I met up with Noritaka Sakurai in Tokyo recently and explored his new independent maison and the First Edition of their launch watch – the Nouvelle Chronometrie Montre Ordinaire.
Review: new Japanese independent Nouvelle Chronometrie’s Montre Ordinaire
The Nouvelle Chronometrie’s Montre Ordinaire First Edition has a retail price of JPY 30,000,000 excluding tax. The First Edition is limited to 20 pieces.
The philosophy, raison d’etre
I have known Sakurai-san for many years. When I first met him, he was promoting Hajime Asaoka, and had arranged for my visit to Asaoka-san’s atelier in Shibuya in 2017. He acted as translator and liason for Asaoka-san.
I recently contacted him as I found out that he has started a new Japanese independent maison. One which is rather interesting. As Sakurai-san is neither a watchmaker or mechanical watch engineer, but a collector, enthusiast and a marketeer. But Nouvelle Chronometrie was born out of this deep passion. The maison live by their motto FIRMITAS, UTILITAS, VENUSTAS. Three principles of creation as articulated by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius. These concepts translates well into the Japanese psyche and are represented as 強 (strength), 用 (utility), and 美 (beauty). These three pillars guide their work. Sakurai-san told me that the aim is:
“We strive to embody the grandeur of 18th and 19th-century high-end pocket watches (VENUSTAS: beauty), pursue the precision of 20th-century observatory chronometers (UTILITAS: utility), and achieve these through the advanced engineering of the 21st-century (FIRMITAS: strength). Our inaugural creation is the MONTRE ORDINAIRE.”
The model name is rather interesting. As “Montre Ordinaire” translates from French to “Ordinary Watch” in English. And this timepiece is anything but ordinary.
The case, dial and hands
The watch is clearly inspired by A.L. Breguet pocket watches. These aesthetic cues of the pocket watches from Breguet’s time is re-imagined in a smaller case of just 38mm and encased for use as a wrist watch.
The case is crafted with a cylindrical case middle with 38mm diameter. The edge of this case middle is machined with a coin edge profile. The upper bezel is convex bombé style and is finished in a high polish. The rear bezel is screwed on, and also in the same convex bombé profile, though slimmer in appearance. The lugs are soldered directly into the case middle and are long, slim and curved.
The crown is rather large, fluted and polished. Note that the watch we photograph is a prototype and carries the marks of being worn and shown to interested parties and journalists and thus have a heavy patina.
The dial itself is rather interesting. The dial is made for Nouvelle Chronometer by American watchmaker J.N. Shapiro. Sakurai-san tells me that he chose to work with Shapiro because he has long admired the guilloché work to be the best in the business. As a prototype, the pictured dial will defer from the final production dial which will feature chronometer markings at the 30s and 40s positions of the subsidiary seconds dial.
And the excellence of the guilloché is there for all to see. The dial features no less than two intricate guilloché patterns, inserted into polished and brushed surfaces. The entire dial is made by hand in the Shapiro studios.
As prototypes go, the dial we photograph is superbly beautiful and finely executed. But we also note that the overall flatness of the engraved surfaces are not perfect, resulting in a tiny wave like variation in the peaks of the Clous de Paris on the main center medallion of the dial. We were assured that production pieces will be closer to perfect.
Overall, the guilloché pattern is very fine, and when viewed at a distance, almost disappears from sight. The hands are elegant slim Breguet hands which are hand blued steel. All three hands carry a circle (pomme) – at the end of the counterweight for the small seconds hand, and at the tip before the arrow head of the hour and minute hands.
Also notable is that the proportions of the small seconds subsidiary dial, which is slightly sunken, is in classically perfect proportions to the rest of the dial. I also draw attention that the length of all three hands are long and elegant, in accordance to classical proportions. The dial side is magnificent.
The movement
The movement is designed from ground up, based on the spirit of observatory chronometers. The design is made by a team with guidance from Shoichiro Komasaki, a noted and well respected Japanese watch designer who was responsible for the development of competition chronometers at Kameido Seikosa in the late 1960s. Komasaki-san worked at the Daini Seikosha (owned by Seiko) watchmaking factory in Kameido, Tokyo. Working alongside legendary designer Taro Tanaka, Komasaki played an instrumental role in establishing the precise “Grammar of Design” that defined iconic models like the original King Seiko (circa 1961). Komasaki-san and his fellow craftsmen were crucial in pushing Seiko’s timepieces to rival and even exceed Swiss luxury watch standards.
The blueprint is as simple as it gets. within the 32mm diameter movement, all components are set to be as large as it is permissible. The barrel, gears, balance wheels are huge in comparison to the movement overall diameter. The gears from the second to fourth wheel are crafted from 18k gold plates.
The rubies chosen are vibrant stones, which Nouvelle Chronometrie claim are more vibrant than natural pigeon blood rubies. This claim is supported by our observation and photographs. The tourbillon is rather large and features inner and outer Phillips end curves on the hairspring. These can be seen on the photographs below.
The tourbillon and tourbillon bridge deserves special mention. The shape of the bridge is very elegant. The proportions are well chosen, and execution of the steel bridges have black polished flat surfaces, and feature polished chamfers. One end of the bridge is made large, secured by a single black polished screw and two locating pins. This surface is pierced and feature four inward angles, two of which are at very acute angles. The other end of the bridge is a flat bar which is also black polished and features polished chamfers. This bar fans out into a triangular plate held in place by a single black polished screw. The triangular foot at this end prevents any twisting and guarantees perfect alignment of the bridge. As does the wide foot on the other end with its two locating pins ensuring that there is no room to twist. This design is elegant and mechanically perfect.
The rest of the back plate is a large piece of maillechort finished with Côtes de Genève (Tokyo?). The rules of the côtes are very evenly spaced and with prominent undulating and cascading visuals. All the openings on the bridge are countersunk and polished. And all screws have black polished surfaces. The click is hidden below the plate, but can be released by a steel button poking through a beautifully chamfered arc perforating the plate.
The movement is truly a spectacle. The layout is clean, simple, and magnificent. The finissage is top drawer, beating many independents from Switzerland.
Concluding thoughts
This a niche watch. Targetted at the very high end of the independent watchmaking industry. The visuals are almost perfect Breguet inspirations. The complexity of the dial is only visible at close examination, but appears in congruence and totally in line with the discreetness offered by the design. The overall design is quiet. Sober. And very elegant. Proportions are perfect. Execution is at the highest levels I have seen.
The absolute beauty, artistry and craftsmanship exhibited by the Nouvelle Chronometrie Montre Ordinarie is beyond question. What is perhaps up for some debate is the asking price of JPY 30million (roughly CHF 148k). Is this is too high a ransom for a new independent with no previous track record? On the one hand, it is less than the new Daniel Roth Tourbillon in Rose Gold (CHF 255k). It is similarly priced to the Breguet Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Automatique 5377 (CHF 160k), a watch which is a basis for the inspiration for the Montre Ordinaire. Though in this Breguet’s modern interpretation, the Ref. 5377 is automatic winding and more showy to display the tourbillon through an aperture on the dial. The Breguet also features a power reserve indicator. But of course, the final analysis is that only the beholder who is about to spend ChF 150k can decide. Does he go for the Montre Ordinaire or another classical tourbillon. Or go a different route and save CHF 50k with a contemporary alternative like the David Candaux DC12 MaveriK.
Nouvelle Chronometrie Montre Ordinaire Specifications
Exterior Case diameter 38.0 mm * Thickness (incl. crystal) 11.0 mm * Lug width 22.0 mm * Buckle width 18.0 mm * Lug – to – lug length 46.3 mm
Movement Diameter 32.5 mm * Thickness 7.3 mm * Mechanical Features Tourbillon escapement * Inner and outer Phillips eternal curves on hairspring * Frequency 18,000 vibrations per hour (2.5 Hz) * Power reserve 52 hours * Jewels 19 jewels * Other features Gold train * Ruby-bearings more vibrant than pigeon blood rubies
