What Does The Future Hold For Corum & A Look At 2013 Basel Novelties

Corum is a Swiss watchmaking brand which has several iconic timepieces in their lineup. From the looks of their 2013 Basel novelties which I managed to have a view of recently, thanks to their Marketing team and Sales Director, their focus is definitely on these pieces, their Bridges and Admirals Cup lines, for 2013 and likely going forward.

I've always loved the transparency of the Golden Bridge

Their Admirals Cup range is clearly their sportier range challenging the other brands out there with similar big sports watches(many of them chronos) at an appealing price point. You'd be forgiven to think of the offerings from AP and Hublot when you see these watches. Corum has strong ties to sailing, which unfortunately is not a big sport in most of Southeast Asia(I think) but there are folks who are fans of water based sports and yacht owners(of which there may be a fair number of with more folks coming into mo money in Asia) who may be drawn to the line because of this nautical connection.

black and gold is a striking combination

I personally am a fan of the Golden Bridge, having one in the house (read here -> LINK hmm thinking at this time that it's overdue for a fresh photoshoot :), and am happy to see the new innovations in this collection. Be it by having different types of auto movements with unique mechanisms to charge up the power reserve in both vertical and horizontal bridge layouts to the touches in the dials to block out unsightly wrist hairs ;) i'll come back to all this again in a bit.  

A highlight of this 2013 range... 

But the big question for Corum is what does the future hold? After Severin Wunderman's passing in 2008, his trust was effectively managing the brand but with no clear plans of the future. At Basel 2013 though, the announcement came that they were being purchased by China Haidian Group and in candid interviews, it was noted that no Swiss players had wanted to take them up and it was the Chinese who came a knocking. China Haidian sells mainly low range China brand watches(Ebohr [800k watches a year] and Rossini[1mn timepieces sold a year]) in China and they bought Eterna and Porsche Design in the last couple of years too. It claims to have over 40% of China's domestic watch market which means it must be raking in a fair amount. Corum would be the jewel in the crown so to speak, being the most expensive/premium brand in their range.

For now it seems it will be business as usual for Corum, which does about 16,000 watches a year, with the effable and capable Antonio Calce continuing at the helm and also taking on the reins at Eterna, he more or less looks to be overseeing management of the Swiss brands in the China Haidian Group. From this, it also looks that there is a good relationship and support of Antonio's leadership by the Chairman of the Group, Mr Hon Kwok Lung. Continuity is of course important and protecting what has come before, ensuring the patrimony, quality, innovation and for lack of a better word 'spirit' continues for Corum. I wish them much success for the future!  

Ok enough of my thoughts on this and we move on to watches n pics :) [note: anything in italics is from Corum's marketing lit] Enjoy :)

~~~

First up the Admiral Cup line which saw a change where the 12 sided case, which is retained for some models, now has a new case shape and a 12 sided bezel for the new line. multi-sided bezel... hmm what does that remind me of...

Possibly my fave looking one in this lineup is the 45mm regatta countdown Admiral's Cup. this will retail for S$17,976 with a bracelet version going for S$18,832.this is in ti with the bezel having a black pvd treatment. the regatta countdown max is 10mins and is a new in-house regatta module by Corum

The AC-One 45mm Chronos will come in 4 versions. the version below, ti on leather(S$14,873), ti with bracelet (S$15,836), gold bezel on ti with leather strap(S$28,676) and...

gold bezel on ti that has been pvd'ed (S$29,853)... Hourly nautical pennants continue on this from the earlier models and new "Grenadier fendu" finishing can be found on the dial

rotor has also been given the pvd treatment and has required perimeter weighting for powering up the barrels since it is a full rotor

the Admiral's Cup Legend 38mm Chrono is new in the 2013 range and gives the ladies an elegant sports watch option. this version below with mother of pearl dial, rose gold bezel and diamonds will retail for S$22,684

and the all steel version with diamonds will go for S$16,157

The Seafender 47 Tourbillon Chronograph is up next. Interestingly enough it's aluminium with a charcoal grey ceramization treatment. Aluminium is lighter but not as hard as Ti. Retail S$89,559

'Glare proof smoked sapphire crystal'

tourby at 10/11 o'clock which isn't that conventional a placement of it...

Now to the Bridges! and the automatic dual winder ti bridge is the one I wanted to go home with :) Retail S$79,394. It features a very cool auto winding which will power up the 3 day PR. If I am not mistaken, the design for the auto bit is by Laurent Besse who is doing all their in-house complications. Msr Besse also did their mystery moon complication. He was a head of R&D at Zenith and has done movements for MB&F(the HM4 Thunderbolt) and other independent brands through his now defunct company Les Artisans Horlogers Sàrl)

the 72 hour barrel is on the 3 o'clock side of the watch...

To enrich the Ti-Bridge line with its first automatic caliber, the Corum movement constructors chose to develop an inline winding system. The patented Corum Dual Winder system features two inlinemounted circular oscillating weights, interconnected via a transmission arbor that makes them move in parallel, as if performing a perfectly choreographed ballet, whatever the rotation direction. Thanks to three integrated stacked mechanisms at 9 o’clock – a ball bearing device and two unidirectional ball bearings clutches – made in ceramics and thus requiring no lubrication – the winding is efficient in both directions of the oscillating weights’ rotations. Two steel disks top each of the oscillating weights, while two 1.32-gram tungsten semi-cylinders ensure smooth winding. A single barrel placed at 3 o’clock stores up the CO 207 caliber’s 72-hour power reserve

Two rotors with tungsten mass. the winding is effective and will allow for 3.5 hours of power reserve build up per hour it's on the wrist. the industry requirement to label a movement automatic is a minimum 2 hours of pr generated per hour on the wrist. Perfectly in tune with the collection’s linear architecture, the new Dual Winder system of the automatic CO 207 caliber – designed, developed and patented by Corum – derives its energy from two interconnected inline oscillating weights. A world first for this avant-garde timepiece.

definitely a striking and cool looking watch on the wrist

Ti Bridge Lady in white ceramic case. Retail S$24,182. A beautiful ladies watch in white ceramic and rose gold and diamonds. It is very light cause of the ceramic case.

 

Golden Bridge Automatic. Retail S$109,247 Honestly I had a bit of sticker shock for this. I guess the innovative auto movement comes at a cost to realise and produce. this similar looking style of Golden Bridge without the auto movement will retail for S$59,706 or about a S$50k difference. the interesting elements for this watch is the linear automatic weights which were introduced in their 2012 collection iirc and the new metallic striped motif that conceals or reveals when off or on the wrist

the automatic weights are in platinum and allows for linear winding ~ platinum linear oscillating weight and a slipping spring mechanism. It has a 40 hour power reserve and the weights will allow for 3 hours of power reserve build up per hour it's on the wrist. my question is, where is the barrel on this one? it's been shrink-rayed so it doesn't affect the baguette movements' aesthetic

getting it just right

 

as noted there is an interesting effect with this dial. you can't see the hairy wrist that the watch is on but it still gives a sense of transparency when its off the wrist as the above pics show. Per Corum ~ Exploring the mysteries of transparency, the watch reinvents design codes to reveal a 360° translucent architecture when it is not worn, while becoming opaque when attached to the wrist – which is thus hidden from sight so as to highlight the magic of the exclusive linear mechanism. The secret of this fascinating orchestration lies in a two-part sapphire dial featuring a metallic striped motif

the ti bridge 3 day power reserve model gets a change in terms of how the movement is held up in the center of the case by four titanium cross-bars vs the 2012 version which you can see here -> LINK. Retail S$29,746 

 

and finally the Ceramic Golden Bridge. Retail S$37,985. Distinguished by a blend of linearity and transparency, the legendary Golden Bridge appears in a black ceramic version offering an eminently sophisticated interpretation of its inimitable architecture. The complexity of its baguette movement is accentuated by that of a case fashioned from one of the toughest materials to work with, thus embodying a subtle chemistry between technical refinement and aesthetic purity

Fashioning an all-ceramic watch case is a truly delicate exercise that involves injecting crystals into a mold at around 980-bar pressure. The first challenge involves ensuring that the material is uniformly spread so as to avoid any roughness in the resulting surface texture. The next step is a 30-second firing in a furnace heated to 160°C in order to harden the still porous material. This extremely tricky phase causes the ceramic to shrink by about one-third of its volume in order to reach its final 34 x 51 mm size. The daunting task calls for complete mastery of the firing time, since a few seconds too many could entail excessive shrinkage that would make the case too small to accommodate the caliber.

 

 Same classic golden bridge movement

 

when I had first seen pics of this, I wasn't so drawn to it as the gold on black in this case style and it's transparent nature seemed a bit too contrasting for me but therein lies it's appeal to folks looking for that contrast. the more I had it in hand though, the more it grew on me and I think it's a fine addition and introduces more diversity in the line.

Overall, several interesting new additions and features and some definite lust worthy pieces. hope you enjoyed viewing the live pics and short review of the Corum 2013 novelties. Cheers, Raph