The Legend of Franck Muller - Westime
The Legend of Franck Muller - Westime
The Legend of Franck Muller - Westime
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
PART ONE<br />
CRAZY HOURS<br />
THE BIRTH OF THE<br />
EMOTIONAL COMPLICATION<br />
At first glance, the Crazy Hours<br />
watch — with its dial an<br />
incandescent blaze <strong>of</strong> seemingly<br />
random and scattered numbers, scattered<br />
with the same spontaneity as Jackson<br />
Pollack’s brushstrokes — seems miles<br />
apart from the ordered precision <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Muller</strong>’s tourbillon watches. Yet there is a<br />
salient link between these timepieces in<br />
that their primary objective is to provoke<br />
human emotion.<br />
<strong>Franck</strong> <strong>Muller</strong> explains, “In many ways,<br />
the Crazy Hours was an extension <strong>of</strong> a<br />
simple philosophy that was born when I<br />
created my first tourbillon wristwatch. In<br />
1801, when the tourbillon was first made, it<br />
was created as a precision device. It was<br />
made to fight gravity when pocket watches<br />
are in the vertical position. But today, it has<br />
no meaning as a precision device as<br />
wristwatches adopt innumerable positions<br />
throughout the day. <strong>The</strong>ir raison d’être has<br />
become that they are simply beautiful to<br />
look at, a wonder <strong>of</strong> micro-mechanics and<br />
watchmaking art.”<br />
While <strong>Muller</strong> was instrumental in the<br />
revival <strong>of</strong> the tourbillon, he is quick to<br />
underscore the rationale for a tourbillon in<br />
this wristwatch format. He states, “It is<br />
essentially an emotional device. This is why<br />
I decided to put it on the front <strong>of</strong> the watch.<br />
Later, others realized the emotional value<br />
<strong>of</strong> the tourbillon and followed me.”<br />
When asked if, in an age filled with<br />
micro-electronic instruments, the primary<br />
purpose for all horological complications is<br />
their emotional value, <strong>Muller</strong> is quick to<br />
agree. He states, “Similarly, a minute<br />
repeater was born to serve a pragmatic<br />
function. In the days before electricity, it<br />
was an ordeal to get out <strong>of</strong> bed, light a<br />
candle and read what time it was, so the<br />
minute repeater, a watch that literally<br />
played time, was created. Today, light is<br />
available at the flick <strong>of</strong> a switch. Time is<br />
displayed on electronic clocks that are<br />
illuminated at night. So today, a minute<br />
repeater has no real pragmatic function. It<br />
is simply a beautiful device, and emotional<br />
art form. A transcendent instrument that<br />
changes time into music!”<br />
While <strong>Muller</strong> had by 2003 become the<br />
uncontested “Master <strong>of</strong> Complications”,<br />
ushering in 36 world premieres and patents<br />
in a space <strong>of</strong> only 20 years, he began to<br />
think <strong>of</strong> another purpose for his<br />
extraordinary watchmaking skills. He<br />
explains, “Tourbillon, perpetual calendar<br />
and minute repeater — these types <strong>of</strong><br />
watches are called complications, because<br />
they are complicated to make and because<br />
they add levels <strong>of</strong> complication to<br />
timepieces. But I began to think <strong>of</strong> ideas to<br />
create complications that corresponded to<br />
the needs <strong>of</strong> modern society.”<br />
One watch that emerged from <strong>Muller</strong>’s<br />
desire to express the needs <strong>of</strong> the<br />
contemporary world in his watches was the<br />
Master Banker — a response to the realities<br />
<strong>of</strong> travel and business conducted over<br />
multiple time zones. But as he thought<br />
deeper about it, he began to visualize an<br />
all-new type <strong>of</strong> complication, one whose<br />
primacy <strong>of</strong> purpose had less to do<br />
with calculating minutiae and more<br />
with transforming time into an<br />
emotional language.<br />
<strong>Muller</strong> explains his rationale, “One thing<br />
which I was thinking about was that all the<br />
information shown on traditional<br />
complications could be read <strong>of</strong>f your<br />
computer. As such, I wanted to create a<br />
type <strong>of</strong> watch that <strong>of</strong>fered an experience<br />
you could not have with an electronic<br />
device. This watch must evoke emotion, it<br />
must remind you that watches were living<br />
objects and not soulless electronics. In<br />
order to do this, I had to examine the<br />
fundamental concepts behind civil time.”<br />
But <strong>Muller</strong>’s moment <strong>of</strong> revelation for his<br />
new watch would only come accompanied<br />
by an unconventional baptism in water.<br />
A WATCH WITH NO RULES<br />
<strong>Muller</strong> laughs as he recalls the unexpected<br />
birth <strong>of</strong> the Crazy Hours. It all started<br />
because <strong>of</strong> his aversion to the cold. He<br />
states, “I don’t like the cold. And so, every<br />
New Year, I seek out warm places to<br />
celebrate with my family. My second wife<br />
and I had a baby born on 21 December<br />
2001. When he was one year old, we<br />
decided to bring him on a vacation for the<br />
New Year. I discussed destinations with my<br />
friend Jean Todt because when traveling<br />
with a one-year-old, you are somewhat<br />
limited in your options. Time passed quickly<br />
and I had to quickly choose a place to go.<br />
<strong>The</strong> thing is, I never go any place alone. I<br />
love family and so when I travel, I bring my<br />
sister, her husband, her children, my