Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. The New Chronoswiss Delphis Art Deco
Staging jumping hours and retrograde minutes in Chronoswiss style, the Delphis returns with a refined Art Deco palette.
Chronoswiss, now in the hands of the Ebstein family, has not forgotten the legacy of the brand’s founder, Gerd-Rüdiger Lang, who pioneered the modern mechanical regulator dial in wristwatches. Adapting the precision-focused layout of the regulator clock to the wrist, Lang forged a distinctive brand identity marked by coin-edge bezels, onion crowns and straight lugs. Evolving the classic regulator layout, the Delphis collection features jumping hours, retrograde minutes and small seconds. The latest Delphis is an attractive mix of colours and textures inspired by the architectural and chromatic elegance of Art Deco.
Under Ebstein, the brand has been infused with a refreshing contemporary spirit, where old-school displays like the regulator and jumping hours are animated with vibrant colours. Chronoswiss is also adept at using traditional decorative techniques to create contemporary patterns and textures. Case in point is the new Delphis Art Deco. Introduced by Lang in 1996, the Delphis was relaunched in 2023. Inspired by the design language that flourished in the Roaring Twenties, the unifying link between Chronoswiss and Art Deco resides in their mutual appreciation for traditional craftsmanship at the service of innovation and modernity.
Reflecting the clean, streamlined aesthetics of the period, the dial’s surface is nickel-coated and laser-structured to create a subtle, grained texture. Picked out in an elegant soft grey tone, the deep rectangular aperture at noon, engraved into the dial, hosts the jumping hours window. Like other Delphis models, the elegant, arched, minute track is featured in the top half of the dial. The minutes are indicated by a metallic blue PVD-coated aluminium Viking-style hand, which performs a decisive retrograde jump from 60 to zero on the hour. Printed with black Art Deco-style numerals on a slim railway track, the gold-plated minutes track contrasts beautifully with the subtle grey dial.
A sweeping openworked, double-arched bridge divides the dial. The small seconds counter, decorated in-house at the Atelier Lucerne using century-old guillochage machines, reveals a dynamic pattern. The attractive tone of blue lacquer applied to the hand-guilloché base is called Art Deco Blue, and its surface is printed with Art Deco-inspired white numerals and indicated by a smaller blue PVD-coated aluminium hand. The Chronoswiss plaque at 6 o’clock, the frame around the small seconds counter and the axis of the two hands share the same warm golden colour as the minutes track. An interesting feature, the small seconds counter is not flat. The base of the sub-dial is slightly elevated and protrudes from the dial, no doubt to increase the viewing angle.
Crafted in Grade 5 titanium, the 17-piece case has a 42mm diameter and a height of 14.4mm. Flaunting the signature oversized striated onion crown and the knurled decoration below the bezel and caseback, the lightweight case has a matte, slightly grained finish. With a double anti-reflective sapphire crystal over the dial and a sapphire crystal on the caseback, the case is water-resistant to 100 metres.
The Delphis is powered by the contemporary automatic calibre C. 6004 developed by La Joux-Perret. It has an openworked tungsten rotor (shaped like the bridges on the dial) and ruthenium-plated components. The movement beats at 28,800vph and has an autonomy of 55 hours.
The Delphis Art Deco is paired with a soft black nubuck strap. It is a limited edition of 150 pieces and retails for EUR 15,900. More information at chronowswiss.com.
