Franck Müller – which made headlines in the Asia Pacific region earlier this year with the release of the Silhouette CX Snake Emerald – is now making waves in this part of the world with the new Vanguard™ Slim Night Cut watch.
For those late in the room, this ground-breaking Swiss watchmaker is a relative newcomer to the crowded luxury watch sphere (it came into being in 1991, at the behest of the eponymous co-founder and Vartan Sirmakes, an Istanbul-born descendent of Armenian jewellers). But the manufacture has become renowned in horological circles, over a very short time, for several reasons.
For a start, its place in horological history is assured by its role in resuscitating the classic tonneau/barrel-shaped case design via collections such as the Casablance and Curvex. Then there’s the vibrant, eyebrow-hiking aesthetics with which it always graces its pieces (check out the Silhouette CX Snake in 18k rose gold if you haven’t already), as well as the brand’s unique approach to grand complications (Franck Müller is behind the very first tri-axial tourbillon in the world, The Revolution 3, released in 2004). Another factor that earns Franck Müller serious column inches is (unsolicited) celebrity endorsement – think LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert De Niro and Jay-Z.
Front and back of the new Franck Müller Vanguard Slim Night Cut, showing the design details on the dial and the new in-house movement, which allowed a smaller case size.
Part of the Vanguard™ Slim collection, this new offering could well extend that list of notable aficionados. Featuring an ultra-thin, automatic in-house-created movement that has enabled a reduction in case size, the Franck Müller Vanguard™ Slim Night Cut is fashioned from grade 5 titanium – ensuring the kind of exceptional strength, corrosion and erosion resistance and gravity-defying lightness one might associate with another top-end tonneau specialist, Richard Mille. The signature curves and contours of the case, as well as the open case back and crown, have undergone a micro-blasting process followed by a black PVD treatment which calls to mind the Midas touch of George Bamford.
The imperious aesthetic that results juxtaposes elegantly with the hand-applied numerals’ enhanced luminosity (which comes courtesy of Super-LumiNova technology): a nod to Franck Müller’s Line Cut, released in late 2020. The watch’s alloying of daytime discretion with night–time flamboyance (an effect cemented by the versatility of the integrated suede calfskin leather strap) has prompted a “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde” reference from the brand’s marketing folk in Geneva: but we’d assert that this piece is a sartorial serum that’ll bring out a mischievous, rather than evil, side in the wearer when dusk falls.
An opening run of 24 pieces is sold exclusively by Chronopassion.
Author: Nick Scott
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