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Marcus Hanke delivers an electrifying report from Basel 2008, chronicling Concord's dramatic resurgence with its C1 series and the groundbreaking Tourbillon Gravity. His vivid account captures the industry's excitement and the brand's ambitious partnership with BNB Concept, making this a fascinating read for anyone interested in modern horological innovation and design.
Basel 2008: Concord ignites the second stage
witnessed by Marcus Hanke
A year ago, the announcement of Concord’s complete renovation already stirred some attention, and some very cleverly made advertising, hiding more than revealing, further added to the general curiosity. As a consequence, the large Concord booth at last year’s Basel fair was a rather busy place, when I visited it.
To read my account on Concord’s debut in 2007, please click here .
However, nothing prepared me of the sight I was confronted with this year: the booth was buzzing like a bee-hive, full of people coming and going, most of them frantically asking for appointments and/or catalogues.
It seemed that all people attending the fair wanted to order at least a year’s supply of Concords. And in the middle I found Vincent Perriard with a huge grin on his face, apparently enjoying his company’s success. The strong and conspicuous design of the C1 series immediately became very popular, and so Concord was facing the problem of having bags full or orders, but no watches to deliver. It lasted until November 2007, when the dealers finally received the watches. While it is nice to have demand outweighing supply, this can also be a danger, especially for a newcomer on the market; too easily the initial enthusiasm can cool down, if it is not fed with the real product.
After having established the new and recognisable design as a first step of Concord’s rebirth, it now was time for the second stage: to fill this design with an equally strong and recognisable mechanics. It was clear that - despite the success of the C1 chronograph, that uses a very good, but standard ETA Valgranges movement - such a movement could not be simply chosen from a catalogue, it had to be designed specifically for Concord. Within a year? Impossible!
Fortunately, Vincent found a perfect partner for this project: equally fresh, equally dynamic, equally able, equally optimistic - a logical match. This is BNB Concept SA, a small company founded by three people in 2004, but today employing already more than a hundred people. In its new facilities at Duillier, BNB develops and produces complicated movements for many big names in the business. They have their typical and modern style, and whenever you see a Bell & Ross, Hublot or Hysek tourbillon with an unusual design, you most probably see a BNB development. One of the biggest strengths of BNB is to work quick and efficiently, and this ability was needed.
So when Vincent asked them to design a new tourbillon watch that relocated the tourbillon to a place where nobody else had placed it before, and to make it wearable and usable, and to provide a fully functional prototype within a year, most other workshops would have declined, with panic in their eyes. BNB did not, and as a consequence, I was sitting opposite a very happy Vincent, who showed me the first Concord Tourbillon Gravity. It should also be noted that the series production will start within two months after the fair, so this time, the dealers hopefully will not have to wait too long for their desired Concord watches.
Before showing the pictures, I have to point out that - while it is fully functioning - the case and overall finish of the watch is still in prototype stage. Additionally, you cannot imagine through how many hands this poor piece had already gone when I made pictures from it. Therefore, it has acquired already a somewhat battered appearance.
The most conspicuous feature of the Tourbillon Gravity of course is the balance with the tourbillon cage, that is located vertically, in a bay on the case flank. Thus it is less visible for the wearer himself, than for his (or her) conversation partners. Understatement? No, not really; but cool. To add some practical use, the tourbillon cage has a circular strip, showing the seconds passing in a curved sapphire window.
The time is displayed in a subdial, besides a feature that is adding a lot to the watch’s usability: At 4, we find a small subdial with hour and minute hand. At first glimpse, one would think it to be a second time zone, but in fact it is a chronograph counter. Yes, the Tourbillon Gravity also has a constantly running flyback chronograph with co-axial 60 minutes- and 12 hours-counters, great, isn’t it? That it is running permanently, reflects the majority of everyday situations: When you want to measure a parking time, or the cooking time of your pasta, you press one pusher, which immediately resets the counters to zero and restarts them at the same time. Then, you can read the time passed since then conveniently on a display similar to a regular watch dial. When you have the next situation where a chronograph is needed, then again the one pusher is activated, that’s it.
The only ‘feature’ I have some critical feelings about is the “Trust index”, already known from another BNB development. Since the Tourbillon Gravity is a hand-wound watch with 84 hours power reserve, the gradual release of the mainspring tension influences the amplitude, which again means that in the beginning, the watch would loose time, since the amplitude is too large, while at the end, it is running too fast, because of the too small amplitude. To prevent this, it is perfect to keep the watch always wound; not fully, but maybe some 3/4 full. The “trust index” now is an indicator of the mainspring tension (and therefore more or less shows the same as the power reserve display on the opposite side of the dial). As long as the wearer keeps the watch wound so that the needle is in the middle of the scale, it will run accurately.
In my humble opinion, a modern watch movement should have such a good overall accuracy performance that things like a “trust index” are superfluous altogether. Of course, the tourbillon and the rest of the highly complex construction are energy eaters, and thus it is difficult to keep a linear energy curve coming from the mainspring. However, there must be other ways to accomplish accuracy than a “trust meter”. Nobody would be happy about a display in his car, indicating when the speedometer is accurate, or shows too much speed, or not enough speed. It must be accurate all the time, and basta.
Therefore, I think that some kind of a constant force mechanism, or an automatic winding system, or a ball-bearing on the mainspring barrel, like it is projected by Eterna, should be introduced, in order to make the “Trust index” unnecessary.
As stunning as the Tourbillon Gravity is, my personal favourite, though, was this new C1 Worldtimer. It is a very large watch, at 47mm diameter considerably larger even than the already massive C1 chronograph. However, its thickness is modest (13.5 mm), and therefore the watch does not look too chunky on the wrist.
The case is DLC-coated (Diamond-Like Carbon), which makes it almost scratchproof, and results in a beautiful, metallic black surface. Interesting is the worldtime mechanism, made by Dubois-Dépraz. By means of a pushbutton at 2, a ring with 24 cities (=time zones) is moved, and at the same time, the appropriate time there is displayed aside the city name. The city and time display is uniquely displayed, under a blue-tinted sapphire “C” (the pictures here again show a prototype, the final dimensions of the cutout windows will be improved. I really love that piece, and cannot wait to see a final production version!
Here is another unique new watch, a C1 Double-Retrograde, showing weekdays and date by means of two retrograde hands. The legibility of the latter depends on the strength of your reading glasses, but overall, the watch is stunning.
For the ladies, a white C1 chronograph with diamonds is following the most recent fashion trend. I asked the lady wearing it, if the white rubber strap is prone to get stained. She replied, that even coffee stains could be easily washed out with some mild soap water (thank god the watch is watertight to 200 meters!!).
So we see Concord is entering its second year at high speed, and I am very optimistic that we are witnessing the success story of one of the hottest watch brands of the market.
Copyright April 2008 - Marcus Hanke & PuristSPro.com - all rights reserved
PuristSPro Homepage | ThePuristS Homepage
Comments, suggestions, and corrections to this article are welcome. 
This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2008-04-17 07:50:17 Key Points from the Discussion
- The Tourbillon Gravity's design, particularly its vertical orientation for the seconds display on the tourbillon cage, was considered a 'hot idea' that could enhance readability by appearing to rotate upwards like an altimeter gauge.
- Concord's C1 series, with its strong and conspicuous design, successfully established a new and recognizable aesthetic, moving the brand beyond standard movements to bespoke complications developed with BNB Concept.
- While some remain skeptical of Concord's styling, the brand is recognized as one to watch due to its interesting innovations and the ambitious, competent leadership of Vincent Perriard.
- Concord's polarizing design, which elicits strong supporters and opponents rather than indifference, is seen as a hallmark of good design.
- Concord is predicted to become a significant brand, with its designs likely appealing to enthusiasts of Panerai, Audemars Piguet Offshore, and Hublot Big Bang models.
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