New American Indie Watchmaker Fleming Presents its First Watch, the Series 1 Launch Edition

The pandemic has opened the door to countless opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs. Thomas Fleming, an avid American watch collector, saw his dream of starting his own independent watch brand take shape during this time. To make this project a reality, Fleming brought together an impressive cast of Swiss partners, including renowned independent watchmaker Jean-François Mojon and his team at Chronode, as well as the craftsmen of Comblémine, Kari Voutilainen’s manufacture of dials. The Fleming Series One Launch Edition is an original dress watch with remarkable attention to detail and lavish craftsmanship. We had the opportunity to get our hands on the tantalum version ahead of its official presentation.

Horn shaped lugs

The Fleming Series One Launch Edition is an alluring dress watch. If it is clearly inspired by traditional watchmaking, it exudes its own style and personality. To design the case, Thomas Fleming’s vision centered on the “often-overlooked relationship between lugs and the midcase, ensuring a design that captivates from various angles.” At 38.5mm in diameter, the well-proportioned case features faceted, horn-shaped lugs with a unique skeletonization on their side. The flat bezel and alternating polished and brushed finishes further add character. 

The model is launching in 3 limited editions. One in platinum (7 pieces), one in pink gold (7 pieces) and one in tantalum (25 pieces). As said, we had the opportunity to examine and photograph the tantalum edition, and we were particularly impressed by its polishing and manufacturing, considering the difficulty of working with this metal.

Comblémine Dial

Moving to the lavishly crafted dials, Fleming called upon the expertise of Comblémine craftsmen in Saint Sulpice. The hands and marker echo the shape of the lugs. The circular layout is balanced with a perfectly proportioned small seconds counter. The platinum and pink gold models feature classic carbon grey hand guilloché and light champagne hand hammering, as well as southwestern brown and amber hand guilloche. In contrast, the tantalum model’s dial adds a touch of intrigue with frosted platinum and dark blue aventurine. Getting our hands on this tantalum version was great, but after seeing the press pictures, we would have loved to check out all of them.

Chronode Movement

The Fleming Series One Launch Edition is powered by the hand-wound calibre FM-01, developed and manufactured with famed watchmaker Jean-François Mojon and his team at Chronode. This beautiful, high-end movement is derived from the movement maker’s own twin-barrel calibre with its 3Hz frequency and lengthy 7-day power reserve. It stands out with its distinctive decoration and the power reserve indication at the back. The elegantly finished movement is visible through the watch exhibition caseback and emphasizes traditional haute horlogerie hand-finishing techniques. The frosted bridges have hand-polished chamfers. These create great contrasts between the two black polished skeletonized ratchet wheels and the black polished bercé balance bridge.

The Fleming Series One Launch Edition comes on beautiful alligator leather straps gently tapering to a pin buckle echoing the design of the case lugs. 

Availability & Price

The price is set at CHF 51,500 for the platinum model (7 pieces), CHF 48,500 for the pink gold model (7 pieces) and CHF 45,500 for the tantalum model (25 pieces). The Fleming Series One is certainly not cheap. But designing a fine dress watch is not a simple feat. Perfection lies in the details and the Fleming Series One impresses in this regard. Fleming has succeeded in creating a superb watchmaking classic with distinctive elegance.

The first deliveries are slated for April. For more information, please visit www.fleming.watch