Ornatus-Mundi
[Zenith]
7136
Conclusion: a watch for the viveurs!
I am always in a dilemma when reviewing a complicated piece of horological art: I admire the efforts, the ingenuity and the skills that went into the piece, but most often I get either lost in details, thus struggle to 'see the woods for the trees', or somehow I cannot establish an amotional connection to the piece. Worse: both at the same time! The latter regularly happens if those complicated piece (unintendely) reveal their secret raison d'être: being a talking piece aimed to get as much attention as possible!
Not so with this one: I am in love!
My infatuation actually lasts on since the first second I have seen the Grand Voyage. I am puzzled since, on paper, the watch has everything that up to the present rather calmed my emotions: over-sized watch, open-worked dial, multiple details exposed, even a tourbillon (-like!) mechanism exposed on the dial, and all this compounded with a lot of decorative patterns.
Yet It does work - at least for me.
Trying to come up with an explanation I ended up with the following as an approximation: What differentiates the Grand Voyage from comparable pieces is the fact that its overall conception allows you to easily pic your momentarily most favoured aspects: Gravity module? Concentrate on it! Fusee? Just look at the time dial, the rest comes into view automatically! Artwork? Simply turn it around!
As far as I am concerned there is a magical balance and harmony amongst all the numerous elements and components that make the watch work in its entirety. All elements are given appropriate weight such as to achieve a conceptual consistency without giving undue emphasis to a single aspect.
To demonstrate this balance I would take the 3-dimensionality as one example: The dial of the watch is 3-dimensional itself, thus the vertical expansion of the watch already starts below the sapphire at the lowest part of the main plate. This in turn serves a much better integration of the bulb covering the gravity control module:
The effect is very well illustrated if you compare it to last year's Academy Equation of Time:
The Grand Voyage has an amazing wrist presence but does not dominate it as much as the Equation of Time does. Its set of details makes it much more approachable, admirable and wearable.
The Zenith Academy Christophe Colomb Grand Voyage certainly is not a watch for every day - God forbid! I think it is not even a watch for the advanced collector! But I could see as an object in the collection of artefacts diligently put together by a cultivated viveur: A man (or a woman), well travelled, with a deep understanding of history, natural sciences and the humanities, a curious mind fascinated by the achievements of the great explorers and inventors as well as the eminent scientists and artists.
I imagine it being a most private piece, only shared with his/her closest friends - it is a timepiece that exposes his or her inner self.
If I am not totally mistaken, this notion above is supported by the following video published by Zenith. Its really worth viewing it as it presents some of the arts and crafts inherent in this watch in full detail:
A sincere congratulation to the responsible team at Zenith!
I'd like to thank you for reading and also for your comments and remain with kind regards,
Magnus
P.S.: I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Ms Roman Ressl (International Sales Manager, Zentih Austria & CEE) for arranging some quality time with this watch!
This message has been edited by Ornatus-Mundi on 2013-10-14 11:15:15
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... it has come this far.... what would be the next Christophe Colomb series? Pardon my lack of better words.... Very impressive. Ken
Epic post
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Great review !
Thank you for this great review of a Magnificent piece of Art. I'm in love with this Zenith, and its features leave me speechless. Have a nice sunday Fabio
WOW! Now this is a true masterpiece. Kudos to Zenith!!!
Thank you Magnus for this great report. I'd LOVE to get some type of Zenith Christophe Colomb variant as my 1st Zenith watch. And this specific Grand Voyage is a superb masterpiece. All I can say is WOOOOOWWW! Still breathless, Anthony
Thanks a lot Magnus for this great review.
The watch is gorgeous even if I find the ZENITH writing too big. I can't wait to see it! Fx
Astounding, superb, awesome...
The watch AND the thorough review! Wonderful work destined for the PuristSPro Archives!! Thank you Magnus!
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