In all discretion, the manufacture aligns the successes. Last week, Ferdinand Berthoud won a second consecutive Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix.
Olivier Müller
You don’t know Ferdinand Berthoud? Unless you are a great collector or a watch history buff, this is normal. The man has greatly contributed to the development of marine chronometers, embarked on the great navigations of the 18th century. This may not seem like a big deal. This is not the case: without a reliable and very accurate on-board chronometer, in those days, it was simply impossible to calculate its course correctly. From Europe to the Americas, with an inaccurate chronometer, the error could easily reach several hundred nautical miles from its planned course.
In 1770, Ferdinand Berthoud became “Master Watchmaker and Mechanic of the King and the Navy”. Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud, which was created today to pay tribute to him, is celebrating this 250th anniversary with a new collection inspired by his Horloge Marine N°6: the Chronomètre FB 2RE.
This new timepiece reinterprets the architecture and design of this Marine Clock. Equipped with a large panoramic window in its case line, the 18-carat gold case is the first round-shaped case the brand has made. Its dial is in grand feu enamel, white or black, a second shade much more difficult to obtain.
The piece is one of the few to feature a rocket chain drive. It acts as an automatic gearbox. Thanks to it, the wheel receives a constant energy, a pre-filtering of the energy arriving to a second mechanism, the winder, one of the most complex systems of regulation of the torque in the history of the measurement of time. It is a second regulator that allows the Chronometer to gain even more precision.
The results of its chronometry measurement are indisputable: 0 second difference from the optical measurement. The FB 2RE has therefore strictly no power deviation between its first minute of operation and its 53rd hour, the end of its tested power reserve. The jury of the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix was clearly won over by the coherence of the approach, the artistic execution and the extraordinary results achieved here by a mechanical watch. A brand to follow, which is gradually leaving a deep mark on the course of watchmaking history.
