Review of Jeanrichard Mens Paramount Time Square Watch

Three years ago, at Baselworld 2013, JeanRichard decided to commence on an important re-branding project, that led to a simplification of its product portfolio, and to the realization of a single case architecture, from which to develop three variations, from the more archetype to sportier ones, to which the 1681 manufactured caliber collection was added. A brave move for the La Chaux de Fonds maison, which boasts an important function in high-terminate watchmaking's history, just decided to innovate an entry level collection with an unparalleled quality to price ratio.

Although I recall with pleasure the case of a Paramount Foursquare and some of its appealing technical features, this three-twelvemonth period confirmed the success of the strategy put in place by the brand; this started off past offering a unmarried case design, the coussin one. It then improved its details and finishes, redefined its clear brand identity, and proposed four new collections. The "modular" scheme, perhaps meaningless to the general public, is in fact the starting point of the new product offering, and it explains why JeanRichard is the make that has, overall, launched the biggest number of technical and aesthetic variations of the classic three hands timepiece.

At Baselworld 2015 JeanRichard proves to be a mature brand, with a wide offering that too includes a 39mm women's collection. It too started to introduce some mechanical complications, and has accelerated the development and the introduction of advanced materials such equally carbon cobweb, a choice that allows aficionados easier access to a technology that is unremarkably found on watches costing at least xv–20k€. This introduction leads united states to a summary of the most interesting new timepieces, in my stance, that JeanRichard has launched in Basel, the flagship beingness the new GMT complication, a great achievement in terms of neat design and readability, and the best bear witness of the brand's development and growth.

Few other complications could be more suited to the Terrascope, JeanRichard's most widely appreciated model I gauge, and it comes with a "rubbergator" strap, a special kind of rubber that resembles an alligator strap. Designers have advisedly redesigned the GMT's dial, keeping the applied indexes while using pocket-sized Arabic numerals, placed every iv hours, on the inner 24 hours scale. The pocket-size blue hr hand of the second timezone reminds of the central hour's big ane (featuring a large arrow), a hallmark of a JeanRichard. There will exist iii Terrascope GMT'southward versions: blackness, blueish and gray. In all of them the indexes are practical, rhodium plated in the get-go ii versions, in blackened nickel in the terminal. Inside the case beats a JR62 caliber, an automatic movement beating at 4Hz, derived from the JR60 and visible through the case back, a novelty if compared to earlier Terrascopes, whose rotor featuring the JR logo creates that certain family unit feeling with the 1681, the manufactured collection, than before.

The Terrascope, both in its 44mm and in the 39mm sizes, of which nosotros've seen a preview last Feb, at present features a textile patterned blue dial and blueish suspended indexes, the only divergence being that the men'due south version adopts a bluish safety strap, while the model for ladies features a blue ostrich strap. The 44mm is priced at 2700€, the 39mm version for ladies comes at €2200. A few years ago I said that, in time, the Aeroscope collection would soon adopt the nearly avant-garde materials and I was not wrong, but this year the Terrascope has turned out to be a chrono with a carbon fiber case, every bit information technology had already happened last year with the introduction of the Terrascope Chrono Carbon Arsenal: the Terrascope Chrono Carbon will be made in just 200 pieces, and will feature a example fabricated from a multilayer of unidirectional fibers. Each ready of unidirectional carbon fibers ensures an excellent resistance to traction along its centrality, but information technology weakens the more you move away from it, if 1 applies a force along an axis that is perpendicular to the fiber's direction.

Multiple layers, with a different cobweb displacement between ii consecutive ones, are then overlapped, to increase the terminal chemical compound'southward resistance. Have a look at the instance's matte greyish color, that conspicuously contrasts with the black counters'one. I believe that chronograph and carbon fiber work better on the Terrascope, where the tachy scale is also blackened, than on an Aeroscope; vice versa I believe that the Aeroscope is a winner when the instance is made in steel or titanium (every bit we see for instance on the Aeroscope 208 Seconds ). The price of 8100€ is not for everyone, but it's amidst the well-nigh competitive, if not the near competitive on the marketplace. It is what one needs to approximate if you choose a carbon fiber watch.

Making a carbon fiber instance requires a dedicated production procedure and tooling that'south miles away from the standardization and big numbers needed to make a stainless steel case. The pay-off is a hi-tech military-looking timepiece, low-cal, hypoallergenic, and very resistant. I do hope that, in the almost future, procedure standardization will assistance lower the production costs, as information technology is in fact the case with the automotive manufacture, for carbon fibers solutions are very appealing in fine watchmaking.

The coolest surprise from JeanRichard at Baselworld 2015 is, notwithstanding, a simple watch: the new Aquascope with white dial, and a bluish and orange bezel. It gives this collection a bolder personality. It looks like the Bluish and Orange Girard-Perregaux Sea Hawk's trivial brother. ( HERE is our review). The bezel is a classic blue aluminum ring with an orangish 15 minutes scale, and suspended indexes with orange luminescence. At xiii,15mm, its thickness is but slightly higher than the Terrascope's, which stops at a very comfortable 12,60mm. I'm trying to motion-picture show how that bezel would look like if the inlay were made in ceramic. I don't know its retail price but I imagine it to be, every bit for the Terrascope, beneath the 3000€ threshold.

(Photo credit: Horbiter®'due south proprietary photo-shooting)

Gaetano C. @Horbiter®

@Gaetano Cimmino

hensonwhowd1953.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.horbiter.com/en/jeanrichard-baselworld-2015/

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