Berneron Complicates Things with the Quantième Annuel (Live Pics)

The inaugural watch by haute Swiss independent Berneron, the Mirage 38, had a markedly poetic design. With a free-flowing case shape, twisting hands, and a distorted dial, it would be easy to consider it as a design of pure aesthetics. Looks deceived, however, as the form was driven by a movement concept that rejected the standard circular shape, allowing for a large barrel, and thus a 72-hour power reserve in a small and thin body. Nevertheless, the outcome was undoubtedly one of whimsy, where evocative design outweighed pure function, if there was a clever horological backing.

Often, brands, especially young ones, stick to a theme to carve a niche for themselves within a crowded industry, but that’s not the approach of Berneron. For the brand’s second model, announced just before Geneva Watch Days, whimsy is nowhere in sight. Instead, the brand made a sharp turn into practicality and legibility, if through a decidedly haute lens. Titled the Quantième Annuel, it has a design that verges on the traditional, especially compared to the Mirage.

The first model within their “quantième” collection, which will house their complicated pieces, the QA is an annual calendar jump hour with a design driven by logic in terms of how it is read, the movement architecture, and how it is set. The flow of the dial is meant to be top to bottom, left to right. Following that order, time is read hour, minute, second, and the day, date, and month. The hour is digital, as it is a jump hour, followed by a central minute hand, and then small seconds. There is also an AM/PM indicator located within the seconds sub-dial.

The day and month are presented in windows, while the date is a pointer hand at the center with a retrograde function. This cleverly prevents the date from crossing the sub-seconds dial, and solves the annoying “31 1” issue often found on pointer dates. There is an additional trick at play here that one wouldn’t notice with the naked eye, but is very clever. To create a more balanced appearance within the date index, the spacing of the typography and dots (there are only odd numerals) is adjusted based on the width of the numeral. I.E., narrower at the single digits, and then progressively wider to accommodate larger double digits. Because of this, the jumps between dates aren’t equal, which the movement is designed to compensate for. I wonder if this is the world’s first kerning complication?

Other than the pointer date and minute hand, which cross once per hour, the various displays don’t interfere with each other, making the dial highly legible. The overall aesthetic speaks to sector dials and features serif typography for an overall classical feel. There are two color ways: silver with dark blue, and black with dark gray, both of which look great in the metal. The use of accent colors further helps organize the various functions of the dial as they run beneath the line of the date complications. It’s worth noting that the dials feature 18k gold bases.

Mirroring the dial layout, the caliber 595 has been designed with a “cross architecture” (their term). From the back, the symmetry is apparent, placing the freesprung balance opposite the double barrel vertically, intersected horizontally by elements of the winding system. Featuring 476 components, 33 jewels, 18k gold main plate and bridges, a freesprung balance, and heavy decoration throughout, the 595 is visually stunning. Technically, it’s impressive too, as it needs to manage the instantaneous jumping of four windows (hour, day, month, and AM/PM), as well as the date hand, which occasionally needs to jump multiple days, and return from 31 to 1.

There are times when all five of these functions have to jump at the same time as well. As that can cause massive sudden power drain, energy needs to be stored in several remontoirs within the movement. These act as wells of energy that are only released when needed, thus not putting sudden demand on the barrels, and dropping amplitude. Despite these energy requirements, the QA has a 100-hour power reserve thanks to the dual barrels.

Consideration has been given to how the movement is set for ease of use and to prevent damage. As it is an annual calendar, the QA knows the days in the month, only needing to be adjusted at the end of February to compensate for the leap year (it’s not perpetual). The date is set via the crown, and the day and month are set via pushers on the case sides. The date can be set back and forth, and should the mechanism encounter an “impossible date,” such as September or June 31st, it will automatically jump back to the first of that month. This is intended to make the caliber “break proof” as calendar complications can be finicky.

The QA is housed in a 38mm x 45mm x 10mm case composed of a combination of 950 platinum and 904L steel. A design that beautifully melds classic and modern aesthetics, it features a unique shape with nearly straight lugs that flow into a torus mid-case. It’s both sleek and a touch Art Deco. The day and month pushers are seamlessly integrated into the midcase, featuring an oversized pill shape that feels more like an element of high-end tech than a traditional watch. This isn’t a negative, far from it, as it shows how the brand isn’t limiting itself to classical design elements (they say their philosophy is called “desrestricted horology”).

The case includes an officer’s case back that is opened via a pusher in the crown. The intention with this detail was to create a surface for potential engraving and provide extra protection from movement, including impact and UV rays, which can degrade lubricants. The case back isn’t the only protective measure the QA employs, as it features a somewhat controversial steel layer to act as interference for the 950 platinum.

As was explained in our GWD meeting, platinum is easy to damage but hard to impossible to fix as it requires very high heat to work on, which in itself can damage/warp cases. Basically, if you severely damage a platinum case, you might have to replace it or live with the damage. To combat this potential damage, 904L steel is used for plates that cover each lug, the bezel, and the pusher. The plates on the lugs are also held in by screws from underneath, making them easy to replace.

The controversy is that covering the precious metal, which is so expensive, means you can’t see it, and thus “enjoy” it. Considering much of the mid-case is still exposed, and the platinum heft is unaffected, this seems like a little bit of a stretch. That said, those who buy this watch are probably less affected by the cost of servicing or replacing parts, so do they care about protecting it in the first place? Either way, it should provide some slight color contrast, as platinum is very cool in appearance, creating a touch more visual intrigue (it’s worth noting that samples seen in these photos were full steel as they are prototypes).

The Berneron Quantième Annuels are priced at 120,000 CHF for the first year, increasing by 10k CHF each year for the next three years. Each color will be produced in a quantity of 24 per year. Clearly, these are ultra-high-end watches for a very specific echelon of collectors. My personal takeaway from seeing them is not about the realities of ownership but more about the design. The dial is beautifully executed and illustrates one way an abundance of information can be displayed cleanly and logically, while not sacrificing aesthetics at all. The pointer date being tuned for the spacing of the numerals is a detail that, as someone who gets bothered by awkward spacing (I genuinely hate when 31s and 1s are awkwardly mashed together on dials), I appreciate on many levels. Whether you see it or not, this helps with the overall harmony.

Furthermore, the case is just pure joy on the wrist. This has nothing to do with the materials (we didn’t even see it in platinum, as mentioned) and all to do with proportions. Though I knew the dimensions before seeing them in person, I couldn’t help but imagine them as larger than they are. In person, they are delightfully compact, but not insubstantial, and solid as a rock. The case is also a great example of tasteful complexity. There are a lot of curves and lines, but it’s neither busy nor ornamental. Basically, and unsurprisingly, it was an absolutely gorgeous watch, and a highlight of this year’s Geneva Watch Days. Berneron

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