Independent Watchmaker Finishes Movement So Beautiful He Refuses to Case It

Independent watchmaker Romain Gauthier has announced that his latest movement, a hand-wound calibre featuring beveled bridges finished to a mirror polish visible only under 10x magnification, will not be cased in a watch because he cannot bear to hide it. 'I spent fourteen months on the anglage alone,' Gauthier said from his atelier in Le Sentier, Switzerland, gesturing at the movement displayed under a glass dome on his workbench. 'Every edge is beveled at exactly 45 degrees. Every surface is finished by hand. The mainspring bridge has a black polish that took 380 hours. And you want me to put a dial over it? A caseback behind it? Seal it in steel and strap it to someone's hairy wrist?' The movement, designated Calibre Vain, features 287 components, a 72-hour power reserve, and finishing techniques that Gauthier describes as 'the culmination of everything I've learned in thirty years.' The project was commissioned by a collector in Singapore who paid approximately CHF 420,000 and expected to receive a wristwatch. 'I've spoken with the client,' Gauthier said. 'He's disappointed. I understand. But I've shown him photographs of the anglage and he agrees it's among the finest finishing ever achieved in horology. We're negotiating.' The negotiation apparently centers on whether the movement can be displayed in a transparent sapphire case with no dial, which the collector has described as 'impractical for telling time.' Gauthier countered that 'telling time is the least interesting thing a watch can do.' Industry observers have noted the irony. 'The entire point of fine finishing is that it exists unseen,' said Hodinkee senior editor Marcus Laforge. 'Hiding masterful work behind a caseback is what makes it noble. Romain has created something so beautiful that it has broken the fundamental compact of watchmaking.' Gauthier is reportedly considering producing the movement in a limited edition of five, none of which will be cased. 'The movement is the watch,' he said. 'Everything else is packaging.'