Antoine Preziuso

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Antoine Preziuso: The Free Spirit of Watchmaking

Antoine Preziuso may be a watchmaker by trade but he is also a dreamer, inventor, and artist, and he definitely views watchmaking unconventionally and without limits. His designs feature the use of exciting combinations of materials such as the remnants of a fallen meteor to ultra-complicated movements such as the patented 3volution which reveals three synchronized tourbillons, beautifully polished and finished and observed through the sapphire crystal case back.
Each watch is a conversation piece and is painstakingly handcrafted with the highest level of attention given to the smallest of details and assembled by the consummate designer and master-watchmaker. With a small staff composed of family, including his watchmaker son Florian, and other like-minded watch professionals, Preziuso produces a limited number of watches yearly making each model an individual work of art. Most of his timepieces find their way into private watch collections and are available at one of his three boutiques worldwide (Geneva, Switzerland / Osaka, Japan / and Kiev, Ukraine).
Preziuso has also coined the phrase “Watches as mechanical jewelry” to describe his beautifully ornate diamond-encrusted creations that are coupled with his complicated mechanical and self-winding movements. To own an Antoine Preziuso timepiece is to capture the very art of watchmaking in all of its unbridled brilliance. To capture a glimpse of one man’s unique genius and passion.

The History of Antoine Preziuso

Antoine Preziuso was born in Geneva, Switzerland, a city rich with watch-making heritage. As a teen, he tinkered with old clocks and watches and realized his passion for the profession. He attended the Ecole d'Horlogerie de Genève (watchmaking school) and graduated at the top of his class in 1974. Upon graduation, he was hired to work for Patek Philippe.
By 1981, he was working as an independent watchmaker repairing watches and clocks for museums and private collectors
In 1991, Preziuso presented his first creation. A patented bezel wound perpetual calendar minute repeater which was met with accolades and acclaim by the watchmaking community. This led subsequently to presenting his own display at the 1995 Baselworld fair.
Harry Winston commissioned him in 2002 to create and build the Opus 2 timepiece for his jewelry brand. 2002 also marked the presentation of six different tourbillon models under the Antoine Preziuso name at the Baselworld fair. These models were constructed of different materials including a case carved out from a meteorite.
In 2005, with the help of his son, Florian, also a watchmaker and working alongside his father, presented to the watchmaking world the 3volution watch. This movement has a rotating structure that carries three individual and synchronized tourbillons. A first of its kind and covered by three international patents.

The collections of Antoine Preziuso

According to the company website, there are presently eight collections of watches.

B Side Automatic

This is a fascinating watch that gives the wearer the ability, with a simple press on a secret pusher, to flip the watch case over while still wearing the watch. This way the wearer can view the beautiful self-winding mechanical movement through the skeletal back.
The 45 mm case is made of Grade 5 titanium. The caliber APG282 21 jewel hand engraved movement features blue screws with a personalized oscillating weight. The dial is “Cotes de Geneve'' decorated with superluminova C1 treatment. “Cotes de Geneve'' is the best-known watch movement decoration and consists of an intricate series of wavelike scratches forming parallel lines on plates, bridges, and rotors. It features a 42-hour power reserve and is water resistant to 30m.
The watch is available with a full-grain crocodile strap.

Chrono Grand Robusto

This model takes its inspiration from the Latin word robustus meaning strong, well built, and vigorous. The watch features a rugged cambered rectangular case that is available in either 316L stainless steel or pink gold. It has a black carbon fiber dial and is adorned with trademark sloping Arabic numerals. The difference in this model is that the 1,2,3,6, and 9 are replaced by four “displays with a difference.” Along the horizontal axis, the small seconds subdial at 9 o’clock is counterbalanced by the 42-hour Power reserve indicator with a pointer moving across a segment to keep track of the state of the winding watch.
Simultaneously, the vertical axis reflects the 30-minute and 12-hour counters of a chronograph. Each counter is represented by a semi-circle with no numerals but replaced with a two-tiered set of segments that act as a graduated scale.

Sienna

The Sienna was created in response to Preziuso’s appreciation of the different clock faces that are on various towers throughout Europe. The Sienna is inspired by the clock that is at the top of the “Torre del Mangia” tower located in the Piazza de Campo in Sienna, Italy.
The 316L 40mm stainless steel case is outfitted with a caliber APG282 21 jewel mechanical self-winding movement. The movement features blue screws with a personalized oscillating weight and is finished in a “Cotes de Geneve'' decorative pattern. The movement also has a 42-hour power reserve.
The case has front and back sapphire crystals and is water resistant to 30m. The white or black mother of pearl dial has a single gothic watch hand as is seen on the original tower clock and is available with either a stainless steel bracelet or an alligator strap.

Transworld

The Transworld presents a 24-hour dial with numerals at three-hour intervals and hour lines in between the numerals. It has an original large pebble-like case and the dial features a light upper zone to display daytime hours and a dark lower zone to reflect nighttime. The center of the dial is a global snapshot featuring the continents of the world against a blue ocean background. The world map turns in tandem every 24 hours reflecting the 24 time zones.
Technical features of the Transworld include its availability in two shapes; a round 40 mm. or a 47,2/39 mm. Tonneau-shaped case. The choice of materials is 316L stainless steel, white gold, or pink gold and features a sapphire crystal on both the front and rear of the case. The caliber APG282 mechanical self-winding movement has 21 jewels and a power reserve of 42 hours. The dial is completed with skeletal hands and the watch is water resistant to 30m.
The timepiece comes with the choice of a stainless steel bracelet or full grain crocodile strap with the steel case or a full grain crocodile strap on the gold models.

Power Energy

This particular model is a fascinating timepiece that displays the level of energy drawn from the wearer’s activities and movements. It is composed of various biocompatible materials and is extremely eco-friendly. The mechanical self-winding movement draws power from a spring that is wound by the accumulated motions of the wearer which are transferred to a circular rotor.
The case is 45 mm. in diameter with a thickness of 14 mm. The unique aspect of the case is that the top and bottom bezels are screwed onto the middle via eight lateral pillars and twenty-four screws “power” in titanium. The case is available in either a combination of 18 kt. pink gold, titanium Gr5, and stainless steel, or PVD and 18 kt. Gold. The sapphire crystal is anti reflective and the watch is water resistant to 50 m.
The caliber APG 297 mechanical self-winding movement has 21 jewels and a power reserve of 42 hours.
The distinct face of the timepiece has hour, minutes, and energy indicators on a two-level dial reflecting a “Cotes de Geneve” and a satin finish. “Open worked spearhead” hands in 18 kt. gold, chamfered, and satin-finished, complete the watch’s appearance. The watch is available with a crocodile skin strap with a personalized folding buckle.

Oltre Tempo

The best way to describe this model is with the following description taken directly from the company’s website. “With its mysterious depth effect and perspective created by the original pattern of big 9, 3, and 6 Art Deco numerals, the Oltre Tempo “Through Time” watch carries its name well, bringing to mind the elegance and refinement of “another time.”
The watch has a 50/38 mm. case which is available in 18 kt. pink or white gold. It has a screwed-down case back with a rectangular see-through crystal in the center of the case back. The manual wind movement is a 21 jewel caliber APG/71 with a 42-hour power reserve and water resistance to 30m.
The dial is either white or pink gold and is hand engraved if purchased in the diamond version. A crocodile strap completes the Oltre Tempo model.

The Tourbillons

The Tourbillons are a collection of four different styles that are built around a mechanical caliber APG/28T with a single tourbillon. The tourbillon was first developed by Abraham Breguet in 1801 and was designed to eliminate errors of rate due to the effect of gravity when the watch was placed in the vertical position. The movement is adorned with 19 rubies, operates at a frequency of 21,600 A/h, and has a power reserve capacity of 110 hours. Each watch has both a sapphire crystal front and rear case back to observe the impeccably finished movement. The timepiece also has a water resistance of 30 m.
The four styles are the following; Tourbillon Barroque, Stella Polare, B Side Tourbillon, and The Art of Tourbillon which includes six variations. These are Barocco, Titane Diamonds, WG,Titane PG Diamonds, PG, and Titane PG.
Characteristics of the four styles apart from the movement include the following; Tourbillon Baroque-40 mm. 18 kt. white gold case with hand engraved case and movement decoration, 18 kt. Gold SuperLuminova white C1 hands, and a leather strap with hed seams.
Stella Polare-40 mm. case cut from an over 100,000-year-old meteor, with a hand engraved movement and a watch strap that has a carp skin top and a lizard underside. B Side Tourbillon-45 mm. Grade 5 titanium case with hand engraved movement decoration, and skeleton faceted, chamfered hands with Luminova C1 finish. Available with a strap made with a full-grain crocodile skin top and a small-grain crocodile skin underside.
The Art of Tourbillons- A 42 mm. Tonneau-shaped case available in a plethora of materials and diamond embellishments all complementing the hand-engraved movement.

The AFP TTR 3X

This collection is the creme de la creme of the various Antoine Preziuso watch creations. Also known as the 3volution, The TTR 3X is the result of both Antoine and his son Florian’s creativity and ingenuity (Thus the AFP, Antoine Florian Preziuso). The TTR 3X is a manual wind movement that features three synchronized tourbillons. The tourbillons vibrate at a frequency of 3 Hz and are linked by a triple differential and separated by three “masselottes.” The three tourbillons revolve on their axis every 60 seconds while the plate completes 6 revolutions per hour. The complexity and originality of the movement have garnered three international patents.
The movement is comprised of 570 individual components, 65 rubies, and six precision ball bearings. The power reserve capacity is 48 hours and has an anti-reflective sapphire front crystal and a sapphire rear crystal.
The TTR 3X is available in various styles like the TTR Trillon. The Trillon is as much a piece of jewelry as it is a watch. The 47 mm. 18 kt. white gold case is adorned with 233 24-carat baguette-cut Top Wesselton G+ diamonds. The crown alone has one solitaire and twenty baguette-cut diamonds. All of the diamonds are invisibly handset and create a seamless reflection of brilliance. The combination of rubber and crocodile strap with a deployment buckle completes this masterpiece.
The TTR Power is engineered exactly as the Power Energy mentioned earlier in this article. The case itself is made up of 45 pieces with twenty-four screws “power” securing the top and bottom bezels. The 45 mm case is available in a combination of stainless steel/titanium Gr5/ and 18 kt. white or pink gold. A crocodile strap with a deployment buckle puts on the finishing touch.
The TTR3 Chronometer has a beautifully finished movement observed through the front and rear sapphire crystals. The decoration in the front consists of three “masselottes” in either gold or meteorite. The back of the movement features a chamfered bridge and is finished in “Cotes de Geneve” decoration.
The 48 mm case is available in either 18 kt. white or pink gold or stainless steel. A crocodile strap completes this offering.