The term “subscription watch,” or “souscription” in French, is usually associated with Abraham-Louis Breguet who, during the most violent years of the French Revolution between 1793 and 1795, moved from Paris to Switzerland and had the idea of this new way of selling his watches. Instead of making a watch and then trying to sell it, customers would pay a deposit, after which he would start to make it. This is exactly what Vicenterra, a company located in Boncourt, Switzerland, are doing with their two new models Luna Volume 2 and Volume 3: the watches have been designed but not made yet, and the subscription process enables the company to gauge public interest. So a customer compiles a subscription contract (available from the Vicenterra website), and receives information on how to pay the deposit. There is a 12-month period in which subscriptions are collected, and then production starts. Delivery time is 5 years. The advantage to the customer is the opportunity of purchasing an unusual, limited-edition timepiece at a very attractive price.
The two new watches
The watches in the Luna collection are interesting in that at the base of the dial, the moon and the earth are shown as spherical globes, providing an immediate indication of moon phase, and a second time zone. It has something in common with the Montblanc Montblanc Collection Villeret Tourbillon Cylindrique Geosphères Vasco da Gama, except that in the Montblanc piece, the hemispheres remain fixed and the discs rotate around them. In the Vicenterra watch, the earth on the right. 7.5 mm in diameter, shows where it is noon on the earth at any given time. The moon is 6.5 mm in diameter. There are two windows on the caseband, providing different views of the earth and moon respectively. At the top of the dial, there is another display showing day and night; the date is shown on a subdial at 2 o’clock. The watches are powered by an automatic movement, Seed VMF 3002 Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, to which a module made by Vicenterra is added. The movement has two mainspring barrels that provide a power reserve of 42 hours. The watch is adjusted by the crown, for setting time and date; a pusher at 4 o’clock adjusts the position of the earth, with 24 GMT (second time zone) positions, and a pusher at 8 o’clock sets the moon phases.
The case is in steel, 43.5 mm wide, 53 mm high and 13.6 mm thick.
Below, the Luna Volume 2 (or Tome 2), with open-worked dial:
Below, the three Luna Volume 3 (or Tome 3) watches:
Prices
Luna Volume 2 (with open-worked dial) starts from 11,950 Swiss francs (VAT not included), and Luna Volume 3 from 9,950 Swiss francs. Luna Volume 2 will be a limited edition of 99 units, while Volume 3 is in three versions, white, blue and black, each made in editions of 99. The subscription deposit, payable within a deadline of 12 months, is 2/3 of the total price, with the final 1/3 payable on despatch of the watch. Further information from www.vicenterra.ch
