For Chronoswiss, 2023 seems to remain a year of mixed feelings. This is because watchmaker Gerd-Rüdiger Lang, who founded the brand, passed away suddenly at the same time as the brand’s 40th anniversary. Before Gerd Rudiger Lang was the founder, he was known for Chronoswiss itself. Although he sold the company to Oliver Ebstein (Current Chronoswiss CEO) in 2012 and stepped down, the ‘Chronoswiss’ design he defined, like the Régulateur, still forms the basis of the brand. Most fake watches from Croswiss are still presented as regulator types that display hours, minutes, and seconds separately. The same goes for Delphis, which came back splendidly this year.
Delphis is a bit different from common regulators. Displays hours, minutes and seconds with different mechanisms. Seconds are typical small seconds with the hand rotating once per minute, but minutes are represented by retracements, and hours by jumping digital methods. In other words, when the hour changes, the minute hand rapidly moves back to the origin and at the same time the number of the window at 12 o’clock changes. The reason why Delphis series was so popular in the past is because of this mechanism with ‘taste to see’.
Delphis Oracle, newly introduced this year, inherited the tradition of Delphis in the past while emphasizing the aesthetic aspect. First of all, I divided the layers of the dial to create a three-dimensional effect. The base is anthracite and has a rough texture on the surface, and each display is placed on top of it. The retrograde display for minutes is decorated with a deep blue crescent moon along the fan. Made of red gold, this decoration is finished with a combination of guilloché and enameling. Because the base is slightly curved, it is said that carving a wavy pattern on the surface is much more difficult than a typical guillochet. When the guilloché work is complete, seven layers of translucent blue enamel are applied over it. It is said that this work also takes a considerable amount of time because it is necessary to repeat the process of painting the enamel with the same thickness and density according to the curve of the base and repeating the baking process. The small second, which appears to float on the bridge at 6 o’clock, is also made in the same way. Chronoswiss calls this display a ‘UFO’ because it looks like an inverted dish floating in the air. The centered minute and second hands are also slightly curved to match each display.
Cases with coin edge decorations are still the same. Most Chronoswiss replica watches uk, as well as the Delphis Oracle, follow this traditional design. The same goes for the large, onion-shaped crown. The case material is red gold. The size is 42mm in diameter and 14.5mm in thickness. It’s a bit bigger than expected. Instead, it is waterproof to 100m.
The movement installed is an automatic in-house caliber C. 6004. It is said that it was completely newly developed to commemorate the revival of Delphis. It has a frequency of 28,800 vph (4 Hz) per hour and a power reserve of about 55 hours. The appearance through the sapphire crystal glass is also different from the previous one. The large bridge and balance cock supporting the main parts are plated with ruthenium, and the surface is decorated with a pattern that transforms the Geneva stripe into a sun-spreading pattern. The rotor was also designed as a skeleton type so as not to cover the new movement as much as possible.
The strap completely defies expectations. Instead of a leather strap, we introduced a new all-in-one rubber strap that tightly adheres to the case. This change is read as an intention to no longer define Delphis as just a dress watch. The 42mm size and complex dial design are also related to it.
The Delphis Oracle will be released in a limited edition of 50 pieces. The price is 41,800 euros. It is about 61 million won in Korean currency.