FRANCK MULLER:
VANGUARD
CRAZY HOURS
REFERENCE: V 45 CH BR.
CASE: Stainless steel, 53.7mm x 44mm x 13.70 mm. Water
resistant to 30 meters.
MOVEMENT: FM 2800 CH. Self-winding mechanical movement,
28,800 vibrations/hour, 42 hours power reserve, 203
components, 27 jewels. Movement decoration: Côtes de Genève
and sunray brushing on the bridges and oscillating weight.
Circular graining of both sides of the bottom plate. Diamond
polishing on the bridges. 24-karat gold bath and rhodium
treatment, 24-karat gold finish on the engravings. Blued screws.
Sunray brushing on the rolling barrel and ratchet.
FUNCTIONS: Central jumping hour hand.
Central minutes and seconds.
DIAL: Brushed dial and applied Arabic numerals.
STRAP: Hand-sewn alligator strap with dial-matched stitching,
folding buckle.
WHEN CRAZY HOURS DEBUTED IN 2003, FEW COULD HAVE
GUESSED THAT A WATCH WITH A RANDOM DISTRIBUTION
OF HOUR NUMERALS WOULD BECOME IN-DEMAND AMONG A
SUBSET OF THE TIME-OBSESSED. YET THESE PLAYFUL ARABIC
NUMERALS, HISTORICALLY FRAMED WITHIN FRANCK MULLER’S
WELL-KNOWN CINTRÉE CURVEX CASE, QUICKLY GAINED A
FOLLOWING. FRANCK MULLER HAS OFFERED THE DIAL IN
NUMEROUS SIZES OVER THE YEARS, BUT ALWAYS WITHIN THE
SAME CASE SHAPE.
FOR 2019 FRANCK MULLER PLANS TO EXTEND THIS CRAZINESS to
its top-selling Vanguard collection, creating four colorful Vanguard Crazy
Hours models in brushed stainless steel cases. Thus, you’ll find all the
seemingly ‘random’ numerals bathed in blue, red, green or orange, each
applied onto the brushed steel dial with great depth in a sporty font. For
extra fun, Franck Muller matches each dial highlight color to the stitching on
the black alligator strap.
The Crazy Hours patented mechanism means that the central hour hand
on these automatic watches jumps from one hour to the next, following the
randomly placed numbers on the dial. Meanwhile, the minute hand follows a
decidedly less crazy, traditional sixty-minute cycle, revolving around the dial
in the usual manner.
Although the hour numerals seem randomly placed, there is a sequence to
the ‘crazy’ hours. If you’re not keen on deciphering patterns, here’s the key:
each subsequent number is placed at an approximately 120-degree arc away
from the preceding number.
These models serve as a preview to what Franck Muller calls “the many
marvels” the brand plans to debut in 2019, much of it the result of an
expanded manufacturing capability at its Genthod location, near Lake
Geneva. Given that Franck Muller already operates seven production
facilities in Switzerland, and has filed fifty patents over its three-decades, we
expect a flurry of new production this year. iW will show you all the WPHH
debuts online and in its next print issue.
WINTER 2019 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | 85