The handful of watch companies capable of creating, developing and ensuring the reliability of totally exclusive and ultra-complex watch movements form an extremely exclusive fraternity to which Christophe Claret SA undeniably belongs. This year, the firm based in Le Locle is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Throughout this time, the Manufacture has consistently devised some of the world's most complicated new calibres. Few brands admit to outsourcing in creating their most complex models, which explains why, beyond a select circle of connoisseurs, the name of Christophe Claret is little known to the public at large. Nonetheless, from the minute repeater – the first complication developed by this watchmaker – to the orbital tourbillon and the roller-display perpetual calendar, the Manufacture is indisputably one of the most innovative and effective companies in the watch industry.
Christophe Claret has earned this privileged position by pursuing a relentless quest for perfection. Hailing from the region of Lyon, in France, he studied watchmaking in Geneva before beginning his career as an antique watch restorer. At the 1987 Basel Fair, the owner of a major Swiss watch company asked him to develop an exclusive minute repeater movement, a commission that encouraged Christophe Claret to found his own company in partnership with two other talented watchmakers. In 1989, his instinctive need for independence led him to become the sole owner, so he bought up his partners’ shares and duly renamed the firm Christophe Claret SA. Ever since, his workshops have been constantly inventing and producing movements featuring an ideal blend of horological tradition and cutting-edge technologies.
DualTow – The New Benchmark
Enigmatically christened "DualTow", the first Grande Complication timepiece bearing the signature of Christophe Claret and exclusively developed to mark the 20th anniversary of his company, vividly embodies the principles guiding the Manufacture in the pursuit of its vocation. A symbol of excellence and experience, its mechanical hand-wound single-pusher planetary-gear chronograph movement is endowed with a tourbillon and striking mechanism. Calibre CC20A is thus a faithful reflection of this spirit and a forceful expression of the shared passion driving the company's hundred-strong workforce.
To celebrate this milestone event, Christophe Claret has chosen to use symbolism in order to endow this incomparable timepiece with unique meaning. The DualTow is a concentrated blend of the powerful values linked to this jubilee, including the enthusiasm and strength of youth, the ardent desire to live each moment with matchless intensity, and a resolutely forward-looking attitude. Expressed in watchmaking terms, this determination has resulted in a mechanism that is unique in the world and for which a patent has been filed to protect its revolutionary chronograph system. To lend an even more exclusive luxury touch, the future owner can choose from a broad range of colours to adorn his watch. A commemorative model that is both inherently provocative and unmistakably original, the DualTow is naturally available in a limited edition only, composed of 68 watches – each unique in its kind.
Source: Christophe Claret
www.christopheclaret.com
Contact:info@claret.ch
(Please credit europastar.com)
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