No Hands - Montre à Tact by Andersen Genève

Danish watchmaker Svend Andersen has developed some signature pieces which includes the Montre à Tact. A founding member of the Horological Academy of Independent Creators (AHCI), Svend Andersen spent several years restoring timepieces in Patek Philippe and then founding the brand that bears his name in 1979.

Having learnt his horology skills from the Danish School of Watchmaking, Svend Andersen went on to perfect his skill in Switzerland. And one of the more iconic piece is the Montre à Tact - a timepiece that does not have any hands to tell time but instead relies on windows between the lugs. Not one but two windows...

On first impression, one notices the "main" window between the 11 and 1 O'Clock - the windows of time. The dial in this case is a gold engraved dial featuring some Hieroglyphics. But in reality, the dial can come as a painted dial instead of an engraved one.

But the complication in the timepiece is the ability to tell time with the "second" window - the one on the side of the case. Interesting as it allows the owner to view to time without having to turn the watch face. Additionally, it also allows the owner to have a fully customised dial covering the "top" window altogether!

Notice that the timepiece does not have any crown? Well, the winding crown is at the case back - another ingenious development. And again, the clean case back allows one to customise the case back. Underneath the closed case is an automatic movement.

The 43mm timepiece comes with a rather unique case and Pierre tells me that there are not many case makers out there that can make such a case.

This timepiece comes in a white gold case as with many of the timepieces by Andersen. Most if not all come in precious metal.

Pictures taken by iPhone 6.

Andersen Genève - World Timer 5th Edition

Svend Andersen - a name many would associate with some signature timepieces like the World Time watch and the Montre à Tact.

Recently, I was invited by friends from Deployant to view the new collection from Andersen Genève. I met with Pierre-Alexandre, the representative from the brand and he tells me that the brand makes around 50 timepieces a year, mostly highly customised pieces. He showed me three timepieces - the first is the World Time Tempus Terrae which is into its 5th Edition. The first World Time by Andersen was developed in 1990.

Since the Tempus Terrae commemorates the 25th Anniversary of the first timepieces, the folks at Andersen have made three variants - 25 pieces each in yellow gold, rose gold and white gold. First up, the yellow gold version. A very handsome timepiece - clean and very legible. Notice the lugs? Angled just right.

The centre dial is made from "Blue Gold" - a mixture of gold and metal elements that when heated turns the alloy blue. And the hand guilloché scales makes the centre even more attractive - lends a nice reflection. The timepiece comes with a hunter case - closed case back with a lock resembling a globe. The clean case back is to allow for personalisation like engraving.

Open the hunter case and the inside reveals an automatic timepiece with a blue gold rotor - also hand guilloché with the scale motif. Very pretty.

Next up is the white gold version of the World Time. The timepiece is 39mm - just nice for me. The Tempus Terrae offers a wide range of personalisation which includes the addition of any city on the dial as well as the colour of the fonts. This is on top of allowing engraving on the case back.

And the case back...

Pierre-Alexandre also shows me some piece unique variants of the World Time - one for the ladies with baguette diamonds around the bezel. The small production numbers for Andersen is because many of their pieces are customised. The intention is to produce unique pieces tailored to the client's requirements. Much attention is given to the client, his/her personality and what they want in a timepiece. The "simplest" is the engraving and then there is the painting of the dials for the Montre à Tact which I shall feature in another post.

Thanks to the folks at Deployant and Andersen for sharing the timepieces. All photos taken by iPhone 6.