21 August, 2024
Grail Watch 2.1: Franck Muller Double Sided Rattrapante Chronograph “Arabian Panda”
To celebrate Revolution’s latest regional edition, Grail Watch and Franck Muller have created an exclusive double-sided rattrapante chronograph replete with Eastern Arabic numerals, a luminous second dial and other stunning design details.
WORDS by WEI KOH
Grail Watch 2.1: Franck Muller Double Sided Rattrapante Chronograph “Arabian Panda”
For over 30 years, since I was a young watch nerd in my 20s, one of my grails has been the famous Double Sided Chronograph created by the brilliant Franck Muller. I’ve always loved Muller’s design genius: by putting a second chrono hand on the back of the watch so that you could read three different scales — telemeter, tachymeter and pulsometer — in massive oversized format across the entirety of the caseback with unrivaled clarity. But for years, that watch stayed frustratingly out of reach from me. I’d hear of one in an auction, but by the time I got there, it was either sold or I had gotten outbid beyond my meager budget. Or it just wasn’t the split seconds or rattrapante version I lusted after but the standard chronograph. So, when I launched my company Grail Watch back in 2021, I did so with the ambition of asking watch brands to turn back the hands of time and resurrect past icons from their archives.
German silver takes on a warm gold hue as it develops patina, reflecting the time spent with its wearer
Grail Watch 2: Franck Muller 30th anniversary ‘tribute’ chronographs
A MIDDLE EAST TWIST
My watch magazine, Revolution, got approval to open a branch in Dubai. For many years following the development of the watch market in the Middle East, I have been truly impressed with the growth of the business there and, in particular, the passion and sophistication of the Middle East collectors. But I knew one thing: I wanted to publish all my content — in print, online, video and even social media — in Arabic. I knew I would have to search hard to find the right editor in chief. I have found this person in Abdulla Al Shaer, who is a marvel. He is a deeply passionate and accomplished watch collector, an incredible fount of knowledge on cinema, an expert in heavy metal (a passion we share) and a brilliant writer and phenomenal educator. “Al Shaer” in Arabic means “The Great Poet” and in this he is aptly named, as he communicates about watches with an insightfulness and evocativeness that is superb. When I asked Al Shaer what he thought was the very first limited edition watch that we should launch to celebrate our office in the Middle East, I loved that he immediately replied, “Wei, it must be a Franck Muller Double Sided Rattrapante Chronograph.” It turned out that he, too, had the same love for this extraordinary timepiece. Then he replied, “But it must be different. We must create every index and every number on each scale in the Eastern Arabic characters that we use in Middle Eastern culture.”
Abdulla Al Shaer, Editor-in-Chief of Revolution Arabia
With that began an almost one-year process of back and forth correspondence, Zoom calls and in-person meetings among Rudaz, Glénat, Al Shaer and myself. Al Shaer explained, “First, we had to define the typography we used for the numbers. It was important that a Middle Eastern person would look at these indexes and the scales and say ‘Wow!’ because they are beautiful.”
But then we also had to work on the overall design of the dial, which we decided we wanted to execute in a “pandastyle” format. Glénat had an important point to make: “When you make a white or silver dial, the texture that you use is incredibly important. We decided together we wanted the watch to feel pure but very fresh and modern, so we decided to use a kind of frosted finish on the dial that gives it a really beautiful texture when it’s in direct light.”
Then, we also decided to do something a little crazy. I had noticed, along with Al Shaer, that Dubai and the Middle East really come alive at night time. Al Shaer explained, “Because of the heat, people really like to gather in the evenings when the sun goes down.” I asked what he thought about making the second dial on the back case fully luminous, so that owners could actually use their chronographs even in the dark. Al Shaer laughed and said it was an amusing idea.
Says Glénat now that the watch has been made, “Honestly, I wasn’t sure about this detail and we had to work with our dial maker a lot to get it right, but in the end, it’s this surprising element that I have really come to love.”
Rudaz concurs, “This 20-piece limited edition in collaboration with Grail Watch and dedicated to Revolution Arabia — the name of your new edition for the Middle East — is something we at Franck Muller are really proud of. It shows the continuing dedication of Revolution to communicate watch culture at the highest level possible in a new territory and in Arabic.”
To me this new panda-style Double Sided Rattrapante Chronograph is, from a visual perspective, simply one of the most stunning watches we’ve collaborated on. The fact that it is a tribute to a region that we are so proud now to be a part of makes it even better.
FRANCK MULLER: MASTERING COMPLICATIONS
The world is clearly in the throes of a tumultuous love affair with all things ’90s, like the Porsche 993 Turbo S and the Ferrari 550 Maranello. But the ’90s has also been recognized as the halcyon era for watches. Savvy collectors have targeted Chopard’s L.U.C 1860, Daniel Roth-designed Breguet watches, especially references 3130 and 3330, Biver-era Blancpains, Pierre-Alain Blum’s marvelous Ebels, especially the Sportwave bracelet, El Primero-equipped chronographs, and, of course, Roger Dubuis Hommage chronographs and Sympathie double retrograde perpetual calendars.
Frank Muller
Yet, indisputably, in the ’90s, the king of independent watchmaking and unrivaled rockstar of haute horlogerie was Franck Muller. The original enfant terrible, Muller was a wunderkind of 20th century watchmaking. Brash, bold and fearless, Franck Muller was the very first watchmaker to rapidly generate international renown and develop a huge following amongst fashion and Hollywood’s glitterati, with everyone from Gianni Versace to Elton John soon becoming evangelical devotees. There was the famous dinner in Los Angeles celebrating Elton John’s birthday where guests were each seated before a covered dish. At the appropriate moment, the covers were whisked away, revealing a stunning Franck Muller watch that was the legendary musician’s gift to every one of his guests.
Born to an Italian mother and a Swiss father in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Muller entered watchmaking school at 15 years of age and literally blazed an incendiary trail, leaving many urban legends in his wake. One of the most famous is that after winning a Rolex watch for achieving the top prize at the Watchmaking School of Geneva, he took that watch and transformed it — using just a few more wheels — into a perpetual calendar. He managed to get an appointment with Rolex where he showed them the watch, hoping to sell them his design. Unfortunately, they turned him down. However, over his early career, it appears he produced a few of these timepieces, one of which ended up on the wrist of Jay-Z.
Jay-Z
DOUBLE QUICK TIME
Of the various complications, Muller was truly passionate about the chronograph. His most famous interpretations of this complication are his Double Sided Chronographs. He explained, “I always loved chronographs and was fascinated that using this sweeping seconds hand, you could read so many different types of information. You could calculate your average speed over a kilometer or mile with a tachymeter. You could calculate a person’s heart rate within 15 beats using a pulsometer. And you could gauge the distance to a physical event (you start the chronograph, for example, when you see lightning strike and stop it when you hear the sound) using a telemeter. But the problem for me was that I always wanted to have all this information on a single chronograph. There are some watches that place multiple scales on the dial of the watch but that end up being very messy and hard to read. One day I had the idea of creating a chronograph with two dials, one on the front and one on the back of a watch. Then I would create a longer pinion connecting the chronograph hands on both dials. The advantage would be you could use the second dial purely for the scales, combining a tachymeter, telemeter and pulsometer, so they were truly visible.”
In recent years, these Franck Muller Double Sided Chronographs are gaining a following. I was surprised to see my friend and owner of luxury watch retailer The Hour Glass, Michael Tay, who possesses one of the world’s greatest watch collections (including a Patek Philippe caliber 89, George Daniels’ Space Traveler and a first-series Asprey double signed Patek ref. 2499) wearing one of these Franck Muller Double Sided Chronographs on his wrist. While these were made in different versions, the most interesting amongst them are the split seconds or rattrapante iterations — for one very intriguing reason.
Said Franck Muller to me many years ago when I went to spend the week with him in his villa in Phuket, Thailand, “You know, I created a modification to the Valjoux 7750 movement to incorporate this split seconds function for our watches. Eventually I sold this patent to La Joux-Perret.” Which means that the Franck Muller Double Sided Rattrapante Chronograph is even more special, as its split seconds modification was created by none other than Muller himself.
Grail Watch 2.1: Franck Muller Double Sided Rattrapante Chronograph “Arabian Panda” is limited to 20 pieces and will be available on Shop.RevolutionWatch.com on 21 August 2024, 7pm SGT / 1pm CET / 7am EST. To register your interest, please email shop@revolutionmagazines.com.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Grail Watch 2.1: Franck Muller Double Sided Rattrapante Chronograph “Arabian Panda”
Movement: Self-winding caliber MVT FM 7000-CCRDF; 54-hour power reserve
Functions: Off-centered hours and minutes, small seconds and rattrapante chronograph with pulsometer, tachymeter and telemeter
Case: 39mm × 13.45mm; stainless steel; water resistant to 30m
Dial: Silver with frosted finish and black counters (front), Super-LumiNova filled pulsometer, telemeter and tachymeter scales (back); Eastern Arabic numerals
Strap: Handsewn black alligator leather; stainless steel pin buckle
Price: USD 25,500 excluding taxes
Availability: Limited and numbered edition of 20 pieces
Wei Koh
In 2005, Wei founded Revolution magazine and revolutionized the watch media, which has never been quite the same again. He has since developed Revolution into a multi-media, omni-channel platform with international editions around the world. He is also the creator of The Rake, a magazine of sartorial elegance and craftsmanship for the modern-day gentleman. Journalist at heart and entrepreneur in spirit, his latest venture is Grail Watch, dedicated to the creation of meaningful limited edition watches.
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GRAIL WATCH 2.1: Franck Muller Double Sided Rattrapante Chronograph “Arabian Panda”
To celebrate Revolution’s latest regional edition, Grail Watch and Franck Muller have created an exclusive double-sided rattrapante chronograph replete with Eastern Arabic numerals, a luminous second dial and other stunning design details.