Swiss
The recently presented Perrelet Louis-Frederic Split-Seconds automatic chronograph is offered in two cases (one in pure white gold (ref. A1827/2) for the members of inconspicuous consumption club, and the other in a white gold / yellow gold mix (ref. A1827/1) for those more interested to show-off a little) and is powered by a beautifully decorated in-house Perrelet P-241 skeletonized caliber.
Born in 1781, Louis-Frederic Perrelet worked with the legendary Abraham-Lois Breguet and was the official watchmaker to the courts of three successive kings of France. He also was the first to file a patent application for the chronograph split-second mechanism, aka Rattrapante.
Being a combination of two stopwatches, the complication allows to simultaneously measure two separate events occurring at the same time. Like, say, two expensive cars engaged in a drag race or something even flashier than that.
Although, to perform the task, now you can get a Valjoux 7750-based split-seconds chronograph for a lot more reasonable price, there is still a number of Manufactures capable of making their own in-house double-chronograph movements. Well, the mechanism is actually crafted by Perrelet’s sister brand Soprod and, from where I stand, the Swiss brand stretches things a little bit calling it “in-house”. However, both brands are owned by the same company and the mechanism was made exclusively for Perrelet, so technically it can be called in-house, but it’s clearly not as in-house as mechanisms built real manufactures that complete the whole process -from cutting the case from a pluck of steel to making and decorating the mechanism- on their own premises in the same production facility. Oh, never mind.
Of course, the timekeepers that happen to be powered by manufacture-made calibers are much more expensive and are usually delivered in cases made of gold or even platinum to justify the premium that the manufacturer puts on them.
The new Perrelet Louis-Frederic Split-Seconds Chronograph belongs to this smaller group of exclusive watches.
Powered by Perrelet’s own P-241 automatic caliber, the watch will be sold in two special edition models. The A1827-1 model will soon be available in a pink gold/white gold (750 ct.) combination and is limited to only 50 units, while the white gold A1827-2 model will be even more exclusive with total production limited to just 27 timepieces.
As you can see, both watches feature wholly skeletonized dial and a partly skeletonized caliber with a nicely decorated rotor, barrel and bridges, rhodium-plated wheels, and blued screws.
Although the white gold model doesn’t look very legible to me (its steel clockwork is just not contrasting enough for the white gold hour and minute hands), the A1827-1 with rose gold hands seems to solve this problem. And its chronograph seems to be completely usable if you have good enough eyes to see the reading of the respective sub-dials.
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Photos: Perrelet
Perrelet Louis-Frederic Split-Seconds Chronograph specification
Price range: $34,000 (ref. A1827/1 in rose/white gold mix, MSRP) / $35,000 (ref. A1827/2 in pure white gold, MSRP)
Movement: In-house P-241, automatic chronograph caliber, 28,800 vph, 25 jewels, Swiss Made
Complications: Split-seconds chronograph (Rattrapante)
Power reserve: 46 hours
Case: rose gold/white gold mix (ref. A1827/1) or pure white gold (ref. A1827/2)
Size: 43.50 mm
Case height: 14.00 mm
Dial: Skeletonized
Water resistance: 50 meters
Strap: Black rubber with steel deployment buckle and solid 18-karat rose gold or white gold cap depending on the model
Crystal: Sapphire, AR-coated
Back: Sapphire