Over the summer caught wind of a new brand called Albishorn, which was introduced by way of a collaboration with Massena LAB. The watch showcased a wholly original design that captured an old-school vibe without being a direct reference to any particular watch or brand. The style was dubbed ‘imaginary vintage’ in the first watch, and it’s a theme that’s being carried forward in their first solo release, the Type 10 Chronograph. As the name suggests, this is an imaginary predecessor to the Type 20 pilot chronograph watches used during WWII, and it exercises a bit more creative freedom than we typically expect from these kinds of watches as a result.
Albishorn is a new brand founded by industry veteran and designer Sébastien Chaulmontet, who you may recognize from his time at Arnold & Son, where he had a hand in resurrecting the Angelus brand. Also present here is Fabien Collioud, movement designer that’s previously worked for La Joux-Perret SA, and Sellita, as well as the modern Angelus brand with Chaulmontet. These are two highly creative minds, and the founding of Albishorn provides them a blank page from which to build. Their initial efforts are immediately distinctive, and set a playful tone for what we can expect to see from the brand moving ahead.
The Type 10 Chronograph is pretty straightforward in many ways, but incorporates plenty of unexpected details the closer you look. At its core, this is a monopusher chronograph with a fully indexed dial and an oversized rotating bezel indexed to the minutes. The two sub-dials are set low in the dial, residing almost entirely below the center hand stack. A 30 minute totalizer sits at the left, while the running seconds sits at the right. The bottom heavy design is balanced by the peculiar aperture at the top of the dial, as well as the crown and pusher placement between 9 and 11 o’clock.
The aperture at 12 o’clock reveals the status of the chronograph, shifting from black, to red, to white between reset, start, and stop respectively. When the chronograph is not engaged, the timing seconds hand uses a circular plot to obscure the aperture entirely, until it’s put to use. These are the kinds of details that can set a watch apart, and it’s been handled beautifully here by Albishorn in a way that feels organic to the rest of the watch. It’s also practical as this is a monopusher, removing any ambiguity in the state of timing.
The single pusher and crown are unique in their own right, with the pusher being handled in a way that prioritizes practicality. The pusher itself is a broad, red button that almost looks like a slider, but it’s been done this way to make it easier to actuate using the thumb (or index finger for those wearing on the right wrist). This is a defining feature of the design, and brings a dramatic moment of color to the otherwise earthy tones of the dial and strap options.
Powering these features is the patented proprietary chronograph caliber ALB02 M, which is based on the Valjoux 7750 architecture. The movement is hand winding, and has been fit within a case that measures 12mm in thickness, which includes a box sapphire crystal (11.1mm when measured without). The case itself measures 39mm in diameter, and 47.7mm from lug to lug, meaning this watch should wear with plenty of vintage charm along with its vintage looks. It should be noted that the DLC steel bezel is flared, and drops in toward the dial, and it measures 41mm in diameter, so there will be more of a visual puns to this one, while it’ll wear much smaller in practice.
Albishorn is releasing two variations of the Type 10 Chronograph: Classic and the Sihlwald. The classic pairs a base black dial with light brown lume at the numerals and hands, and is fitted to a light brown leather strap. The Sihlwald example gets a green fume dial and a bronze crown, and will ship with a green leather strap. Both watches are priced at CHF 3,950, and while not limited, just 25 examples of each will be produced for the first batch.
The initial collaboration with Massena LAB was the ‘water’ based model, while this Type 10 Chronograph is the ‘air’ themed watch, and a third ‘earth’ theme is currently listed on the website, so keep an eye out for that one coming soon. Albishorn