!!

Best,

Horo

... the price. I was more interested in facing my own prejudices and seeing what FM were able to offer.

And yes, these were taken at the Marina Bay Sands Boutique. Have they sold them yet?!

Andrew

for some reason it bugs me that the lower numerals are flipped over. That is the main reason I never seriously considered one. Thanks for the pictures though!

Best

Andreas

for example on this one:

But I do tend to like watches better that have no radial flip (Journe!)

Best

Andreas