Denis Giguet, former head of production for Harry Winston Rare Timepieces (& Post-Busser Opus) is about to introduce his first watch from the newly formed independent Manufacture Conteporaine du Temps (MCT) -->LINK. Their first watch, "Sequential 1" has a particularly unique feature of rotating panels revealing the hours with triangular segments.

The hours are indicated at four positions on the watch. Each position comprises 5 triangular prisms which rotate clockwise to gently reveal the hour. Critical to the design of the MCT timepiece is the importance of having the numbers 3, 6, 9 and 12 in their correct positions.

The operational sequence of ¡°MCT Sequential 1¡± is like the points of a compass. At north (the 12 o¡¯clock position), on the relevant hour, the hours 12, 4 or 8 will be displayed. At the West position the numbers 1, 5 ,9 will be revealed, at South 2, 6 and 10 and East the hours 3, 7 and 11 will be displayed. The minute hand and sapphire disc play a very important role. Exactly on the hour the disc is released and rotates in an anti-clockwise direction to reveal the next hour numeral. This instantaneous anti-clockwise rotation of the brushed sapphire disc means that the minute hand is now positioned at zero minutes, ready to begin the next 60 minute journey round the disc.

The architectural design of the watch was entrusted to Geneva based Eric Giroud, a specialist in movement architecture (HWRT, MB&F). Eric has designed a masterpiece of complex simplicity with different elements of the watch turning on 3 axis, at precise times with very distinctive movements. The brushed sapphire minute disc has an opacity which clearly displays the minutes but also allows the wearer to appreciate the delicate rotation of the hour prisms.

I'll be posting a specially made video of the watch in action in the coming weeks, stay tuned!