This year’s new launch, the Tourbillon Petite Seconde Rétrograde (TSE PSR 122.00), is true to the proud lineage and values of Schwarz Etienne: notably quality, authenticity and an utmost respect for watchmaking tradition.

Independence in its creative process, a vertical approach to production, and a constant quest for innovation are the striking features of the canvas Schwarz Etienne paints today.

The movements, developed and produced almost entirely in-house, lift a veil on a work of outstanding precision where aesthetic finesse and technical virtuosity exist in harmony. Discussing the importance of Schwarz Etienne’s in-house production, Mauro Egermini, CEO of the brand, explains: ”We are aware of the enormous advantage of producing everything in house. It is something we worked hard on developing. It provides us with the opportunity to manage our entire production chain guaranteeing total control of quality and a capacity to manage our stock and our delivery times as efficiently as possible.”

The Tourbillon Petite Seconde Rétrograde timepiece offers, for our undisputed pleasure, a complete view of its mechanism while preserving the magic that comes from its beating soul. The mechanism of the retrograde small second display, usually hidden in the movement, reveals itself by literally floating above it. A veritable feast for the eyes.

With both transparency and making a statement in mind, the decentred hours and minutes are also completely liberated, allowing us to fully appreciate the deft finishes of the stone of the dial. This distinguishes itself in two parts. Firstly, what we define as “calm” with the display of hours and minutes; and secondly, what is “animated” through a profound view of the complications.

The display of the off-centered hours and minutes at 04:00 emphasizes the beauty and elegance of the carefully constructed sanded finish, from the “ at” surface of the bridge whose left-hand side houses the SE logo.

The reading of the hours and the small seconds draw our attention to the natural fine stone dial, whose hour points are in SLN. This elegant, emerald green dial is made of Aventurine, a form of quartz, rendering it both brilliant and truly distinctive. This fine stone hails from Murano, the famed region of the Venetian Lagoon. Integration of the latter requires extreme care in its processing, chiefly because its cutting and shaping demand extreme delicacy, dexterity and skill. A stone which is conceived by the addition of copper oxide in the glass.

The dial proposed on the second model in rose gold, is made of Specular Hematite, a fine stone, glittering anthracite in colour and effect, and only recently extracted from mines in the Ural Mountains.

The “animated” part of the dial brings us directly to the irreversible micro-rotor, decentered at 09h00, which succeeds in bestowing the great complexity of this timepiece of exception and audacity, in a combination of the most ingenious mechanics. Above the micro-rotor one finds the retrograde small second display at 11h00.

Both models of the Tourbillon PSR are available either with a steel box, a decentered hour-minute dial and the small seconds in Aventurine green; or, alternatively, with a box in 5N rose gold, hour- minute dial and small seconds in Hematite Specularite in glittering anthracite. The bracelet is formed of a full-skin alligator strap and lined with alligator in complementary colours.

TSE PSR 122.00 MOVEMENT

The Tourbillon Petite Seconde Rétrograde from the La Chaux-de-Fonds collection enriches the family of manufactured movements produced by Schwarz Etienne. Aesthetic elegance and technical prowess are qualities which come to the fore.

The Tourbillon line of the La Chaux-de-Fonds collection offers calibres produced entirely in an autonomous fashion, made possible thanks to the skill of its twin company and partner, E20 Innovations, specialists in assortment, escapement and the oscillating organ of the watch.

The TSE PSR 122.00 caliber manufactured and entirely conceived by Schwarz Etienne has a clear place, and manifests immediate credibility, in the distinct landscape of Swiss haute horlogerie.

This automatic movement, equipped with a micro-rotor fixed by a self-locking key, comprises a tourbillon that turns in an anti-clockwise fashion. Indeed, this latter feature was “simply” – to put it plainly – reversed. Making it irreversible!

But above all else, this caliber was conceived and ingeniously constructed in a modular and evolutionary way allowing it to be personalized with the technical desires of the master watchmakers of the company, true magicians with expert hands. And here is the result of the work, an innovation which features a fully visible retrograde small second function, one which literally floats on its box... a guaranteed pleasure for all lovers and enthusiasts of haute horlogerie. This simple sight of the incessant ballet of the small seconds is something which renders this feature forever spectacular.