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Harry Winston: Opus 9

Tom is the founder and editor of The Watch Lounge. Together with his team he is dedicated to bringing you the best, original content you won't find anywhere else on the net. To read more articles by Tom please click here.

Article posted in: Watch of the Month

First launched in 2001, the Opus Series from Harry Winston has redefined the way we think about watch-making and indeed the simple act of telling the time. Every new piece in the series is a celebration of unprecedented collaboration by the industry’s most revered independent watch makers with results that both astound and delight. Released earlier this year the Opus 9 carries on this proud tradition to stunning effect.

The Simplicity Of Time
The hallmark of this latest creation from Harry Winston is its simplicity. In this stunning new creation the fine art of watch making has been reduced down to the absolute essentials. And yet the final result is unlike anything we have seen before; technically brilliant and at the same time unequivocally modern. This is linear driven time – expressed in diamonds.

Diamonds of Time
Typically diamonds are used solely to add to the visual appeal or a precious timepiece, however, in the Opus 9 this has been relegated to a secondary function. Replacing the traditional watch hands and cyclical dial, time is displayed by two parallel diamond chains, for hours and minutes. That’s right, you didn’t misread. Time is displayed in diamonds.

The effect is breathtaking. Each chain is luxuriously adorned with 33 baguette-cut diamonds, Harry Winston’s signature shape. Brilliant mandarin garnets are tactically positioned to indicate the hours and minutes. Meticulously calibrated, each stone is perfectly set into the links, to ensure movement, while maintaining their brilliance.

Crafted in brass, the chains are designed to maximize mobility while minimizing friction. True to form Harry Winston’s iconic, invisible settings give the gemstones the appearance of floating lines of light simply suspended in space across the face of the watch.

The case of itself is a thing of beauty yet at the same time entirely functional. Designed to emphasize the functional beauty of the diamonds, while supporting the movement it is crafted in white gold. The unusual bridge running through the centre of the dial lends both technical and aesthetic stability to the design forming a lynch-pin lock that secures the mobile components of the watch in place, creating additional stability and shock resistance. Encased in – a poetic view of time elapsing.

Mechanics Of A Masterpiece
Keeping with the simplistic theme the chains are powered by a strong automatic movement, concealed entirely within the case. A rack and pinion mechanism is needed to transform rotational time into linear time, creating the lateral drive needed to propel the continual gliding movement.

Though is seems simple enough in theory, in practice extreme balance and mechanical precision are essential to mobilize the weight of the diamond chains. While chain mechanisms have been explored before, the added weight of diamonds presents a new technical and functional challenge.

The Final Word
A stunning feat of architectural engineering, Opus 9 marks the first time that Harry Winston has partnered with two, independent pioneering forces in haute-horlogerie; long-time Winston designer and watch maker Jean-Marc Wiederrecht and legendary designer Eric Giroud. Simplistic yet at the same time mesmerizingly complicated, the Opus 9 represents a new level of watch-making the likes of which the world has not seen before.

For this the Opus 9 is The Watch Lounge’s inaugural ‘Watch Of The Month.’

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