Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Contemporain II with Ruby Indices

Rexhep Rexhepi unveils a new variation of the Chronomètre Comtemporain II in rose gold, featuring a handmade Grand Feu enamel dial adorned with ruby markers. Limited to 10 pieces, this follows a series of limited-run releases from Rexhep, including the Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Contemporain II Diamant and the Louis Vuitton Collaboration LVRR-01 Chronographe à Sonnerie. Discover the rest of our Watches and Wonder 2024 coverage.

Laying Future Foundations 

Two years since Rexhep introduced the RRCCII – the wildly popular follow-up to the watch that put him on the map – the young artisanal independent watchmaker debuts a variation with a ruby-adorned grand feu enamel dial. When Akrivia unveiled the Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Contemporain at Baselworld 2018, the watch marked a departure from the brand’s more avant-garde aesthetics. The classical proportions and traditional craftsmanship belie its 21st Century creation. The watch would win the best Men’s Watch in the 2018 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie Genève, a feat Rexhep would pull off again with the RRCCII in 2022. Rexhep’s first Only Watch creation would mark the beginning of his collaboration with legendary casemaker Jean-Pierre Hagmann and the expansion of his atelier in the Old Town of Geneva to include a dedicated case-making workshop. Today, Akrivia also makes watch straps in-house in its new leather workshop, allowing the brand to create custom straps and offer personalised embossing.

Chronomètre Contemporain II with Ruby Indices

The dial on this RRCCII variation retains the design of the standard edition, albeit with slight modifications. Compared to the spatial relation between the Roman numerals and the distinct inner track, this variation has narrower deviations as it tightly wraps around baguette-cut ruby indices. The hands have a slight tint that plays into the case’s warmness and the rubies, resulting in a pleasing visual harmony. Aside from the omission of a hand-engraved grate pattern for the small seconds, the layout of the vitreous is otherwise the same. For those unfamiliar with the process, each dial starts as a metal base plate with powdered glass applied to it and then fired at high temperature in an oven to fuse the glass to the base. This process is repeated several times to achieve the desired indelible finish. The dial is then lapped with an abrasive paste, and the surface is polished until it is glassy smooth.

Hacking Calibre RRCC02

The RRCCII with ruby indices houses the same Calibre RRCC02 as the standard model RRCCII. It features a symmetrical barrel bridge securing two mainsprings, each powering a different gear train for two functions. One supplies energy to the redesigned balance wheel, which keeps the time to chronometric standards—the other powers the deadbeat jumping seconds, which also features a hacking zero-reset function. Pulling the crown will stop the seconds (the hack) and sends the seconds hand back to 12 o’clock (the zero-reset).

As with all AKRIVIA watches, the movements are meticulously hand-finished, a testament to the artisan’s skill. The German silver (or maillechort) main plate and bridges are not only environmentally friendly but also possess ideal mechanical and physical properties for functional stability and decorative treatment. Each of the 7 wheels in the movement has 20 angles each that are hand-polished with bevelling on their spokes and inner bridges. The Côtes de Genève have well-defined lines, and the perlage on the base plate is visible through the gear trains and balance wheel. This manual movement beats at a frequency of 3Hz and has an impressive 82-hour power reserve.