2018 basel review
CORUM
ARTISAN COIN WATCH
For almost fifty years Corum has offered coin watches, primarily
using U.S. $20 double eagle coins that the brand fits with its
own manual-wind or automatic movements. This year Corum
extends that history with a new coin watch, but with an arty
focus and a thin automatic movement. Corum’s new Artisan Coin
Watch, the Hobo Coin, transforms an old folk art into a collector
piece for the wrist.
Artist Aleksey Saburov is working with the Swiss brand to create
limited edition coin watches from so-called hobo nickels. These
coins were pre-Depression U.S. nickels reworked with
engravings by itinerant workers, soldiers bound for the front
during World War I or, notably, by penniless ‘hobo’ artists for
whom the coins were named. Many were talented engravers, and
a favorite coin was the Buffalo nickel, which entered circulation
in 1913.
The coins today are scarce, though Corum notes that the
Original Hobo Nickel Society, founded in 1992, makes it a point
to preserve the coins. Saburov, a Russian engraver living in New
York, produces artistic 21st-century hobo coins, and Corum is
working with him on this small limited series of watches.
Price: $21,000.
FERDINAND
BERTHOUD
CHRONOMÈTRE FB 1R
A new interpretation of the 44mm watch first seen earlier this
year at SIHH 2018, the 1785 edition is a series of five bronze
watches – each of which is truly unique due to the use of
various artistic patinas. The presence of bronze and caliber
FB-T.FC.R-2 are meant as reminders of the marine
chronometers and sextants used for measuring time at sea.
The incredible Caliber FB-T.FC.R-2 is one of the rare
movements to feature a fusee and chain transmission system
that acts like an automatic reduction gearbox, since the
torque delivered by the barrel varies according to the state-
of-wind. Together with the tourbillon (visible through the
caseback) the caliber operates with COSC chronometer
status. The price for one Chronomètre FB 1R - Edition 1785
bronze is $254,000.
92 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | SUMMER 2018