Corum celebrates 50 years of Admiral’s Cup with Tourbillon model

I love approximately one third of what Corum makes and represents. At its best, Corum is the happy-go-lucky alternative in the jungle of high-end Swiss watches, maker of the always-lovely Admiral’s Cup line and innovative haute horlogerie. At its worst, Corum churns out what can only be described as Swatch watches for people with too much money. I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something so tacky about especially their women’s watches, not to mention the Bubble line (although I would wear the hell out of one of those Shark designs…).

Luckily, the pros outweigh the cons. Earlier this year, Corum flexed its muscles with their submission to the Only Watch 2009 event, the Ti-Bridge. With it, the Neuchâtel company showed that they definitely belong among the ranks of premier watch makers regardless of their questionable output of quartz watches. Still, my personal favorite (and really the only reason to get a Corum) is the Admiral’s Cup line. A playful tribute to the world famous yachting regatta, I still consider it the most successful attempt at producing a “sailor’s” watch (the Yachtmaster can burn in hell as far as I’m concerned).

It seems that Corum is aiming to infuse their newly found horological prowess into the Admiral’s Cup. Celebrating the line’s 50th birthday, Corum is releasing the Minute Repeater Tourbillon 45. 10 pieces will be made yearly. The choice of including a minute repeater complication is an interesting one (I presume that the tourbillon part is the same exercise in horological wizardry as it usually is) and certainly nothing you usually in these kinds of watches. However, Corum explains that as a sailor’s life is punctuated by ringing bells, the inclusion of the minute repeater is their way of paying tribute to the marine connotation of the Admiral’s Cup.

Since it’s designed to be used as an actual sports watch, Corum noted that using a traditional minute repeater push-piece would be too risky and could damage the mechanism. Instead, an extra bezel that winds the minute repeater function by turning 27 degrees clockwise was constructed, providing 30m of water resistance. The watch comes in a 45mm rose gold case with 22mm lugs, features a brand new caliber (the CO-010) with a power reserve of 72 hours.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 21st, 2009 at 8:00 am and is filed under Watches. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.