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INTRODUCING: The Franck Muller Vanguard Grande Date INTRODUCING: The Franck Muller Vanguard Grande Date

INTRODUCING: The Franck Muller Vanguard Grande Date

Cameron Wong

A few days ago, we introduced you to the opulent curves of Franck Muller’s Cintrée Curvex Grande Date, a curvaceously cased complicated chronograph with a big date and semi-skeletonised dial. Well, today we’ve got something just as Grande in the date department: the Franck Muller Vanguard Grande Date, with a dial that’s a little more openworked, and a case that’s still plenty curvy.

Vanguard by both name and nature, Franck Muller’s Vanguard collection extends on those oh-so-well-rounded proportions of the brand’s famed Cintrée Curvex case design, with bolder styling, larger dimensions and equally as strong curves. The tonneau-shaped case of this particular Vanguard Grande Date measures 44mm across by 53.7mm from top to bottom, with a thickness of 12.8mm, and is available in a variety of materials, from stainless-steel or titanium, to carbon or 18k rose gold (as pictured here).

A larger case also means more room for the things that delight our eyes, with the inner architecture of the automatic in-house manufactured movement put on full display through the openworked dial on the front and a sapphire crystal on the back. It is only obscured by large lume-filled hour markers and semi-skeletonised hands, and the outer rings of small subdials for the chronograph’s elapsed minutes at 3 o’clock and the running small seconds at 9 o’clock. Telling the time may just be the last thing on your mind anyway, as your gaze wanders across the wonderfully hand-bevelled edges, circular graining, and decorations of Côtes de Genève on the movement’s components within.

While the movement has the looks, it also has the know-how, featuring both a chronograph and a big date display – neatly tucked in between 7 and 8 o’clock. It has a power reserve of 46 hours with large pushers on the case’s side operating the chronograph, while the crown nestled between sets the time, and a tiny pin pusher on the opposite side of the case corrects the date.

Finally, holding it to your wrist is a choice of leather or nylon straps, with both backed by a tough-wearing rubber.

The Vanguard collection represents a more dynamic Franck Muller, featuring sportier designs that still encompass the traditional watchmaking values of the Swiss-made brand. Forever in motion — just like the lines and curves of their iconic flowing cases.