Boucheron Bestiaire Ronde Seconde Folle Watch Collection
Written by James Matthews
The House of Boucheron enriches its cabinet of curiosities with the Bestiaire Ronde Seconde Folle collection. Tongue-in-cheek and iconoclastic, the little beasts who live on the dial of these new self-winding mechanical watches once again strike a pose, this time with the particularity that each has an element that twirls in time. The purpose of this new production is to breathe life into animals and a new dimension into time.
With boundless creativity, the House of Boucheron set upon a mission to make the best of watch-making complications and channel their potential by diverting them from their original function, but without ever letting them lose touch with their raison d’être – namely, to give the time, in one way or the other. With three of its favourite animals – the frog, the chameleon and the owl – Place Vendôme’s very first Jeweller (1893) and fine watchmaking “hobbyist” has decided to give a humorous twist in the display of the little seconds hand. Rather than the austerity generally associated with this type of creation requiring hundreds of working hours and the talent of several master watchmakers, Boucheron, in collaboration with the Girard-Perregaux manufacture, has developed a new self-winding mechanical movement based on the existing GP 4000 calibre.
This new heart, produced exclusively for Boucheron by the Girard-Perregaux manufacture, was named GP 4000 “Seconde Folle” (“Crazy Second”), because its basic mechanism, already well-known by fine horology connoisseurs, is complemented with a module allowing the seconds hand, initially central, to be offset at 7 o’clock on the dial. Moreover, the usual hand is replaced by a very fine and lightweight disk which rotates fully in one minute. As one would suspect, this highly original development instantly triggered creative imagination among the Parisian House’s designers. They were given carte blanche to use the device with maximum fantasy, in order to develop audacious timepieces: the least you can say about them is that they seem to have made the mischievous little beasts on the dial come alive and take over the bezel.
Among them, the chameleon, gripped by an irrepressible yearning to gobble up an elusive bug; the slightly haywire frog, with one of its globular eye spinning endlessly in its socket; and an owl, whose convergent squint turns into a divergent squint every minute, with a most comical effect.
Chameleon Ronde “Seconde Folle”
Ronde Seconde Folle Caméléon, Ref. WA010204
To write this new page in the Boucheron bestiary book, the House’s artists decided to follow the path of humour. Unfettered by classic conventions, they took the liberty to create a new creative space, the originality of which is expressed in several ways and on different levels of sensitivity.
For the chameleon, in its eternal hunt for a swirling insect, its tail curled up around a twig of intricately worked foliage and set with precious pink, blue or yellow sapphires, rubies and tsavorites to evoke nature and make its jewellery aspect less evident, escapes from the circle of hours and gains in volume and liveliness.
Technical Specifications
Chameleon Ronde “Seconde Folle”
Case
18k white gold
Total gold weight = 87.9g
Elliptical sapphire display back
42 mm diameter
Movement
GP 4000 “Seconde Folle” automatic movement
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds offset at 7 o’clock, with rotating function indicator simulating a swirling fly in the spiral formed by the animal’s tongue
Dial
White lacquered and white gold 18k dial with 173 stones: multicoloured sapphires, rubies and tsavorites for a total of 1.3 ct and total gold weight of 11 g
Bracelet
Pink karung strap and 18k white gold pin buckle
Frog Ronde “Seconde Folle”
Ronde Seconde Folle Grenouille, Ref. WA010202
Ribbit! goes the happy frog, a tad quirky, but not completely mad. Original and full of life, the belle, which you may want to imagine turning into a handsome prince, seems to want to escape from the jar it is confined to, leaping around in circles to the point that its eyes have gone all funny. Legs in the air, sitting on the bezel, it gazes upon the world passing by its imaginary pond, simulated by a white gold dial covered in blue chalcedony. This funny little beast will never quite want to leave its familiar surroundings, which is why it is accompanied by its faithful grey gold water lily set with diamonds, sapphires and tsavorites.
A true collector’s item, this 42 mm diameter white gold piece features a caseband adorned with a pointes de diamant pattern and is worn on a pink galuchat strap. It houses a self-winding mechanical calibre from the Girard-Perregaux manufacture. It is a very beautiful movement, so the watchmakers have placed an oval opening on the back through which the delicate finishing and oscillating weight perforated with the shape of the House’s historic hallmark can be admired. Nothing has been left to chance: this fine piece of watchmaking turned natural habitat for an amphibian is 50 meters water resistant, just in case something splatters.
Technical Specifications
Frog Ronde “Seconde Folle”
Case
18k white gold set with diamonds, approx. 1.4 ct
Elliptical sapphire display back
42 mm diameter
Movement
GP 4000 “Seconde Folle” automatic movement
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds offset at 7 o’clock, with rotating function indicator simulating one of the frog’s pupil
Dial
Chalcedony and white gold 18k dial set with 241 stones: multicoloured sapphires, rubies and tsavorites for a total of 1.57 ct and a total gold weight of 10 g
Bracelet
Pink galuchat strap and 18k white gold pin buckle
Owl Ronde “Seconde Folle”
Ronde Seconde Folle Chouette, Ref. WA010206
The night is falling now: out comes an owl, with a muted flutter. Well, not quite… The bird that serves as one of Boucheron’s emblems seems to have just awoken from a deeply repairing sleep. Which is probably why the haggard, wideeyed bird, its wings spread as if to fly away through an oblong sky light surrounded with foliage, has no other purpose than to draw a smile from anyone laying an eye on this watch. It is true that this markedly luxurious timepiece, between the hands of the House of Boucheron’s designers, reveals an incredible potential for humour. Through the night bird’s misty eye, one can feel that artistry can also be fun and “quirky”, without losing any of its aura.
With its aventurine-covered gold dial, this 42 mm diameter white gold piece, its caseband adorned with a pointes de diamant pattern, is an invitation to let yourself be lulled by a starry night. The elliptical opening on the reverse affords a view on the intricate finishing of a mechanical self-winding automatic GP 4000 calibre, like an evocation of the earth’s orbit. On the front, the owl looks very “cool”: it loves jewellery so much that it has covered itself in them, from the tip on its head to the tip of its quills.
Technical Specifications
Owl Ronde “Seconde Folle”
Case
18k white gold set with diamonds, approx. 1.4 ct
Total gold weight – 87.9 g
Elliptical sapphire display back
42 mm diameter
Movement
GP 4000 “Seconde Folle” automatic movement
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds offset at 7 o’clock, with rotating function indicator simulating one of the owl’s pupil
Dial
Aventurine and 18k white gold dial set with 211 stones: multicoloured sapphires, diamonds and amethysts for a total of 1.25 ct and total gold weight of 12 g
Bracelet
Purple satin strap and 18k white gold pin buckle
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This post was written by James Matthews. If you have any questions or comments you may contact him at james@jewelerslounge.com
