Basel Diary March 20th Part 2
After the first day's schedule at the Basel venue was over, I headed to the cigar lounge of the Trois Rois Hotel, Basel's oldest and most prestigious hotel, where my old friend, the watchmaker Philippe Dufour, had invited me to attend the launch event for a new brand called "ALCHEMISTS."
These people, who call themselves alchemists, are trying to create a very conceptual watch with a case made of a metal that has a healing effect when worn, and the movement is enclosed within a space-like dome crystal.
The brand was started by three people: Fabrice Tuter, one of the founders of the company, who bought a castle in Sénéléger, installed machine tools there, and turned it into a factory that produces precision parts for luxury watches; Hervé Schulchter, a watchmaker who has worked for Richard Mille and Bovet for 20 years as an expert on complicated watches; and Denis Vipre, another key figure who uses special abilities similar to qigong to solve problems with the human body.
The metal that is said to have healing properties is called Cuprum 479, and the three alchemists hold a patent on it.The composition of the metal is said to be a secret, but it is an alloy of copper, silver, and gold, and one of the properties of copper is that it helps form red blood cells.
Silver has also long been known for its antibacterial properties, which is why silver and copper have been highly valued as ornaments by ancient people.
In other words, Cuprum 479 is a metal that is gentle on the body because it has all of these properties.
Philippe Dufour has been asked to supervise the project, and as a sort of watchmaker, he is keeping a watchful eye over their new venture. He has asked me, an old friend, to join him in observing this completely different, non-commercial watchmaking venture.
The story of the development, illustrated with cartoons during the presentation, was fascinating, and the finished watch itself was also intriguing. The movement structure resembles an old marine chronometer, and the balance spring is a three-dimensional blued lantern-shaped one.
Although they have a modern appearance, they are actually made using traditional luxury watchmaking processes, which makes this hybrid interesting. In any case, there is no doubt that their work will bring a breath of fresh air to the world of luxury watches.
At dinner that night, I was able to talk about various things with Mr. Dufour for the first time in a long while, and it was a fun evening.
The alchemists of the watch world are currently developing various parts using Cuprum 479, so we have high hopes for the results they will produce in the future.
