urn the Open Gear ReSec Paraiba around in your hands, and the handmade guilloché watch display magically changes from soft turquoise and petrol blue into jungle green and deep purple – the result of relentless experimenting in a field unique to Chronoswiss.

The timepiece’s varying hues are as mesmerising as the semi-precious Paraiba tourmaline unique to the Brazilian region. “Chronoswiss is the only brand with colour-shifting, handmade guilloché. And you cannot simulate this effect in any way – you simply have to experiment,” says Chronoswiss head of design Maik Panziera.

After months of testing a plethora of treatments, colouring agents, lacquers, finishes, patterns and materials, the most stunning result came from a secret, unique type of nano-decorative chemical vapour deposition. The relentless experimenting also led to the conclusion that the light reflection achieved with a short-wave guilloché pattern executed by hand in the Lucerne atelier was fundamental to achieving this mesmerising effect.

“When the prototype finally came back from the lab, I instantly thought of the Paraiba tourmaline, one of the world’s rarest gemstones unique to the north-eastern Brazilian state,” continues Panziera, who was goldsmith for two decades before switching to watches. Mimicking the different varieties of the Paraiba tourmaline, when you turn the watch in the light, the display of the timepiece – a hybrid between dial and a functional module board – changes from a soft, tropical lagoon turquoise to jungle-dark green; from petrol blue to blue violet. Through this unique mix of traditional handmade guilloché and innovative use of CVD, Chronoswiss is able recreate the wonders of nature in a modern mechanical way.

The rest of the Open Gear ReSec Paraiba is packed with Chronoswiss characteristics, such as a regulator set-up with separate hours, minutes and seconds – in this case a 120-degree retrograde second in a conscious allusion to a 17th-century invention. “With the open gear solution we show how the regulator functions. Normally this part of a watch is not visible, but exposing the three wheels that drive the hour hand is a beautiful way to reveal the complication we pioneered back in1988. To me it is like the Ferrari models that have a transparent display of the engine,” laughs Panziera.

Add to that the typically knurled bezel and an abundance of fine finishes and grains, including a circular satin finish on the funnelled hour ring and a horizontally sanded plate revealing the number of the limited edition of 50 timepieces.

Says owner and director Oliver Ebstein about the Open Gear ReSec Paraiba: “Shifting colours, a regulator set-up, a retrograde second and exposed mechanics – since Chronoswiss is an independent family company we don’t have to compromise. We have more freedom to experiment to find such unique solutions for our limited series of watches.”

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Case: Solid 17-piece, stainless steel case, with satin finish and polished bezel with partial knurling and curved, double coated anti-reflectivesapphire crystal; screw-down case back with satin finish and sapphire crystal; onion crown; water resistance up to 10 bar; strap holders screwed down with patented Autobloc system

• Diameter: 44 mm

• Movement: Chronoswiss caliber C. 301, automatic, with stop seconds

• Power reserve: Approx. 42 hours

• Special features: Skeletonized rotor with turquoise CVD coating, Côtes de Genève and ball bearing; polished pallet lever, escape wheel and screws; bridges and plates with perlage

• Dial: Elaborate 42-part construction on two levels: bottom level hand-guilloched with turquoise CVD coating, upper level galvanic black, featuring screwed-on skeletonized train wheel bridges and funnel-like construction for hour display, as well as a retrograde seconds displayand cylinder and block shaped Super-LumiNova indexes

• Hands: “Trigono” shape, lacquered and polished; with Super-LumiNova inlays and tips

• Strap: Hornback crocodile leather, hand-sewn

• Limited Edition: 50