A keen student of history, Christophe Claret felt it would be an interesting exercise to craft the case of the X-TREM-1 – the most innovative and contemporary model in his collection – from damascened steel produced using ancestral methods. This material was first made in the Caucasus around 2500 BC, soon after the discovery of iron, and subsequently spread throughout Europe as well as to Asia. Entirely forgotten during the Middle Ages, it was rediscovered by the Crusaders. Weapons equipped with extremely sharp damascened blades were long considered the finest in the world. After a further period of neglect, this type of steel reappeared under Napoleon and was used to make gun barrels around the mid-19^th century. It has been consistently used in Asia, and Japanese samurai warriors made their katana swords from this material combining the suppleness of the blade with an extremely hard cutting edge. Its resistance in combat gave them a significant tactical advantage over their enemies.

Damascened steel is traditionally produced by layer-assembling two types of stainless steel. Several successive forging and folding steps result in a piece of metal that may comprise several hundreds of layers. This extremely technical high-end alloy boasts excellent properties: a homogenous structure, pure material, as well as extreme resistance to corrosion and shocks. For this new X-TREM-1 model, the grades of steel used are 316L and 304L. The difficulty lay in introducing gold or lacquer into damascened steel for the time indication, and the second challenge involved actually machining the case from the extremely resistant damascened steel.

Technical specifications

Movement
Caliber:  FLY11 - mechanical, hand-wound movement
Dimensions:  26.6 x 46.4 x 11.94 mm
Number of components:  419
Number of jewels:  64
Power reserve:  50+ hours
Barrels:  Dual barrels: one for the movement gear train, one for the time indications

Escapement                              

• Swiss lever
• Frequency: 3 Hz (21,600 vph)
• Tourbillon rotates once every 60 seconds
• Flying tourbillon inclined at 30° supported by a double ceramic bearing, with cone-shaped pinion transmission

Case
Rectangular with curvex profile
Dimensions:  40.80 x 56.82 x 15 mm
Water resistance:  2 ATM / 20 m / 67 ft

Functions                                   

• Mystery hours and minutes displayed with indications provided by hollowed steel spheres moving 23 mm inside two cylindrical sapphire tubes. The metal spheres are driven by magnetic carriages following a thread.
• Seconds displayed on the tourbillon cage
• Movement state-of-wind indication
• Fast time adjustment is via an integrated pusher on the caseband at 12 o’clock

Distinctive features

• Use of precisely-shaped magnetic fields in a mechanical movement
• No mechanical connection between the indications and the movement
• Winding and time-setting via lift-out rotating “bows” on caseback
• Skeletonized barrel

Pricing

CHF 272,000 White Gold & Damascened Steel
(8-piece limited series)
CHF 268,000 5N Red Gold & Damascened Steel
(8-piece limited series)