his exceptional collaboration between BA111OD and Label Noir, a pioneer and reference in creative luxury dedicated to the art of personalisation, brings the Chptr_Δ.5 Label Noir Limited Edition into a new and exclusive light. “Together, we’ve explored new frontiers for our brand. Emmanuel Curti’s innovative approach, which boldly reinvents iconic pieces, deeply resonates with our vision of watchmaking. This partnership has allowed us to combine our ideas and create a unique watch,” says Thomas Baillod, founder of BA111OD. The Chptr_Δ, celebrated since its launch last year for pushing the boundaries of traditional watchmaking with its novel interpretation of time, is sure to captivate with this ultra-exclusive series featuring matte and glossy black with a touch of zesty green.

In this collaboration, the Geneva-based customisation house has reimagined the Neuchâtel watchmaker’s complication, adorning it with deep black tones that alternate between glossy and ma^e finishes in an elegant play of light, accented by a zesty green. This green delicately enhances the numerals and hour markers, the minute hand, and the stitching on the textile strap, subtly elevating the asymmetric reading of time. This unique interpretation of time, combining a circular minute display with a hypocycloidal hour display, transforms time-telling into a choreographic experience, capturing an alternative temporality that embodies the carousel of life.

The model is powered by BA111OD’s first manufacture complication. While the minute hand travels around the dial in the usual way, the hour is indicated by a small dot following a hypocycloidal path within a triangle, creating a non-linear experience of time. Thomas Baillod notes, “I particularly appreciate this aspect. Besides being mesmerising, it’s the symbolic aspect of life that fascinates me. Like those precious moments that last or slip away... the hour dot slows down and then speeds up again in a movement that appears irregular yet is perfectly calibrated and precise.”

This project, initially imagined by the designer Diego Böttger-Zevallos, turns out to be complex to realise. Thomas Baillod takes on the challenge. To ensure its technical development and production, he once again calls upon the brilliant watchmaker Olivier Mory, who is already responsible for the paternity of the Ba111od Chapter 4 Tourbillon. “There is hardly anything but the transcendent beauty of mathematics to obtain a triangle using only things that rotate in circles! And it is a discreet tribute to the several centuries-old use of the cycloid in watchmaking. Galileo, Newton, Huygens, Euler, Cantor or Roberval, to name but a handful, have all worked on the amazing properties of these curves,” says Olivier Mory.

Rather than simply rotating a hand around a central axis, the movement was designed to “roll” a satellite hour wheel around a fixed central hour wheel. When a wheel is rotated around another wheel, the trajectory described by any point on this satellite wheel is a cycloid. There are several types of cycloids, some of which have particular trajectories, depending on the size ratio between the fixed wheel and the satellite wheel, as well as whether the satellite wheel rotates inside or outside the fixed wheel.

In this new chapter for Ba111od, the chosen cycloid is a deltoid (with a ratio of 1/3), and as a result, the trajectory described by the tip of the hour hand is... a triangle.

A particular shape highly appreciated by Ba111od is the triangle. With its three legs, this geometric shape that rises up represents direction and determination. It symbolises stability and balance. This balance echoes the brand’s business model, which is based on three letters, BAC (Business → Afluendors → Clients), breaking with the linearity of traditional distribution (B2B, B2C). Even the name Ba111od incorporates the number 3, with its three 1’s.

While very few watch brands have taken the step to develop their manufacture module, those who have done so are well-established and have already gained recognition. BA111OD stands out from the crowd. The young Neuchâtel-based brand has already embarked on this adventure, despite being founded just over 4 years ago, on 11.10.2019. However, according to its founder, this is a continuation of their philosophy, stating: “Since day one, BA111OD has been about a different way of looking at watchmaking. Today, we offer a new reading of time as well”.

Accustomed to highlighting the artisans with whom he develops his models, Thomas Baillod is no exception in this case. He pays tribute to Diego BöQger-Zevallos, the initial designer of this movement, with an engraving of Module 09310 on the dial, which, when read backwards, offers a nice nod to this Neuchâtelois, as his first name can be discerned.

As with previous models, the design is handled by Liliane Murenzi, BA111OD’s Senior Designer. It is she who gives the piece its sleek character and highlights its DNA through a play of transparencies, asymmetries, and subtle open zones on the movement at different levels, adding depth. All of this is enhanced by the contrast of circular polished-brushed and matte satin finishes. The Chptr_Δ is available in three color variations: a grey version with blue accents, a black version with red accents, and a third version sporting a deep blue and its distinctive yellow dot.

Working for over a year on the technical development of this automatic winding mechanical movement, with the BA111OD 09310 module for hypocycloidal time reading, watchmaker designer from Chaux-de-Fonds, Olivier Mory, is also responsible for its production, while assembly is done in-house. Since fall 2022, Ba111od has its own watchmaking workshop, T2 (dial fitting, hands, casing) and T3 (bracelet fitting) in Neuchâtel. The brand also has its own aftersales service and logistics department.

This integration demonstrates its dynamism, its Neuchâtel roots, and enables it to control the entire creation process in-house, thus strengthening its autonomy.

BA111OD is among the first watch brands to offer models with an NFC (Near Field Communication) connected sapphire glass, which allows for contactless communication between two devices in close range, within 1 cm. This technology provides a link between the physical watch and the digital world, but only if the customer desires. By scanning their watch, the NFC glass allows them to transmit their business card or any other predetermined link directly to the phone of their interlocutor.

This exclusive series of 111 numbered pieces of the Chptr_Δ.5 Label Noir Limited Edition is now available for pre-order on the brand’s website: www.ba111od.com, on the Community App, or at one of the official experience points, at a price of CHF 2950.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

TECHNOLOGY
ID Glass technology with an NFC tag, non-invasive, inserted only into the curved sapphire glass. Ba111od is the first watchmaker to have used an NFC-connected glass.

CASE
Stainless steel 316L anti-allergic with Black PVD treatment, 44mm
Transparent caseback

CROWN
At 4 o’clock (brand signature), engraved with the Ba111od emblem

CRYSTAL
Domed sapphire crystal with antireflection treatment

DIAL
Satin matte steel with multiple levels and laser engraving
Faceted triangle in polished steel with black PVD treatment
Green hour dot with Super-LumiNova

MOVEMENT
Swiss made mechanical movement with automatic winding, Ba111od-manufactured module 09310 with hypocycloidal time display (based on Soprod M100).

FUNCTIONS
Hour-Minute Date at 2 0’clock

POWER RESERVE
42 hours

STRAP
Black textile strap with green stitching and easy-clip system

WATER RESISTANCE 5 atm

WARRANTY 2 years

LIMITED EDITION 111 numbered pieces