Category: FRANCK MULLER

If you are a lover of vintage watches and remember the golden age of Franck Muller chronographs in the 90s equipped with the brilliant Lemania movements then we have good news, as the Swiss watch brand in collaboration with Grail Watch has just unveiled a set of three chronographs that are a revival of some of their iconic models from that era.

The three chronographs now presented are proof of Franck Muller’s passion for this type of timepiece and have roots in his historic 36 and 37mm chronographs, which were decorated with Breguet numerals on the dials and inside operated by Lemania movements, and which by at that time, they also equipped many other prestigious brands such as Patek Philippe and Omega, among others.

But let’s get down to business: among the new chronographs are the Franck Muller Bi-Compax Chronograph and the Tri-Compax Chronograph each limited to 50 pieces, and finally, the Franck Muller Double-Sided Rattrapante Chronograph range limited to 30 pieces. These timepieces can be purchased individually or together as a set, there are 10 sets available.

Franck Muller Bi-Compax Chronograph

On the outside, it comes with a stainless steel case measuring 39mm in diameter and 10.95mm thick, with an alternating brushed and polished finish, a large fluted crown at 3 o’clock flanked by two pump pushers, sapphire glass on the front and on the numbered case back.

The silvery white gréné dial features a railway track-style tachymeter scale, silver applied Breguet numerals at 6 and 12 o’clock and dots at remaining hours, a 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock and a running seconds at 9, blue leaf hands and the brand inscriptions at 12 o’clock and “Antimagnetic” at 6.

Inside operates the Caliber FM 2759 based on the movement Lemania 1874, which runs at 21,600 Vph and offers up to 40 hours of power reserve.

This Bi-Compax is offered with a brown leather strap priced at USD 19,500.

Franck Muller, End 39 CC 2 Silver Grail Watch BR. Silver gréne dial, stainless steel case, 39 mm diameter x 10.95 mm thickness, sapphire crystal, 30 meters water resistance, brown leather strap with a stainless steel buckle hand polished. Caliber MVT FM 2759, automatic movement,  hour, minutes, small seconds, chronograph, 21,600 Vph, 18 jewels, 128 components, 40 hours of power reserve. Price USD 19,500, limited edition 50 pieces.

Frank Muller Tri-Compax Chronograph

On the outside, it presents exactly the same case with the same dimensions and configuration as the Bi-Compax Chronograph.

On the dial, the differences are notable, featuring a black grené dial with a white printed tachymeter scale, three registers instead of the Bi-Compax’s two, comprising a 30-minute counter at three o’clock, a 12-hour counter at 6 and a running seconds at 9. Silver applied hour indexes in the form of a dot and an isolated Breguet numeral marking 12 o’clock, central leaf hands and lastly the brand inscriptions at 12 o’clock.

Inside, operates the Caliber FM 2758 which is based on the Lemania 1874  with exactly the same characteristics of the movement of Bi-Compax.

The watch is offered on a leather strap matching the tone of the dial and is priced at USD 20,500.

Franck Muller, End 39 CC 3 Black Grail Watch BR. Black gréne dial, stainless steel case, 39 mm diameter x 10.95 mm thickness, sapphire crystal, 30 meters water resistance, black leather strap with a stainless steel buckle hand polished. Caliber MVT FM 2758, automatic movement,  hour, minutes, small seconds, chronograph, 21,600 Vph, 18 jewels, 128 components, 40 hours of power reserve. Price USD 20,500, limited edition 50 pieces.

Franck Muller Double Sided Rattrapante Chronograph

Like the other two chronographs, it is presented in a stainless steel case measuring 39mm in diameter but 13.45mm thick and with a distinctive design, evidenced by the wide bezel, straight thin lugs and crown with a push button.

The dial features two sides, the front comes with a black sunburst dial, with a silver-white outer ring with a tachymeter scale and three asymmetrical sub-dials, comprising a 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, a running seconds at 9 and a time dial at 6. Besides, central chronograph seconds and rattrapante hands.

On the back side, three distinct scales, a pulsometer in a black outer ring, a telemeter in a white middle ring and a tachymeter in a black central ring, and lastly a chronograph-seconds hand.

Inside operates the Caliber FM-7000-CCRCDF based on the Valjoux 7750 movement, which runs 28,800 Vph and offers up to 54 hours of power reserve.

This doubled-side chronograph is offered with a black alligator leather strap priced at USD 25,500.

Franck Muller, 7000 CC R DF Grail Watch. Stamped guilloché with sun pattern dial, stainless steel case, 39 mm diameter x 13.45 mm thickness, sapphire crystal, 30 meters water resistance, black alligator leather strap with a stainless steel buckle hand polished. Caliber MVT FM 7000-CCRCDF, automatic movement,  hour, minutes, small seconds, chronograph, rattrapante, 28,800 Vph, 30 jewels, 453 components, 54 hours of power reserve. Price USD 25,500, limited edition 30 pieces.

Read more on www.franckmuller.com.

Inspired by the famous 1942 film Casablanca, Franck Muller’s conceived the Contrée Curvex Casablanca in 1998, which extolled all the charm of Hollywood films of that era.

Today and 24 years later, Franck Muller presents its new revitalized “Casablanca”, now wearing a hand-polished Vanguard stainless steel case and leaving behind the previous Cintrée Curvex case, which is characterized by accentuating the curvature of the watch’s axes, gives it a more contemporary look, which stands out for its wide bezel and hides lugs.

Thus, the new Vanguard Casablanca is offered in four variants, one with a brown dial, another in salmon and two options in black, namely the one with the blue numbers, which is exclusive to the brand’s boutiques. On the dial, inner bezel with a compass scale, hand-applied numerals filled with Super-LumiNova on black and salmon references, and skeletonized hands also filled lume and round date window at 6 o’clock.

The Vanguard Casablanca is powered by the MVT FM 800-DT automatic movement, which operates at 28,800 Vph and offers up to 42 hours of power reserve.

The watches come with an alligator leather strap stitching by hand in the same colour as the dial numerals.

The watches are offered in the classic time-and-date version and also in the chronograph version and both are available in two different sizes, with a width of 41mm (V41) and 42.5mm (V43) although the latter is only available in Southeast Asia, with prices starting at CHF 7,600 and CHF 13,260 for the time-and-date and chronograph versions respectively.

Read more on www.franckmuller.com.

General Specifications:

Brand: Franck Muller

Model: Vanguard Casablanca

Reference: V41 SC DT CASA, V43 SC DT CASA

Dial: Brown, salmon, black

Case Material: Stainless steel

Case Dimensions: 41 x 49.95 x 12.20 mm (V41); 42.50 x 52.70 x 12.60 mm (V43)

Crystal: Sapphire Glass

Water Resistance: 30 Meters

Strap: Hand-sewn alligator strap with stainless steel buckle

Calibre: MVT FM 800-DT

Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date

Winding: Automatic

Frequency: 28,800 Vph

Jewels: 21

Components: 165

Power Reserve: 42 Hours

Price: CHF 7,600 (time-and-date V41), CHF 7,700 (time-and-date V43), CHF 13,260 (chronograph V41), CHF 13,390 (chronograph V43)

Availability: Now

Franck Muller has just unveiled his new Grand Central Cintree Curvex collection, which features the tourbillon that operates in the center of the clock.

The main focus of this watch is even the large central tourbillon, which resulted in the complex execution of moving the traditional tourbillon positioning at 6 o’clock to the center of the watch, thus forcing a rethinking of the positioning of the hour and minute hands.

The result is visible through an innovative system, which couples a set of wheels to the perimeter of the tourbillon cage, a skeletonized fixed seconds hand at the front that also adds the brand name, and behind another two wheels with the hour hand and another with minute. In the center of the tourbillon, it is still possible to observe the balance spring, the balance wheel, and the escape wheel, which is very pleasing to observe.

The Cintree Curvex case gains a completely different look, not only because of the central tourbillon but also because its cage is fixed slightly above the surface of the dial causing a visual effect of almost touching on the sapphire glass, which in turn features two curvatures, one horizontal and one vertical, another novelty is the bezel that is separated from the case, which allows beautiful two-tone treatments.

The dial features the guilloché motif with hand-applied Arabic numerals molded in different sizes in a fusion of the free space between the periphery of the dial and the tourbillon cage.

From behind, the open case allows to view the Caliber FM CX 40T-CTR, an automatic movement that is very rare with a tourbillon, that operates at 18,000 Vph and offers up to 4 days of power reserve, as well as the careful decoration by hand namely the chamfering on the bridges, sunray brushed on the micro-rotor and barrel cover.

The watch is offered in eight different variants, ranging from an 18k white gold, 18k rose gold, or titanium case, also offered with some color variations of the dial and its accents. Finally, the watches come with a hand-sewn alligator strap with buckle in the case material.

Read more on www.franckmuller.com.

General Specifications:

Brand: Franck Muller

Model: Grand Central Tourbillon Cintree Curvex

Dial: Silver, blue, black with Guilloché motif 

Case Material: 18k white gold, 18k rose gold or titanium

Case Dimensions: 40.16 x 58.70 x 16.63 mm

Crystal: Sapphire Glass

Case Back: Sapphire Glass

Water Resistance: 30 Meters

Strap: Hand-sewn alligator strap with buckle in the case material

Calibre: FM CX 40T-CTR

Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, tourbillon

Winding: Automatic

Frequency: 18,000 Vph

Jewels: 52

Components: 313

Power Reserve: 4 Days

Price: Under request

Availability: Now