T-1000 and Gotham: two stars born from one encounter

While upholding traditional values is necessary in such a vast world, innovation is key if we don’t want to lag behind. It is 2008, Alexandre Pesci, a fan of watches and cars, is CEO of a leading industrial group. Yet, instead of becoming a collector, he decided to take the plunge and create two companies. The first one, named Rebellion Racing, is a car racing team that develops its own cars and which is renowned in the world of car racing. In 2011 and 2012, it was crowned champion of the private teams category at the legendary “24 Heures du Mans”.

The second company, named Rebellion Time Pieces, is a watchmaking brand that draws its inspiration from the automobile world to create timepieces that synch perfectly with the spirit of car racing.

Rebellion T-1000 Gotham

The first collection by Rebellion Time Pieces – developed in partnership with one of the best contemporary watchmaking designers, Eric Giroud – made the synchronization between the two Rebellion worlds perfectly obvious.

A magic encounter

The first Rebellion pieces were obviously inspired by the very sporty side of automobile racing. Yet, Pesci, the brand’s founder, had no intention of stopping there. He was of the opinion that the watch-car duo had to generate new complications in the art of timekeeping. Thus, when he met David Candaux, an ingenious young independent watchmaker, near the racing track, they immediately got along. At some point during their conversation, Pesci proposed that Candaux designed a world-record complication. He also suggested that Candaux developed a 1000-hour power reserve movement. At the time, no such movement existed and the T-1000 held the power reserve world record for a while.

Rebellion T-1000 Gotham

Candaux immediately liked the idea; he took up the challenge and started from scratch. However, it was not as simple as it sounded because it was completely impossible to use traditional systems to be able to accumulate so much energy with traditional watch developments. As he explained:

“The T-1000 and the Gotham are simple on the outside but have many innovations on the inside. That said, the most important thing is the winding lever. I invented it to allow for maximum energy absorption in a simple way that meant the owner would need to make very little effort and move only slightly. Indeed, I absolutely did not want to create a watch that had to be wound a hundred times beforehand in order to obtain the energy it needed. It is thanks to the big stop lever that both watches can be wound quite effortlessly. Even though it seems quite simple, this technique enables the watch to accumulate a duo of more than 7,000 grams/force/millimeters; that is, over 7 kilos. A standard watch rarely weighs more than 800 grams.”

Rebellion T-1000 Gotham's winding lever folded

Candaux further explained: “The idea for this system dawned on me accidentally. Since I am renovating my farm and watchmaking workshops, I went to the mountains in Valais to fetch wooden beams. After we loaded them on the lorry, I tied them up with straps. While I was stretching the straps, I noticed that they went as hard as concrete. I realized that I had to use the same system for the watch; that is, I had to make a chain instead of a belt. That would allow me to transfer energy from the winding lever to six barrels, three of each which would be placed on each side of the movement”.

The chain is tiny. How did you manage to produce it?

Yes, it is 5.8 cm long and is composed of 182 parts. It was the first time something like this was produced and it required 5 to 8 hours of work to finish. It is a real chain, like a motorcycle chain. My partner and I really pushed modern boundaries to produce it. The links are in titanium, the central pin and the roller are in steel, and the socket is in bronze. The difficulty actually lies in setting it up because you need to keep ensuring that it is completely free. We had a hard time with this as we started from scratch.

Rebellion T-1000 Gotham

We could not rely on our usual measuring methods and we had to set everything up because even if you can find everything you need to know about chains in books on engineering, we were forced to find a production system that was unheard of. However, we succeeded and we are very proud of ourselves. Indeed, the finished chain weighed almost 15 kilos. Yet, the watch had to support 1.6 kilo per barrel to function properly. Thus, with 6 barrels, it weighed less than 10 kilos and this is how we could set the power reserve at 1,000 hours.

But since there was not much space left, you must have faced some problems, particularly with the barrel springs?

Yes, we had to make new ones since the watch was 3.5 mm long and 0.10 mm thick and we could hence not use traditional systems. Our spring producer tried flattening them but that did not work, as they broke. Then, we tried to reheat the material half way through the treatment to make it shock-resistant. This worked and we started working on the piece’s geometry. We also had to innovate here, as we were the first to create an escapement pinion and the conical gear finish.

Rebellion T-1000 Gotham

Therefore, we took everything apart and reconstructed the frame.

Candaux once again emphasized the fact that both the T-1000’s and the Gotham movements are a digest of avant-garde technology. The first thing to be noted is the uncommon vertical gear. Then come the six tailored-size barrels that accumulate the necessary energy to support the 1000-hour power reserve. The three barrels on each side of the watch are linked by the smallest mechanical chain in the world. A linking arbor connects the two ranges of three barrels at 12 o’clock. Its size may seem disproportionate for a watch but it is indispensable for it supports the biggest pressures generated on the movement.

Next comes the reduction gear which is also bigger than standard ones because of its seven wheels. At the end of the finishing gear, there is a balance that is placed at an unusual 39° to allow it to be regulated at more regular intervals.

Rebellion T-1000 Gotham

A display module can be seen through the cylinders that are placed on both sides of the finishing gear train. The complexity of this display lies in the fact that it goes through the gear to keep the two hour and minute cylinders linked. If they were disconnected, the hours and minutes would be delayed and display the wrong time.  A horizontal friction system handled by a micro compression spring had to be created in order to allow the display to be disconnected from the movement during winding. Finally, there are the frames which are in fact the watch’s bridges and plates. They are called “frames” but their architecture was inspired by car racing and metallic architecture. The overall frame of the movement was made in aluminum in order to make sure all frames were as solid and as lightweight as possible.

Rebellion T-1000 Gotham

To date, Rebellion Time Pieces has equipped both the T-1000 and the Gotham with this amazing system. Nevertheless, The Gotham differs from the T-1000 in that the winding lever is installed on the back of the watch.

Concerning its general appearance, the Gotham also has a more masculine and powerful character.

Rebellion T-1000 Gotham