Only Watch : Unique Pieces

Successfully tested at the 2011 edition of Only Watch held during the Monaco Yacht Show, where Celsius X VI II set an auction record for a phone with LeDIX Véloce (which went under the hammer for €75,000), the tricky exercise of the one-of-a-kind model has been repeated in this model set with over 500 diamonds. Still equipped with the world’s most off-centred flying tourbillon, and rewound with each opening of this luxurious nomadic object, LeDIX Diamant Pièce Unique pulled out all the stops for the Belles Montres exhibition in Shanghai, sparkling with 49 baguette-cut black diamonds (totalling 1.07 carats) and 498 white diamonds (4.33 carats), all individually set by hand. The work performed is all the more extraordinary in that the 700 parts of this microcmechanical gem are also manually assembled. Nicknamed “remontage papillon”, the patented mechanism using kinetic energy generated by each opening of the phone gives a full two extra hours of autonomy to the horological movement with its 100-hour power reserve. Diamonds are forever, and so is the human imagination.

The Kelpcys by Cyrus is a phenomenal watch distinguished by its historical inspiration as well as by its design and its patented functions. Its DNA stems on the one hand from the feats of Cyrus the Great 2.5000 years ago; while its technical performances result from the expertise of Jean-François Mojon, who was awarded the Best Watchmaker prize at the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix 2010. Its geometrical contrasts highlight the original association of various functions in an extremely original way : the linear retrograde hour display appears along a mobile axis (yellow by day and blue by night) opposite the semi-circular retrograde date indication, with three-dimensional rotating tens, which overlooks a golden spherical moon featuring phases represented by the progressive rise of a black “cover”. This exclusive patented self-winding movement comprises 456 parts. Issued in limited series of 33 in 2011, this model celebrates the taking of Babylon by Cyrus through the Kelpcys 1’000’000 Conquest, a unique model set with 84 baguette-cut diamonds, all originating from one single stone (20 carats before cutting, 5.78 carats after the invisible setting process). As depicted in the reproduction on the back of the watch of some of humankind’s first ever coins (minted under the reign of Cyrus), the Achaemanid lion overcomes the Babylonian bull. Third millennium collectors can rest assured that watchmakers still have plenty of good stories left to tell.


Brice Lechevalier is editor-in-chief of GMT and Skippers, which he co-founded in 2000 and 2001 respectively. He has also been CEO of WorldTempus since it joined the GMT Publishing stable, of which he is director and joint shareholder. In 2012 he created the Geneva Watch Tour, and he has been an advisor to the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève since 2011. Also closely involved in sailing, he has published the magazine of the Société Nautique de Genève since 2003, and was one of the founders of the SUI Sailing Awards in 2009 and the Concours d’Elégance for motor boats at the Cannes Yachting Festival in 2015.

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