Chronoswiss Regulator Classic Blue Steel, Blue Dashboard of Time.

Blue has made a huge comeback in the watch world. On the Chronoswiss Regulator Classic Blue Steel the complex colour that first appeared 4,200 years ago in Egypt has been applied to the case, bezel, crown, dial, subdial, hands, lume and strap. Is this the bluest watch in the world?

First, let’s look at the regulator complication – a Chronoswiss speciality – atop the midnight blue galvanised dial. Just like a car separates the speed from the tachometer, the regulator has separate hands for hours, minutes and seconds – we like to think of it as a dashboard of time. The regulator has a 200-year history as a precision instrument, serving as the time reference in watchmakers’ workshops. Not only was it accurate, but this symmetric asymmetry also makes for an extremely legible time reading – especially given the large minute hand and the fact that it overlaps the hour hand only once every six hours.

To ensure contrasting blues for uncompromised legibility, the hands are lacquered in a brighter shade. The central, trigon-shape minute hand sweeps the entirety of the galvanised midnight blue dial, and the hour subdial has been ornamented with a sophisticated guilloché. Another highlight is the skeletonized small second display at 6:00, enabling you to catch a glimpse of the automatic movement from the dial side.

Steel blue is the nuance used on design details that make a Chronoswiss watch instantly recognisable: the fluted case sides and the generous onion crown, the latter an homage to old pilot watches. The steel blue is not just for looks – it is a PVD treatment, which resists the scratches we are all familiar with from wearing a watch in everyday life.

The Regulator Classic Blue Steel is held in place with a hand-stitched alligator strap coloured with several layers of midnight blue and black. This manual, time-consuming colouring process makes every strap unique and pays tribute to the brand ́s philosophy of true craftsmanship, in other words, “Handwerkskunst” at its best.

And finally: to make sure the time is legible well beyond the blue hour, the hour and minute hands and the index dots are painted with an intense blue Super-LumiNova®.

About Chronoswiss:

Lucerne-based Chronoswiss, founded in 1983, is an independent creator of modern horology. It utilises a mix of the newest technologies and classical artisanal handcrafts such as guilloché and enamelling to create timeless, yet distinctively contemporary non-conformist designs. We like to call it “Handwerkskunst” of the 21st century.

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