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Play poker with Christophe Claret’s latest timepiece

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February 2014


After the 21 Blackjack and Baccara, now comes Poker, the latest addition to Christophe Claret’s trilogy of gaming watches.

Christophe Claret’s fertile imagination has managed to devise the mechanism for this sophisticated card game and enclose it within a case just 45mm in diameter.

For up to three players and the house, there are an incredible number of gameplay possibilities. While he revels in taking on the most improbable challenges, Christophe Claret also likes to combine unique aesthetics with utility.

Poker by Christophe Claret (front & back)
Poker by Christophe Claret (front & back)

Poker was actually to be the first of the gaming timepieces launched by Manufacture Claret. While the game seems simple to organize on a table, its watchmaking version is an extreme test and no technical solution had been found until Mr Christophe Claret himself came up with the answer.
While the first prototype was working in 2011, it required two years to perfect the intricate complication. Devising the gearing and bringing it all together in a mechanical movement – in other words, orchestrating a complete 52-card game following the rules of poker – is a real feat, one which offers Haute Horlogerie exciting new technical prospects.
In total, Poker packs in 32,768 different combinations, i.e. 98,304 combinations for three players. The probabilities have been calculated so that everyone has approximately the same chances of winning.

Poker caseback by Christophe Claret
Poker caseback by Christophe Claret

Based on these specific parameters, the PCK05 movement came into being. This completely original automatic-winding in-house caliber comprises no fewer than 655 components, and features two mainspring barrels that provide approximately 72 hours of power.
As well as its gaming functions, Poker has not abandoned its time display role, with two central hands providing excellent legibility.

Christophe Claret's in-house PCK05 movement
Christophe Claret’s in-house PCK05 movement

The dial of Poker is entirely made and assembled within Manufacture Claret and was designed to offer excellent legibility of both the time and the Poker game. With subtle decoration, a matte black ring, open-worked with playing cards, is overlaid on a silvered background.
Emblematic of the brand, the ruby and titanium hands – among the most expensive to make because of the complexity of machining these precious materials – are enhanced by a luminescent coating. The hour indexes are on the bezel so as not to crowd the stage. Although the dial has an incredible 77 components, its balanced harmonious design ensures that the players are not distracted. And, in a final detail that aficionados may appreciate, a breath of air forming condensation on the watch sapphire reveals a pin-up girl…

Poker is available in four versions: two-tone, black PVD-treated grade 5 titanium and white gold; two-tone, black PVD-treated grade 5 titanium and red gold; monochrome, black PVD-treated grade 5 titanium, with blue spinel hands; and monochrome, black PVD-treated grade 5 titanium with red ruby hands. Poker is covered by a worldwide patent.
Each case material is limited to just 20 pieces.

Source: Christophe Claret