[Baselworld 2012] Harry Winston Opus 12 review & analysis

Harry Winston’s Opus series is a continuously evolving challenge.
The series progressively gained momentum, giving birth to more and more unprecedented, audacious and exclusive complications.

Yet, for the new watchmakers of the Opus series, it becomes more and more difficult to create surprise.
Last year, the Opus Eleven was unquestionably the most "WOOOW" watch of BaselWorld.
The Opus Eleven's display exploded at each change of the hour, and the deconstructed time represented an animation never seen in watchmaking history, a hell of a challenge for the creator of the future Opus 12.

It eventually paid off. First of all, thanks to a peripheral driving, a unique feature in watchmaking. Furthermore, despite its apparent calm, the Opus 12 offers a festival at each change of the minutes and hours.

The hour is displayed through 26 hands! The 27th displays the Power reserve. The other 26 are laid out as follows:

One small seconds hand on a 360° railway, classic, placed above the hand of the retrograde minutes.
One retrograde hand advances and flies back along a 135° sector every 5 minutes, almost classic.
One pair of hands for each one of the twelve hour and minute indexes. The main minutes hand and the hour hand both feature two faces, one blued and one steel.

Every 5 minutes, the minutes hand rotates and shows its blued face (PVD).
While making a lot of noise; it is very much appreciated at W., one could almost think it is a type of chime that rings every 5 minutes.
Of course, the previous minutes hand rotates back to its steel face. The hour hand (shorter as per convention) follows the same cycle.

But above all, at each change of the hour, all the hour hands rotate successively in order to materialize the flowing of time (while producing a rather impressive spectacle).

It is particularly spectacular, and this process holds the comparison with the temporal outburst of the Opus Eleven.
If the 11 exploded the time, the XII, on the contrary, takes a 180° turn as it puts the classic index at the core of the hour telling-device.
The Opus XII returns to a more conventional format and look, even if its 46mm (in white gold) might be seen as hefty; however, they keep within the norm of the Opus line and close to the average size of highly complicated watches.

Each Opus brings to the forefront a watchmaker, a concept, a team, a technology, delete whichever does not apply.
This year, the creator is Emmanuel Bouchet from Centagora; like the greatest contemporary watchmakers, Emmanuel was trained in restoration of vintage pieces and has been responsible for developing numerous highly complicated timepieces.

This work benefited from its creator's rich experience in micromechanics.
The watch is powered by two independent barrels: the first one regulates the time; the other one provides energy to the display of the hour’s grand complication.
The feature that makes this watch different from the previous Opus, is the fact that it makes a wide use of micromechanics, with complex systems of chain gears and differentials to animate this groundbreaking display.

It is indeed a supreme achievement that also highlights Centagora;, and as it was the case for the other Opus pieces, this joint-venture allows for the discovery of hidden talents within the Swiss Watchmaking industry. These talents, give their best so that the Opus series remains exceptional.