Having worked closely with Rexhepi throughout his career, watching the evolution of his watches has been inspiring to see, especially the shift from earlier AKRIVIA models and now looking ahead to the Chronomètre Contemporain II and Antimagnetic watches, where his work goes from strength to strength.
According to Rexhepi, “It was perhaps a sign of maturity where I started to re-evaluate my watchmaking aesthetic. You say to yourself, ‘Actually, is this me?’ I’ve always wanted to do things differently, but [the] Chronomètre Contemporain takes me back to my roots, to my education. I tried to design it according to the classic codes I had learnt while at Patek Philippe.”
This point in Rexhepi’s career marked the first time he truly invoked the spirit of his formal training. While it opened up doors to a wider audience and tapped into the modern zeitgeist, it was also a chance for Rexhepi to grow artistically and technically, eventually even luring the legendary Jean-Pierre Hagmann out of retirement to work on all the cases in subsequent watches after the Chronomètre Contemporain.
The concept
The Chronomètre Contemporain is a time-only watch displaying hours, minutes and small seconds, and a Grand Feu enamel dial, produced by Geneva-based enameller Emaill’Art. This example shows the platinum case with a pristine white dial, displaying a subtle sheen (the other version features a rose gold case with a black enamel dial). The distinctive layout of the dial incorporates Art Deco-inspired asymmetrical lines in blue, with a sector-style printed ring, recessed to accommodate the classical Roman numeral hour markers at 10 and 2 o’clock, protruded into the centre of the dial for the 12-, 4- and 8-hour markers. The dial is built on two levels, with the sub-seconds placed in a recessed counter. The latter is encircled by a gilded rim - a subtle, yet impactful detail, added from the initial prototype. Overall, the dial design is simple yet distinctive, with a unique aesthetic identity.
Paired with the dial is also a new style of hands, which vary slightly from the spade-tipped examples on earlier AKRIVIA watches. Crafted from platinum, the hour and minute hands are more rounded, with an attractive polibercé finishing. While the minutes hand has a simple, pointer tip, the hour hand’s spade end is more rounded.
The movement
The extraordinary quality of the movement of the Chronomètre Contemporain will come as no surprise to those familiar with AKRIVIA’s work. Developed, decorated and assembled entirely in-house, the movement displays the high-watchmaking skills that Rexhep and his team are known for, requiring countless sharply finished internal angles on the bridges and plates.
The calibre RR-01 ("RR" standing for "Rexhep Rexhepi") features an unusual symmetrical construction, which is visually appealing in its simplicity, yet takes mastery to implement. While it was essentially the same manually-wound example seen in the AK-06, it removed the power reserve indicator and the bridges were redesigned to better suit the classical nature of the watch.
It incorporates a hacking-second and zero-reset mechanism, where the small seconds' hand stops and resets to zero when the winding crown is pulled out; a rare ‘mini-complication’ in wristwatches, allowing for even more precise setting of the time. This is achieved using a heart-shaped cam, similar to the resetting mechanism in chronographs, beneath the small-seconds hand. The movement also features a single barrel holding 100 hours of power reserve, which rotates on a central jeweled steel bridge in a form typically used for a tourbillon carriage.
The finishing on the movement is superb, which is to be expected from Rexhep and his team. The anglage is in rounded, bombé style, requiring additional skill that can only be achieved by hand, used on both visible and non-visible parts of the movement. Following the highest standards of Genevan watchmaking, this is also shown in the deep, clear Côtes de Genève, decorating the movement plates. The black-polishing of certain parts, notably the cap for the balance cock, is equally impressive. Subtle details, such as the perlage, or spotting, on the base plate are also masterfully executed, resulting in a design and finish which is classic, yet abundantly rich in detail.
Notably, all examples of the Chronomètre Contemporain came with a chronometre certification from the Besançon Observatory, one of Rexhepi’s long-held ambitions. The certification is famously stringent, with the observatory only considering fully cased watches, and not just movements, for chronometric tests done over a 16-day period.
The case
The Chronomètre Contemporain platinum case measures 38mm in diameter and is 9.5mm thick, with an elegant concave bezel and back. A feature taken from AKRIVIA’s original case design, the bezel and back flare outwards at 6 and 12 o’clock. Despite its simple appearance, significant effort was required to give the ovoid bezel a concave form, as to accommodate it without disrupting the classical profile, the midcase had to have an irregular ship, dipping to meet the wider sections of the bezel, while rising in the flanks. As for the lugs, they are lengthy and curved downwards, taking inspiration from the arched lugs of 1950s Patek Philippe cases made by Emile Vichet.
If sold within the United Kingdom, this Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Contemporain will be subject to 20% VAT
