Romain Gauthier Insight Micro-Rotor Lady

Press Release – Pre-SIHH 2018

Romain Gauthier Insight Micro-Rotor Lady

With its highly visible, intricately engineered, automatic movement featuring snow-set micro-rotor and its gently shimmering mother-of-pearl dial, Insight Micro-Rotor Lady – Romain Gauthier’s first ladies’ watch – is for those women who want their timepieces blessed with more than just a pretty face.

“Increasingly, female collectors are looking to own truly exceptional mechanical timepieces,” says Gauthier. “While aesthetics still play a role, these women want the real deal in terms of innovative mechanisms and fine hand-finishing. Insight Micro-Rotor Lady offers this combination of style and substance.”

Insight Micro-Rotor Lady’s hour-minute subdial and small seconds are crafted from mother of pearl exuding a gorgeous iridescent sheen, indications powered by an in-house calibre that boasts a bidirectional micro-rotor made from 22k gold. The front of this oscillating weight is spectacularly decorated with brilliant-cut diamonds of varying sizes.

Framed by a cut-out in the mainplate – also adorned with mother of pearl – the sparkling micro-rotor turns fluidly and noiselessly between two bridges, each fitted with a friction-minimising, wear-resistant ruby bearing. However subtly and in whichever direction the micro-rotor swings, it efficiently winds a serially operating double mainspring barrel that, when fully wound, provides a generous 80 hours of power.

The dial is a picture of depth and harmony, with the mother-of-pearl subdials and mainplate cover superbly setting off the red gold hands, gilded balance wheel and red gold treated plaquette and bridges that are hand bevelled and straight-grained. The arcs of the sweeping bridges marry with the inner contours of the red gold case.

The case’s 39.5mm diameter ensures a comfortable fit on slim wrists. Impressive design details include a lip in the caseband that flares out to meet the bezel; the crown placed at 2 o’clock to free up space for wrist movement; and the bombé sapphire crystal which gradually rises so its highest point is over the hour-minute display – the true centre of the dial in Romain Gauthier’s eyes.

There are more beguiling views of the movement through the display back. Here the micro-rotor can be see setting the visible train of gears in motion, starting with the reversing gear that lends the mechanism its bidirectionality. The gears and ratchets stand out for their circular arms that feature eye-catching bevels.

Meanwhile, the golden bridges are decorated with hand-made, hand polished bevels and jewel countersinks and are fixed in place using Romain Gauthier’s signature screws with aesthetic S-slot. The sinuosity of the bridges is nicely juxtaposed by the linearity of the straight-grained finishing and four plaquettes.

“With Insight Micro-Rotor Lady, I wanted to create something that is feminine, but which avoids clichés of femininity, and something that is technical but where the showpiece complication provides a simplicity of use,” says Gauthier. A few turns of the crown get the movement going, you set the time, put the watch on and let the micro-rotor do its work. You can then just enjoy it as an elegant and reliable daily companion.”

Insight Micro-Rotor Lady is available in two 10-piece limited editions in red gold: with Tahitian black mother-of-pearl dial and anthracite strap, and with Australian extra white mother-of-pearl dial with white strap.