One of the most impressive features of the Christophe Claret DualTow (954.610.2234, www.dualtow.ch) is the watch’s pedigree—a fact that may strike one as unusual, given that Christophe Claret is not a brand in the conventional sense. Yet the watchmaker has built his reputation as one of the most skillful behind-the-scenes complication specialists of the modern era, discreetly supplying exotic minute repeater and tourbillon movements to high-profile watch brands over the last 20 years. He has applied all of this experience to DualTow ($510,000), an unorthodox tourbillon chronograph made to celebrate his two decades of complicated watchmaking.
Most noticeable on DualTow are the colored rubber belts displaying the hours and minutes. The individually customized belts make each of the watches in this limited run of 68 absolutely unique. But other creative mechanical details also enhance this timepiece. Claret’s chronograph mechanism is just as visually engaging, its levers radiating like tentacles from the central column wheel. This elaborate system visibly engages and resets a separate mechanism located under each display. One of Claret’s famous repeater gongs chimes each time the chronograph starts, stops, and resets.
