COVER STORY
Left: The mainplate on the RS 14 and RS 16 features sixty pyramids and requires hours of hand-guilloché work by Georges Brodbeck.
Below is a special edition Rudis Sylva pocket watch made to celebrate the company’ s tenth anniversary in 2016. of that historic sundial.
“ It’ s a bit like alchemy,“ Cattin explains.“ And this technique often gives rise to pleasant surprises.”
ROUND AND SQUARE Rudis Sylva surprised many ten years ago with the debut version of the Harmonious Oscillator, placed inside that square-cased RS 05. Since then, the company has placed the movement into a 44mm gold-cased RS 10, RS 12, RS 14 and, finally, this year’ s RS 16. There’ s also a ten-piece limited-edition pocket watch, which debuted earlier this year to help celebrate the firm’ s tenth anniversary. The RS 16 is a stylistic update of the RS 14, explains Sarkissian, who notes that the new model’ s case is a bit more streamlined and polished than the earlier model. The new RS 16 also features“ a multitude of very complicated angles and finishes,” that could easily attract a different type of collector, in part due to its so-called‘ glass-box’ architecture created by acclaimed watch designer Eric Giroud. Giroud essentially removed the gold bezel seen on RS 14 and replaced it with a vintage-inspired bombé crystal that rises above the movement to frame it in glass.
That broad sapphire display case underscores Rudis Sylva’ s unusual method of tackling the deleterious effects of gravity on timing within a wristwatch movement. The small company’ s outsized effort, grandly dubbed the Harmonious Oscillator, has in the eight years since its debut attracted much attention among watchmakers. Its placement within the RS 16 is yet another reason for collectors to pay close attention to this company from the Swiss forests.
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WRISTWATCH | 2017