Messages: 26256 Location: Washington, DC
Registered: November 2003
BASEL/SIHH – New High-End Brand – Cornelius & Cie.
Tue, 11 March 2008 09:16
Cornelius & Cie. – Merging In Time
Cornelius & Cie is a new high-end watch brand based in Geneva, Switzerland. The company was founded in the summer of 2007 and was initiated by two Dutchman, world-famous watch engraver Kees Engelbarts (1967) and jeweller Paul Pertijs (1968), crowning a friendship started while both were students at the renowned Dutch Gold- and Silversmith Academy.
Cornelius & Cie is named after Kees Engelbarts Christian name, Cornelis. The company will produce extremely exclusive watches, using vintage watch movements in proprietary cases of classic but innovative design. Every single part of the movements is embellished by hand, skeletonised and/or engraved by Kees Engelbarts. Customers are offered extensive possibilities to have the watch and the movements personalised with specific engravings.
The first collection presented will consist of 12 Chronosome 46XY watches. This stunning model features a 1935 A. Schild movement with eccentrically placed barrel. The unique position of the barrel is immediately evident by the shape of the case. The Chronosome 46XY watch will be available from April, 2008. There will be 3 models: with completely skeletonised movement and dial (2 pieces in platinum, 2 pieces in red gold), with partly skeletonised movement and closed dial (4 pieces in red gold) and with Côtes de Genève decoration (4 pieces in red gold).
The watches will be presented in a luxury box, including an Orbita watch winder (specially tuned to keep the strong main spring perfectly wound) and an extra barrel. The barrel can be engraved with a personal text or picture.
Cornelius & Cie has set up an after sales department guaranteeing rapid regular service (within 2 weeks). Prices start at € 39,500 Euros. The fully skeletonised platinum Chronosome 46XY retails at € 115,000 Euros. Diamond setting is available on request.
Cornelius & Cie was founded by:
Kees Engelbarts (born 1967). Kees was educated at the Dutch Gold- and Silversmith Academy in Schoonhoven and the German vocational school for jewellery design at Idar-Oberstein. He started working as a professional watch engraver in 1994, setting up his own workshop in Geneva. Kees swiftly was recognised as an outstanding craftsman. He created intricately engraved and skeletonised watches for several watch companies, including Jaeger-LeCoultre, Hublot and Harry Winston. He became one of the very few engravers familiar with the Japanese ‘Mokumé Gane’ technique producing his own base material of 19 ultra thin layers of alternating two non-ferrous metals. In 1997 he produced his first own watch. The founding of Cornelius & Cie – where Kees will act as creative director -is the next step in his astonishing career.
Paul Pertijs (born 1968). Paul was educated at the Dutch Gold- and Silversmith Academy where he met Kees Engelbarts. After his studies he took over his father’s jewellers shop in Breda. Over the years Paul has expanded this single high-end shop into the Pertijs Jewellers group with boutiques in Breda, Vught, Roosendaal and Laren. Paul took the initiative to found Cornelius & Cie after seeing a one-off watch Kees had made using the 1935 A. Schild movement. He will act as commercial director of the company.
The Chronosome 46XY Watch
The heart of the Chronosome 46XY watch is an astonishing movement. The Calibre AS 690 was developed and produced by the A. Schild company in Grenchen, Switzerland, in 1935. It is a sturdy, large movement beating at a steady 18.000 bph. When the strong main spring is fully wound (by hand) the movement has a power reserve of 8 days. The decisive feature of the movement is the large barrel placed in an extremely eccentrical position. Why A. Schild constructed the movement in such a way is unknown; it is a distinct possibility the movement originally was not intended for use in wrist watches but designed for other uses such as pocket watches or automotive instrumentation. However, when he first saw Calibre AS 690 Kees Engelbarts was impressed by the quality of its construction, its pleasingly different design and the accurate timekeeping it provided. Apart from the position of the barrel the movement features two other interesting construction details. There is a pusher located at two o’clock that disconnects the winding crown from the winding mechanism so that the crown can be used to turn the hands. And A. Schild used a rather unique shock absorbing system to protect the balance. The leaf spring shock absorber is not unlike the Pare-chute system developed by Abraham-Louis Breguet.
Cornelius & Cie has acquired a sufficiently large quantity of the AS 690 calibres to manufacture at least 100 Chronosome 46XY watches. Enough spare parts are available to guarantee future servicing and repairs.
Every movement is taken apart piece by piece. Every single part is embellished by hand and rhodium plated. Kees Engelbarts executes the engraving and finishing on the skelonized movements by hand. Then each movement is reassembled by a team of qualified watchmakers lead by Jerôme Willert, formerly working at Breguet. The unique movements are placed inside the unique cases manufactured by Michel Josserand (Besançon, France). The dial is produced by Cador (Basle, Switzerland); its thickness of 1 mm increases the aesthetic quality and provides ample space for engraving. Front and back of the case are sealed with flat sapphire glasses. Because of the asymmetrical case Kees Engelbarts had to design a completely unique strap attachment system using two small brass wedges to lock the alligator strap in its place.
Each Chronosome 46XY watch will be presented in a specially designed box including an Orbita watch winder (specially tuned to the strong mainspring of the movement). The possibility is offered to have the top of the barrel engraved with a text or a picture, turning each watch into an extremely personal one. The engraving can daily be seen through a window in the dial.
Cornelius & Cie guarantees its watches for a full 3 years. Servicing will be rapid and will not last longer than 2 weeks.
Specifications:
Case platinum or 18kt rose gold (5N)
Diameter 49 mm
Thickness 16.30 mm
Movement A.Schild Calibre 690 from1935, rhodinum and/or gold plated, embellished by hand, engraved and/or skeletonised by hand
Power reserve 8 days
Vibrations/hr 18.000
Jewelling 17 jewels (13 from the original movement, 4 added)
Water resistance 30 m
Back sapphire crystal
Strap alligator with 18K gold buckle
The Future - 2008 to 2010
The Chronosome 46XY watches are the first models produced by Cornelius & Cie. Initial production is 12 watches only, but the company expects to produce 100 Chronosome 46XY watches in 2008. In 2009 Cornelius & Cie will introduce a sportier version of the Chronosome 46XY with automatic movements and steel cases. Designs for a ladies’ Chronosome 46XX have already started. 2010 will see the introduction of watches with more complicated movements. Kees Engelbarts and Paul Pertijs are considering the development of a proprietary movement to be introduced after 2010.
Total production capacity of the Geneva-based workshop is expected to grow to 300 watches per year.
About the Chronosome 46XY
The name Chronosome is a merger of the words Chronos and Some. ‘Chronos’ is the Greek word for time, the personification of time being a godlike creature also known as Father Time. ‘Some‘ comes from the Greek word ‘soma’, meaning ‘body’. Cornelius & Cie has chosen the world Chronosome because it merges these two concepts of time and body beautifully.
Of course the reference to the chromosome is not unintended. The number 46 indicates the number of chromosomes per human cell. Because the first series of watches are designed for the male wrist, we have added XY, XY being the code to indicate male humans in the sex-determination system used to indicate male humans. The ladies’ watches will have 46XX as standard reference. So the Chronosome 46XY is the ‘time body’ for the human male, the Chronosome 46XX is the ‘time body’ for the human female.
- Jorge Merino