Collaborative watches are having a strong year, in both the upper echelons of watchmaking, as well as more approachable projects. French brand Baltic is no stranger to collaborative efforts, and they generally use them to further leverage their classic approach to design informed by history. With this collaboration with SpaceOne, they are taking a very different approach that deconstructs the process of reading the time. The watch, called the Seconde Majeure, represents an unconventional that pushes both parties out of their comfort zone, which generally results in something special in the world of collaboration.
SpaceOne is also based in France, formed by Théo Auffret and Guillaume Laidet, two familiar faces in the world of watchmaking. Auffret is an independent watchmaker with a seriously impressive pedigree, while Guillaume is a serial entrepreneur in the watch space, and the man behind the resurgence of the Nivada Grenchen, Vulcain, and others. With SpaceOne, the pair have found an avenue to bring highly conceptual designs to the masses. Their perennially sold-old Jumping Hour design looks straight out of the world of Star Trek, putting it at the opposite end of the spectrum from where we’d find the likes of Baltic.
With the Seconde Majeure, we find a design that somehow occupies two worlds. There is a classic round 38.5mm steel case with a traditional lug, all of which frames an open dial set with a series of discs and dials, all of which requires a moment of orientation. The jump hour display at the top of the dial is offset by the larger minute disc, which also rotates to display the minute via curved aperture along the bottom of the dial. At the center of that minute disc, but not quite the center of the dial as a whole, we find the only hand on the watch, which tracks the running seconds.
The focal point is a vertical line that begins with the crown placed at the top of the case, between the lugs, and runs directly south through the hour and minute displays, both of which align along the same vertical plane. The discs are visible, so you get an eyeful of numbers layered over each other, but the display areas get black background, making for easy legibility once you’ve got yourself properly oriented to the what’s going on.
All of this is set over a brushed (€2,500) or charbonné (€3,500) base dial plate with the co-branding on the left, and the pair’s home city of Paris on the right. It all comes together better than you might imagine when considering the individual components, and the tidy case size, which measures a touch over 12mm in thickness, should make for a great on-wrist experience as well.
Per-orders for the Seconde Majeure are open through May 17th, and production will be limited to the amount of orders received. Baltic / SpaceOne
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