The Cyrus Klepcys Vertical Tourbillon Sapphire is a unique watch inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci
Fergus Nash- The Cyrus Klepcys Vertical Tourbillon Sapphire features a golden bridge inspired by a design of Leonardo Da Vinci
- The vertical tourbillon placement is inspired by traditional pocket watches.
- It’s a limited edition of 10 pieces, celebrating the 10th anniversary of Cyrus.
My last exposure to the Swiss independent luxury brand Cyrus Genéve was the Klepcys DICE Racing — an extravagant and technical force of nature. Taking an even deeper plunge into delightful absurdity is the Cyrus Genéve Klepcys Vertical Tourbillon Sapphire, representing everything that’s right with haute horological expression that doesn’t answer to a large conglomerate operation.
The master watchmaker of Cyrus Genéve is a man by the name of Jean-François Mojon, who holds a very impressive resume. He has designed movements for the likes of Czapek, Harry Winston, HYT, Hermès, MB&F, and Urban Jürgensen after serving as IWC’s head of quality control and R&D for 10 years. His movement development company Chronode SA was introduced in 2005, and in 2010 he won the Best Watchmaker Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve awards. That was the same year as the foundation of Cyrus Genéve, originally founded by Laurent Lecamp and his cousin Julien. Chronode is now the Cyrus Genève manufacture and, at the same time, continues collaborations with other brands.
The Cyrus Genève Klepcys Vertical Tourbillon Sapphire was originally intended as a celebration of the brand’s 10th anniversary in 2020, however it was delayed until 2021 due to pandemic-related difficulties. Two years later in 2023, there are still a number available from the limited edition of 10 pieces. It really is an extraordinary watch in all things technical and aesthetic. The Klepcys is one of Cyrus Genève’s earliest designs and puts an emphasis on symmetry as an avenue for beauty, while the 44mm sapphire case elevates the sense of luxury and helps focus attention on the movement. Sapphire can’t be brushed or micro-blasted as effectively as a metal, meaning that it’s much harder to discuss something like case finishing. However, the effect of a crystal-clear block of one of Earth’s hardest materials surrounding your watch is so novel that further finishing is unnecessary. It’s amazing how looking at your own wrist can become exciting when it’s distorted through varying surfaces of a transparent material, and the sapphire will always grab attention when worn out in the world.
The main eye-catcher of the watch itself isn’t necessarily the vertical tourbillon, but the golden bridge which supports it in the centre of the dial. This bridge was inspired by a design of Leonardo Da Vinci’s, originally proposed in 1502 to span between Istanbul and Galata. The Golden Horn bridge was never built, until 2019 when MIT students tested a scale model and discovered its remarkable stability and understanding of geometry. Here in the Cyrus Genève Klepcys Vertical Tourbillon Sapphire, the bridge may not span 280 metres, but it does support many key elements of the movement. The thinking behind a vertically mounted tourbillon is to more closely resemble the action of a tourbillon in a pocket watch, which would have sat vertically in a pocket. It’s commonly noted that tourbillons are effectively useless in wristwatches for timekeeping, however it is more plausible that it could make a difference in this configuration. Regardless of its efficacy, as a symbol of Cyrus Genève’s expertise and style it’s a true monument.
Each side of the bridge is a retrograde display, with jumping hours on the left and a sweeping minutes hand on the right. It’s incredibly rare to see two simultaneous retrograde displays in the same movement, with the hour progressing and the minute hand flicking over on the hour, every hour. This makes reading the time intuitive and easy, with the rose-gold skeletonised hands standing out nicely from their backdrop of black and grey components. You have probably noticed the dual crowns that obey the Klepcys commitment to symmetry, with the right-hand crown used for winding the watch and setting the time, and the left-hand crown being a disguised pusher for advancing the hour hand without disturbing timekeeping. The seconds display is actually on the front of the tourbillon cage, with markers at five-second increments, and above it at the top of the bridge is a ball-shaped power reserve indicator. Another feature of the calibre CYR625 is the triangular pattern on the baseplate, and the generally high level of finishing on all components. Thanks to twin barrels, the power reserve is upwards of 100 hours at a 3Hz beat rate.
The Cyrus Genève Klepcys Vertical Tourbillon Sapphire pricing and availability:
This watch is a limited edition of 10 pieces. To learn more about the Cyrus Genève Klepcys Vertical Tourbillon Sapphire, you can check out their website here. Price: US$267,000
| Brand | Cyrus Genève |
| Model | Klepcys Vertical Tourbillon Sapphire |
| Case Dimensions | 44mm x 19.9mm (including the high-dome crystal) |
| Case Material | Sapphire |
| Water Resistance | 30m |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire |
| Dial | Skeleton |
| Strap | White rubber |
| Movement | CYR625 |
| Availability | Limited to 10 pieces |
| Price | US$267,000 |