Of all the independent master watchmakers, Antoine Preziuso is without a doubt the most ‘couturier’ of them all. He has always been highly sensitive to shapes, colours, and materials, not hesitating to propose watches that, while being faithful to the codes and values of the craft, offer poetic and dreamy adventures.
It should not come as a big surprise, then, to see Preziuso join forces with his daughter, Laura, a jeweller in her own right (Antoine also has a strong sense of family) to offer pieces that are both haute joaillerie and haute horlogerie in nature… even if they don’t tell time.





In the first piece to come from this union of talents, a pendant named Lune showcases the jewellery art of Laura in all its curves, along with a few passions from her father, such as the use of meteorites (already experimented with in some of his wristwatches), as well as his patented and very poetic large lunar phase indicator. But, while this piece is equipped with a watch movement (in a mechanical or auto-quartz version), its gears serve only to make the large moon rotate. So, basically what the Preziuso team is offering is an animated piece of jewellery with a round shape, made in white gold. Its meteorite dial is set with nine diamonds set in a star shape, and is surrounded by volutes set with 570 diamonds with 58 facets, in which a pear-shaped faceted aquamarine is suspended enclosed in a setting.
Among his more watchmaking endeavours, Antoine Preziuso is notably proposing some new Grand Chrono Robusto models, including the illustrated ‘Black Diamonds’ version, although many other variations exist in different materials. On a carbon fibre dial, Preziuso has created four original display zones: a 30-minute counter at 12 o’clock, 42-hour continuous working reserve indication at 3 o’clock, 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock, and a small seconds at 9 o’clock). The chronograph seconds hand is in the centre, in the form of an arrow, whose end has a counterweight displaying the symbol of the brand.
The minute and hour counters are particularly interesting. Devoid of numbers, they contain a double graduated zone on a semi-circle. The respective indications are shown by two hands called a ‘double helix’ driven by a continuous movement.
The bold case, in DLC-treated steel (an ultra-resistant treatment used in the Formula 1, notably for pistons, and which gives the steel a lovely and subtle anthracite colour) is set with black diamonds, in an original and contemporary pavé setting in a chequered pattern.
Antoine Preziuso is also revealing a flurry of other new items, including an ‘ultra-subtle’ reversible watch, ‘which comes apart and turns over on the wrist’. The watchmaker calls this creation ‘Bside’ after the famous ‘Face Bs’ of the old 45 RPM records. Another new function is the new ‘Next Full Moon’, which, as its name suggests, answers the question no one is ever able to answer: ‘When is the next full moon?’


Source: Europa Star April-May 2007 Magazine Issue