Wempe teams with British ship designer Tim Heywood to launch two new marine chronometers for yachts: The Wempe Marine Chronometer Cube by Tim Heywood and the Marine Chronometer Coco de Mer by Tim Heywood,
Wempe has made such instruments for seagoing vessels since 1905, and the new series adds a modern twist to the so-called ‘unified chronometers.’
Heywood has equipped the two new clocks with large blue dials and contemporary typography. But perhaps the most revealing addition to the series are two openings at 4 and 8 o’clock that allow the ship’s captain and visitors a view of the Wempe Type 07 mechanical movement through the dial.
In addition, both new clocks are topped with highly domed clear borosilicate glass crystal. Twelve meridian lines radiate from the center of the glass and continue onto the wide, curved glass back.
Wempe notes that while the clock is turned over to be manually wound by key, the gimbal of the gold-plated brass case takes center stage and looks much like an abstract sculpture.
The movement offers a maximum rate variation of only 0.3 seconds per day while maintaining fifty-six hours of power reserve.
You’ll see an elaborate chain-and-fusée assembly through the clear case of each clock that ensures that the energy the mainspring feeds to the gear train remains constant.
The dark brown case of the Marine Chronometer Cube can be ceremonially opened using its three folding doors. The case for this model includes a gold-plated time zone map in the lid plus sixteen coats of varnishing and hand polishing. Price: $57,460.
Heywood chose the curvy, feminine three-part case of the Marine Chronometer Coco de Mer in part because of the fact that ships are the only objects referred to using feminine pronouns in the English language.
Wempe explains that the case is also modeled after a coconut, which “can traverse enormous distances at sea unscathed, making it a perfect symbol for marine chronometry.”
Wempe coats the top of this model’s lid with bronze while the inside boasts gold leaf. Like its partner clock, the case is coated with sixteen layers of varnish. This marine chronometer is limited to fifty numbered pieces. Price: $91,825.
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