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Lot Essay
US$150,000-250,000
With Harry Winston undated Certificate and International Warranty, instruction manual, product literature, DVD, fitted presentation box and outer packaging.
A native of Lyon in France, Christophe Claret seems to have been born to be a watchmaker. At the early age of 14, Christophe Claret spent over a year in the workshop of a watch restorer disassembling and reassembling watch movements. In 1978 Christophe Claret was admitted to the Geneva Watchmaking School and graduated in 1978 with the highest honours. The encounter in 1987 with Rolf Schnyder who just bought the Ulysee Nardin brand marked the start of Claret's career as a creative watchmaker when the new owner asked Claret to create, develop and produce 20 minute-repeater calibers with jacks. On the strength of that commission, Claret founded a company with two talented watchmakers Guilio Papi and Dominique Renaud. In 1991, he bought his associate's shares and founded the company that bears his name in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Christophe Claret spent the next decade gaining recognition by designing and producing highly complicated movements and the required components in-house for the watch industry's most prestigious brands. In 1999, Claret purchased an early-20th century manor house in Le Locle known as Le Soleil d'Or (The Golden Sun) and turned it into a state-of-the art manufacture with the world's most advanced facilities.
In Christophe Claret's own words, he is "a watchmaker of the shadow" and his collaboration with Harry Winston on the Opus 4 was a chance for him to step out of the shadow to combine the high complications of his manufacture with the high standards of Harry Winston's creations. As one of the most prolific designer and manufacturer of complicated movements for the watch industry, Christophe Claret is the "secret" of the watch industry where the tourbillon is the manufacture's "standard" escapement. In 2004, to contrast the audacious modernity of Vianney Halter's Opus 3, Maximilian Büsser turned to Christophe Claret as the creator of the Opus 4 for a deliberate return to the understated charms of a more traditional timepiece.
Referencing one of the first Harry Winston timepieces, Christophe Claret used the Premier design for the case of his creation to capture the pioneering spirit of the brand. The iconic case features Harry Winston's signature three arches, an invitation to step into the brand's universe. In line with his fame for complicated movements, Christophe Claret created a completely reversible timepiece which houses two of the most complex complications in horology - a minute repeater with cathedral gongs and a tourbillon on one side of the watch and a large delicately engraved moon phase display with date on the other side. Claret is particularly known for his chiming and carillon watches with cathedral gongs for which he has a personal fondness and for the Opus 4, he chose the large 44mm diameter case to ensure the optimal sound of the cathedral gong chime. Claret's vision is to combine technology with romanticism and the Opus 4 is at once playful, creative and unconventional. Eighteen pieces were manufactured in platinum cases, while two unique variations were set with diamonds.
With Harry Winston undated Certificate and International Warranty, instruction manual, product literature, DVD, fitted presentation box and outer packaging.
A native of Lyon in France, Christophe Claret seems to have been born to be a watchmaker. At the early age of 14, Christophe Claret spent over a year in the workshop of a watch restorer disassembling and reassembling watch movements. In 1978 Christophe Claret was admitted to the Geneva Watchmaking School and graduated in 1978 with the highest honours. The encounter in 1987 with Rolf Schnyder who just bought the Ulysee Nardin brand marked the start of Claret's career as a creative watchmaker when the new owner asked Claret to create, develop and produce 20 minute-repeater calibers with jacks. On the strength of that commission, Claret founded a company with two talented watchmakers Guilio Papi and Dominique Renaud. In 1991, he bought his associate's shares and founded the company that bears his name in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Christophe Claret spent the next decade gaining recognition by designing and producing highly complicated movements and the required components in-house for the watch industry's most prestigious brands. In 1999, Claret purchased an early-20th century manor house in Le Locle known as Le Soleil d'Or (The Golden Sun) and turned it into a state-of-the art manufacture with the world's most advanced facilities.
In Christophe Claret's own words, he is "a watchmaker of the shadow" and his collaboration with Harry Winston on the Opus 4 was a chance for him to step out of the shadow to combine the high complications of his manufacture with the high standards of Harry Winston's creations. As one of the most prolific designer and manufacturer of complicated movements for the watch industry, Christophe Claret is the "secret" of the watch industry where the tourbillon is the manufacture's "standard" escapement. In 2004, to contrast the audacious modernity of Vianney Halter's Opus 3, Maximilian Büsser turned to Christophe Claret as the creator of the Opus 4 for a deliberate return to the understated charms of a more traditional timepiece.
Referencing one of the first Harry Winston timepieces, Christophe Claret used the Premier design for the case of his creation to capture the pioneering spirit of the brand. The iconic case features Harry Winston's signature three arches, an invitation to step into the brand's universe. In line with his fame for complicated movements, Christophe Claret created a completely reversible timepiece which houses two of the most complex complications in horology - a minute repeater with cathedral gongs and a tourbillon on one side of the watch and a large delicately engraved moon phase display with date on the other side. Claret is particularly known for his chiming and carillon watches with cathedral gongs for which he has a personal fondness and for the Opus 4, he chose the large 44mm diameter case to ensure the optimal sound of the cathedral gong chime. Claret's vision is to combine technology with romanticism and the Opus 4 is at once playful, creative and unconventional. Eighteen pieces were manufactured in platinum cases, while two unique variations were set with diamonds.