“To combine the Crazy Hours indication with the tourbillon, to me, is to double the visual pleasure <strong>of</strong> the timepiece” Robert Rauschenberg or Jasper Johns, a vivid joyous defiance <strong>of</strong> the cold, emotionless oppression <strong>of</strong> civil time. Says <strong>Muller</strong>, “In the Crazy Hours, there appears to be no sense as to what hours come next, and so, you are compelled to focus on the moment you are in. In this way, this watch was the world’s first emotional complication in that it uses a mechanical complication to delight and engage its owners.” But when asked what use a watch that cannot tell time has, <strong>Muller</strong> replies, “Ah, but you see, human beings are logical and they will always find their way. Similarly, with the Crazy Hours, the hour hand on the watch will always jump to the right time. With the Crazy Hours, I have found a way to deconstruct and restructure time.” <strong>The</strong> Crazy Hours complication finds its roots in a watch <strong>Muller</strong> created in 1986, the world’s first free-oscillation tourbillon wristwatch. What was unique about this timepiece was that it featured not just a precision device intended to combat the erosive force <strong>of</strong> gravity, but also a jump-hour indication. <strong>The</strong>re are two types <strong>of</strong> jump-hour watches: watches that feature an aperture in which the hour is displayed, and watches with traditional hands that, instead <strong>of</strong> a sweeping, leap from one hour index to the next, jumping precisely at the stroke <strong>of</strong> each new hour. <strong>The</strong> Crazy Hours is similarly a jump-hour watch using a traditional hour hand. <strong>The</strong> distinction is that instead <strong>of</strong> leaping one index at the stroke <strong>of</strong> each hour, it leaps forward five places. As such, an examination <strong>of</strong> the seeming disarray on the Crazy Hours dial sheds light on the fact that the numeric jumble is actually spaced such that each subsequent number is not one but five spaces in progression around the dial. Upon the release <strong>of</strong> the Crazy Hours in 2003, the watch-collecting world was universally stunned. <strong>The</strong> advent <strong>of</strong> the Crazy Hours, a watch whose sole purpose was the abstraction, deconstruction and reconfiguration <strong>of</strong> time with the intent to shock and delight otherwise emotionally disengaged owners, has been associated with the first Impressionist paintings that divorced themselves from replications <strong>of</strong> reality, focusing instead on the sublimation and expression <strong>of</strong> emotion as their primary objective. <strong>The</strong> Crazy Hours is the first work <strong>of</strong> watchmaking Impressionism. Today, many brands have laid claim to the ground <strong>of</strong> emotional complications. But each <strong>of</strong> these brands owes its very existence to <strong>Franck</strong> <strong>Muller</strong> and the revelation he experienced beneath the stars <strong>of</strong> Mauritius, the determination it created in him to fabricate a timepiece that would break our enslavement to time and unearth a purer form <strong>of</strong> existence, sensuality and appreciation for life. TOTALLY CRAZY Adding the practical advantage <strong>of</strong> a date indicator, the Totally Crazy watch adds another startling pinwheel <strong>of</strong> fiery dial-side animation with a date indicator that echoes the seemingly random order <strong>of</strong> the legendary Crazy Hours dial. This time, the secret lies in the date hand leaping seven indices to always find the next number in the progression through the month. Nothing <strong>of</strong>fers more entertainment than the sudden and simultaneous jump <strong>of</strong> the hour and date hand precisely at the stroke <strong>of</strong> midnight. CRAZY HOURS TOURBILLON <strong>The</strong> Crazy Hours Tourbillon combines two <strong>of</strong> <strong>Franck</strong> <strong>Muller</strong>’s iconic achievements, the dial-side tourbillon and the Crazy Hours complication. As with many <strong>of</strong> his timepieces, the Crazy Hours Tourbillon was inspired by a friend; in this instance, Tay Liam Wee, the group executive chairman <strong>of</strong> Sincere Watch and the head <strong>of</strong> <strong>Franck</strong> <strong>Muller</strong>’s distribution in Asia. Says <strong>Muller</strong>, “Liam Wee is very innovative and it was his idea to create a watch with the ultimate dial-side animation. To combine the Crazy Hours indication with the tourbillon, to me, is to double the visual pleasure <strong>of</strong> the timepiece. On the one hand, you have the total folly, the seeming wildness <strong>of</strong> the Crazy Hours indicator, and on the other hand, you have the world’s most famous precision device.” But the two complications work together beautifully, both combining their technicity and bravado to create what to many connoisseurs is THE ultimate <strong>Franck</strong> <strong>Muller</strong> timepiece. Adding a beautiful touch <strong>of</strong> whimsy, the “8” index has been divided into two in a King Solomon-like act <strong>of</strong> horological prowess, with half <strong>of</strong> the index placed on the dial and the other half integrated into the flying tourbillon’s cage. This “8” serves both as an index and a seconds indicator, completing a full rotation once every minute. Regardless <strong>of</strong> which Crazy Hours complication you choose, every watch from this series is intrinsically linked to <strong>Franck</strong> <strong>Muller</strong>’s ultimate act <strong>of</strong> horological rebellion. To gaze at the dial <strong>of</strong> any <strong>of</strong> these timepieces, be it the Crazy Hours, Totally Crazy, or Crazy Hours Tourbillon, is to be reminded <strong>of</strong> the fact that time itself is the most precious commodity in life.
<strong>Franck</strong> <strong>Muller</strong> Cintrée Curvex Totally Crazy