Wempe
Chronometerwerke
CW4
Wempe Fifth Avenue Edition
a hand-engraved balance cock and Glashütte stopwork, powered the limited- also presented a Fifth Avenue Limited Edition of the Zeitmeister Large Date,”
edition Chronometerwerke Up/Down with a power reserve indicator at 12 o’clock Wempe noted. “ This year, the case material will be extraordinary, but I am not
balancing out the small seconds at 6 o’clock. going to tell you more just yet… “
AUTOMATIC SUBTLE DEBUTS
Finally, for its anniversary celebration in 2016, Wempe Glashütte /i SA came out What is certain is that whatever Wempe produces, it will not land in the midst
with its first automatic movement, the CW4, developed together with Soprod, of watch fans the way a Hublot-powered meteorite might. That is not the way of
which displays all of the brand’s depth of craft right down to details like the two Wempe. Rather, the Wempe wow will be subtle, rounded, balanced, logical, and
spring barrels, which are set in ruby bearings to improve torque and delivers up reasonable. Kim-Eva Wempe is not a disrupter, and thankfully so.
to 92 hours of power reserve. The sunburst-decorated tungsten rotor is located Thus, in addition to the watches shown for the division’s tenth anniversary,
off-center for practical and visual reasons while the balance wheel with variable there was also a large standing clock the company produced in collaboration
inertia is another improvement. It is held in place by a hand-decorated bridge. with Sattler, an outstanding clockmaker near Munich. It is more than a
The CW4 started its career driving the mechanics in a very understated, three- demonstration of ultimate engineering virtuosity. It is also a statement that
hander with date. The future of this movement is promising, and it is bound to Wempe, and other watchmakers in the company’s league, do not need to make a
find use in a wealth of complicated watches. lot of noise to attract attention. Fine mechanics and classic elegance are timeless
“To commemorate the grand opening of our expanded New York store, we values. These lilies need no gilding.
WINTER 2018 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | 5