HANDS-ON: The Franck Muller Cintrée Curvex Jumping Hours Tourbillon

Felix Scholz

Earlier this week we showed you Franck Muller’s Skeleton Tourbillon, a sculptural wonder that let the movement shine. Today we’ve got a different take on the tourbillon: the Jumping Hours Tourbillon, which is just as stunning, even if it’s a little less revealing to the casual observer.

The first thing you might notice about this watch (OK, the second, after you’ve finished gazing in wonder at the hand-engraved 60-second tourbillon) is that it appears to be missing a hand. The sinewy blued steel minutes are there, but what about the hour? And for that matter, where are the hour markers? The exploded Arabic numerals on the stamped sunray dial display the minutes. Well, the hours are there, displayed in the aperture between Franck Muller and Geneve on the dial. As far as they go, jump hour complications are fairly uncommon, perhaps because the unconventional time display tends to be polarising. I do think Franck Muller missed an opportunity to make their jump hour stand out — the square white disc with plain printed numbers is a dissonant note. I would have liked more, especially on a watch at this level.

Turn the heavy platinum case over and you’re met with what I think is the most beautiful aspect of the Jumping Hours Tourbillon: an elegant, manually wound movement, where every millimetre of each surface has been lovingly hand-engraved, with a delicate, traditional floral motif. The only parts that haven’t been touched by the engraver’s burin are the blued screws, ruby bearings (check out that big one on the tourbillon) or the bevelled edges. It’s a lovely, lovely movement, and if I had the pleasure of owning it I suspect I’d be gazing at this view as often as the dial.

Franck Muller Cintrée Curvex Jumping Hours Tourbillon Australian pricing

Franck Muller Cintrée Curvex Jumping Hours Tourbillon in platinum, $262,500

Images by Jason Reekie

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