The independent watchmaker from Valle de Jeux, Romain Gauthier, is launching a new model in order to commemorate its tenth year of existence. The watch in question bears the name Prestige HMS Ten. It sports a multi-layered face with off-centered dial and a small seconds counter. Moreover, it is partially skeletonized at the lower section to reveal sections of its in-house movement with sumptuous hand-finishes and the brand’s patented technical solutions. The movement is manually wind by the means of a crown, located at the case-back to ensure improved winding efficiency. The watch is available in three limited editions which all appropriately include ten pieces. There is a blue-faced issue in a platinum case, a red gold edition with a champagne-colored dial, as well as a red gold version with an anthracite face.
Romain Gauthier Prestige HMS Ten Platinum Blue Watch
Romain Guthier is an independent Swiss timepiece manufacturer whose production began in 2006. For some reason, the watchmaker decided to mark its tenth anniversary a bit sooner. To commemorate its approaching big milestone, the company is releasing a new anniversary model which was, according to the company’s founder, made to be as legible as possible.
On the top of the watch’s face lies an offset dial for hours and minutes. It is surrounded with a guilloched Clous de Paris motif on both of its flanks. These curved decorations widen as they go further down. Underneath the off-centered dial, one can notice skeletonized parts of the movement. The openings on the dial stretch from four to eight o’clock positions. These apertures reveal a balance wheel at the left side and a large gear wheel on the opposite end. The second visible wheel is used to move its small seconds indication. As for the seconds display itself, it partly overlaps with the offset dial and in its other half with the opening. That is why it features only numerals from 10 to 40 seconds.
In-House Caliber with the Brand’s Trademarked Technical Solutions
The caliber which is almost completely made by Romain Gauthier (except for its mainspring, balance spring and jewels) is even better exposed on the other side, through the transparent case-back. A stupendous amount of its components are hand-finished. Additionally, the movement implements various Romain Guthier’s inventions and patents. For starters, there are distinctive Valee de Jeux finger bridges with polished slates. There are also custom made gear wheels that are made with round arms. Such wheels provide better structural strength and they are also very eye-pleasing.
Romain Gauthier Prestige HMS Ten Red Gold Champagne Watch
Furthermore, one can notice the in-house made balance wheel with calibrated eccentric weights and curved arms, a regulator made with a pallet lever in a triangular form, as well as highly polished screw heads with slots in the shape of the letter S. Finally, there are exposed parts of the barrel which can be seen through cut-outs with outstanding anglage finish, the decorative technique that can be only performed by hand.
As for the technical aspect of the movement, it should be said that proprietary Calibre HMS with 22 jewels is comprised of 128 parts. It ticks at the rate of 4 Hz, while its power reserve by the means of the crown set at the case back provides 60 hours of power storage. By the way, the crown is flat shaped in order to ensure that the watch can be worn comfortably.
When the housing is concerned, its round case features the subdued diameter of 41 mm and the thickness of 12.1 mm. The construction likewise incorporates sapphire crystals at both ends and it is characterized with the most basic of water resistance levels – just to 10 meters, which means that its wearer does not have to worry about the timepiece when it starts raining. Any water activities should thus be avoided. The wristlet of choice is a black hand-stitched alligator leather strap that fastens with a pin buckle.
Romain Gauthier Prestige HMS Ten White Gold Anthracite Watch
As it has been mentioned, there are three versions of the model, each made in 10 copies that represent the same amount of years of the brand’s existence. The first of them is made with the platinum 950 case. It possesses a blue dial coupled with silvered numerals and hands that are plated with rhodium. There are also two more 18 K gold versions. The first one of them is with a red gold housing, a face in the anthracite shade which includes black numerals, as well as gilded hands. The last two traits are repeated on the champagne colored face of the third version whose housing is made of white gold.
