The minimalist and yet sophisticated soprano time only observes

Luca Sopana is an independent watchmaker who is not generally known by a large audience, but is highly valued by collectors and industry experts for his work with renowned brands. His studio 7H38 is located in Vaumarcus near Neuchâtel and focuses on the restoration and the development and manufacture of high-end movements for external customers. While some public projects were unveiled, Like the for Jacob & Co. or Massena laboratoryMost are carried out behind the scenes. Worked for others after years, including The youngest and breathtaking return from Derek PrattIt was time for soprano, through a new company, Soprana Micromécanique Appliquée, to create watches under his own name François-Paul JourePresent Denis Flagellet And Vianney Halter). His first creation is an excellent, minimalist, but refined three-hand clothing clock, who simply referred to the soprano era.

As the name suggests, the soprana period only focuses on the essentials and brings the ethos of the independent watchmaker to an elegant three-hand. As you could expect from this detailed craftsman, his obvious simplicity leaves nothing to chance. The vast majority of the components (with a few exceptions such as the case and its crystals) are made by hand in his studio, in a traditional manner and predominantly.

In the watchmaker's own words, “his movement is inspired by traditional watchmaking, tourbillon movements from the early 20th century … The idea is to emphasize the mechanics and architecture of movement in all its glory without contraception.

Less is more

The soprano time is just a pure and minimalist design with symmetry and linearity as keywords that are extremely well done, but anything but thought. With its sober design, it feels almost calvinistic in its approach, which would almost be a surprise in view of the Italian origins of Sopana. The elegant two-tone sector dial is well balanced and proportionate with its small seconds at 6 a.m. It combines Ruthenian-plated, finely granular surfaces and circularly brushed metallic areas. Black engraved markings complete its reserved design. The lance -shaped steel hands are blued and produced in your own house, just like the dial.

Overall, the design of the watch in its deceptive simplicity is excellently elegant. If it is guided by the same philosophy, the movement is a festival for the eyes and exudes expert trade. There, the architecture is again based on symmetry with a large bridge that hides the most movement enemies in order to highlight its large 12 -mm equilibrium wheel. At 18,000 vibrations/hour it is kept under a black polished steel bridge. It has regulating screws and a beautiful, long index controller for fine adjustment. The hairspring has a Breguet terminal curve and is shaped and shaped in your own house. The electricity reserve is rated on a single barrel after 42 hours.

The excellent surfaces count in a traditional way and count generation strips, excellent anglicine and black -polished steel parts. The plate and the bridges are made from the arc (a non -moving, non -tanking, non -magnetic alloy made of copper, nickel and zinc and corrosion -resistant, non -magnetic and stable under temperature changes), with the exception of the steel source bridge. The integration of the jewel for escape traps into a steel setting is another nice detail. The caps, Luca Sopana, Vaumarcus and the individual number of movements are engraved directly into the movement without using plates.

The soprano time is only delivered to an alligator leather strap with a needle buckle. Designing a fine clothing clock is not an easy task. Perfection is in detail, and in this regard the soprano time only really impresses. In view of the manual work associated with the production, the production capacity is about 10 parts per year. Price is set on CHF 65,000.

You can find more information at www.sopranawatches.com.