Observatoire Limited Edition, designed and manufactured in collaboration with Zenith, Phillips Auction House, and Kari Voutilainen, is ready to grab your attention with its unique features and price tag.
Zenith brings the legendary movement Caliber 135, the winner of numerous chronometer competitions, back to life in the skilled hands of Kari Voutilainen. Well, that’s awesome! However, when I learn that the idea came from Aurel Bacs and Alex Ghotbi, employees of Phillips Auction House, I lose my enthusiasm.
I'm sure you know Aurel Bacs. Maybe you don't know him by name but you should be aware of his skills. That vendue master who runs million-dollar auctions with a hammer. Aurel Bacs and the others like him have a significant role in the watch market turning into a toy in the hands of auction houses and watches being seen more like an investment tool rather than an object of culture and hobby. Naturally, I regret that such a beautiful movement, the name Zenith and a living legend like Kari Voutilainen were involved in this trade.
Let's go back to the watch. The Caliber 135 has a width of 30mm, which is the maximum allowable diameter in chronometer competitions. It is famous for its 14mm diameter balance, swan-neck regulator, and Breguet hairspring to work with unrivaled accuracy. Approximately 11000 pieces of this 5mm-thick movement were produced until 1962, and this movement was deemed worthy of 230 different awards. Since the movement coded 135-O was exclusively designed for participating in observatory competitions, they are far from the visual decorations that meet the high watchmaking standards. This is where the mastery of Kari Voutilainen comes into play.
The dial of the watch also bears the signature of Voutilainen. The outer ring with a Guilloché pattern, the indexes are made of rhodium-plated German silver and the gold hands are entirely handcrafted. The serial number of the movement is located on the small seconds sub-dial at 6 o'clock.
The watch, which has a 38mm diameter platinum case, has sapphire crystals on the front and back, and the water resistance value of the model is limited to 30 meters.
Now let's get back to the annoying part. The model is limited to 10 units and the watches will be sold through Phillips only. With a price tag of 146,190 CHF This should not have come at the cost of combining a legendary movement that has come back from the dusty shelves of history with a simple yet beautiful Voutilainen design.
We understand that, with the power of Phillips' marketing skills, Zenith aims to place itself in the category of independent manufacturers such as Kari Voutilainen, Philippe Dufour, and Vianney Halter. Who knows, maybe soon we will see renewed versions of old and special models again with astronomical price tags.
