Horological Meandering

SJX
[Purist]
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A surprising watch from Corum

Corum is a fairly small company, with annual revenues of about US$100 million, about the same size as Blancpain and Vacheron Constantin. But Corum enjoys a strong level of recognition, even amongst average consumers, thanks to its characteristic products. The company has enjoyed a string of successful timepieces, most notably the hideous Bubble, which was a huge hit several years ago till it popped (sorry, couldn’t resist that pun).

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble

But because of that – a string of disparate hits rather than a single collection – Corum doesn’t quite possess a well-defined brand identity. A brief glance at its products, which are not too many since the company is only 50 years old, indicates the brand’s success with avant-garde designs like the Golden Book and Rolls-Royce which were unique for their era. That range of disparate products continues today, the Bubble is so far removed from the Golden Bridge or Admiral’s Cup that it could very well be from another company.

I like this one a lot - the Corum Rolls Royce; it has a uniquely 70s oil crisis feel, truly a watch of its era 

I do like the Rolls-Royce watch for its inimitable 70s appeal, but I never quite paid Corum much attention, except for the occasional laugh at some of its designs. Recently, however, a Corum watch that premiered at Baselworld 2009 caught my attention – the Ti-Bridge. It is a remarkably attractive watch with some hints Richard Mille and Cartier, but is unquestionably a strong and original design; it looks like a piece of modern industrial architecture. Two versions of the Ti-Bridge will be produced, one is in polished titanium as shown in the images, the other will be in black PVD coated titanium with matching black bridges.

Given Corum’s penchant for big watches – the latest Admiral’s Cup watches are 48 mm and larger – the Ti-Bridge is modestly sized at 42.5 by 41.5 mm. Just as surprising is its price: retail in Singapore is S$23,433 or about US$16,400 (NB: prices may vary from country to country due to exchange rates and taxes). While by no means is that cheap, it is fair. 

Unlike the Golden Bridge, which has the movement delicately positioned vertically, the Ti-Bridge possesses a new caliber mounted horizontally and secured by a pair of X-shaped struts. Its name stems from the fact that case, as well as movement bridges and base plate, are in titanium. Despite the petite dimensions of the movement, it manages a power reserve of 72 hours.

Vincent Calabrese, the ingenious talent who specializes in all manner of cleverly conceived watches, conceived the Golden Bridge in 1980. Remarkable as it was, the original was fragile and unreliable, predictable given its size and the manufacturing technology of the day.

The original Corum Golden Bridge

Corum Golden Bridge 

After the late Severin Wunderman acquired Corum in 2000, the Golden Bridge was revamped with help from Vaucher, culminating in the launch of the new Golden Bridge in 2005. The improved movement was put in a larger, more sculptured case. Corresponding larger sapphire windows were fitted to the bigger case, which showed correspondingly more of the wearer’s arm; I felt the Golden Bridge looked better on display than on a wrist. Fortunately the Ti-Bridge addresses this hairy issue with a case back that only reveals the horizontal centre portion with the movement.

In my mind, the Golden Bridge is similar conceptually to the Girard Perregaux Three Gold Bridges tourbillion: a different take on a traditional movement layout. Like the GP, the Golden Bridge is mechanically identical to a regular lever escapement movement. Clever rearrangement of the various bits coupled with miniaturization gives makes it what it is.

Though the Ti-Bridge comes no closer to giving Corum a coherent brand personality than any of its predecessors, this watch is an unexpected development and one that may point to a strong pipeline of future products. I am very keen to see this in the metal and will have live pictures of this watch as soon as it arrives here, stayed tuned.

- SJX

Below: Cal. CO 007 of Ti-Bridge

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