Independents

Basel 2003 - Vianney Halter

 

Hi all,

There seems to be a deserving interest in Vianney Halter watches of late, so I thought I would share some photos I took at Basel this year.

Antiqua

VH caliber 198 (highly modified Lemania 8810), VH designed and fabricated integrated perpetual calendar mechanism, with patented VH mysterious automatic winding rotor, 43 jewels, 28,000 vph, 40 hrs. power reserve and 300+ parts per case (platinum, yellow, white or rose gold). Three seperate dials (hours and minutes, days of the week, and months/leap year indicator), a window for the date and blued steel hands. The Antiqua requires roughly 1,000 hours to complete.

Classic

VH caliber 100 (adapted Lemania 8810), 25 jewels, center seconds, with patented VH mysterious automatic winding rotor and 40 hrs. power reserve. Cased in yellow, white or rose gold, with blued steel hands.

Trio

VH caliber 200 (modified Piguet automatic), 33 jewels, two seperate dials (hours and minutes, and seconds), with a seperate date window. Design and fabrication of under dial mechanism is done in-house. 65 case components (yellow, white or rose gold) and blued steel hands.

GoldPfeil Jumping Hours & Moon Phases (Vianney's personal, on the wrist, watch)

"With its case in white gold, its hammered surfaces and its crown in the shape of a knurling-roller, this creation is reminiscent of a Thirties camera. Playing on shapes, colours and materials, three distinct zones emerge for displaying the time. The jumping hour is accommodated in a rectangular window. The blue Goldpfeil arrow and a small red hand mark the minutes and seconds on the square dial. The phases of the moon follow on from each other in a circle inscribed with innovative geometric signs. This automatic movement, visible through the sapphire back, is an outstanding creation developed in its entirety by Vianney Halter." - SwissTime.com

The movement for this watch is, essentially, a Vianney Halter movement. Some Peseaux parts are used (train, escapement, balance and some setting parts), but the rest, which is to say the bulk of the movement, is made by VH.

And, of course, Opus 3. Jaw has provided us with an excellent report of his meeting with Mr. Busser, Mr. Halter and viewing Opus 3, which may be found here.

Stay tuned for more information on Opus 3 from AlexG and pictures and information about Vianney Halter's workshop (I visited there last year during Basel - I know, I'm slow ).

Cheers,

Curtis