The New Chronoswiss Open Gear ReSec Hurricane Limited

Chronoswiss, guided first by Gerd Rüdiger Lang, a courageous visionary who founded the company in the 1980s amid a hurricane blowing away much of the mechanical watchmaking business, has managed to keep the brand’s offer interesting all through the not-so-long history of Chronoswiss. The new owner, who took over in 2012 when Lang decided to retire, continues his legacy and keeps exciting watches coming, building, among others, important regulator-themed collections. The new Chronoswiss Open Gear ReSec Hurricane offers plenty of features to enjoy this visually compelling limited-edition watch.

In nature, a hurricane means chaos and destruction, but it is also a vivid demonstration of Earth’s power, frighteningly beautiful. Perhaps this inspired the new Chronoswiss creation, as it appears to embody the growing superstorm, night-dark and dangerous.

The effect is achieved by an array of decorating techniques applied to the 44mm black DLC-coated case, consisting of 17 parts and the 42-part two-level dial. The case is satin finished, with a matte sandblasted partially knurled bezel and the characteristic onion crown. The dome of the curved anti-reflective sapphire crystal lets you into the eye of the storm, the dial, where white elements – the outer minute track, the indices and the Super-LumiNova inlays of the hands – seem to stand firm against the whirlwind that rises from the black-coated bottom level, with its guilloché pattern created by hand using a century-old rose-engine turning machine found in the Chronoswiss workshops. The off-centred hours ring appears suspended in mid-air. The retrograde seconds hand at 6 o’clock – which travels 120° before jumping back to 0 every 30 seconds – adds a chaotic feel to Hurricane image.

But chaos is an order of things we do not comprehend, and everything is in order with this new Chronoswiss reference. The Chronoswiss Open Gear ReSec Hurricane, like other Open Gear ReSec watches (we reviewed a good number of them here), is powered by an automatic calibre C.301, based on the ETA 2895 movement with a retrograde seconds (ReSec) mechanism developed entirely by Chronoswiss. The calibre is decorated with Côtes de Genève and perlage on bridges and plates; the galvanic black rotor is skeletonised, all seen through a transparent caseback. The movement is built with 33 jewels and uses a Glucydur balance and a Nivarox balance spring. Calibre C.301 operates at 28,800vph and has a power reserve of approximately 42 hours.

The watch is water-resistant to 100m and is delivered with a hand-stitched black Neoprene strap with a leather base. Strap holders are screwed down with a patented Autobloc system. Chronoswiss Open Gear ReSec Hurricane will be produced in limited series of 50 pieces, and the price is EUR 12,300. For more, please visit chronoswiss.com.