Giuliano Mazzuoli Trasmissione Meccanica - Another Sleek-Cased Mazzuoli? Nope.

Giuliano Mazzuoli has created a new timepiece, the Trasmissione Meccanica.  Another sleek-cased fine and dapper Mazzuoli timepiece then? - Nope.  This one is rugged and mannish - just about as red-blooded as can be, and to say it has wrist presence doesn't even come close.

Giuliano Mazzuoli, Fiorentini, designer of beautiful things, does not see objects as you and I do, he observes the mundane and is inspired to create marvelous stuff.  His first timepiece, the pressure gauge-inspired Manometro is a fine watch, simple yet substantial and almost completely smooth, apart from its knurled crown.  Classic diminutive numerals are reminiscent of the 1970's and there is a certain charm in the dial-edge busyness of the markers.  I have worn this model - aged brown leather strap, brushed case, blue dialed - a whopping 15mm high on a girly wrist, it mattered not this is a piece which quite rightly gets noticed by all and sundry, a classic of the future.  His next watch, the Contagiri or "tachymeter" has an exclusive relationship with Alfa Romeo and its 8c Competizione - that alone should be enough to endear all but the most anti-petrolhead environmentalists ... but it is also a stunner - crownless case, an hour hand which arcs like a rev counter and minimalist minutes represented by a red dot.

The Trasmissione Meccanica is the antithesis of its quiet, smooth-bodied predecessors.  It's inspiration is the gear box - the gears inspire the rough, ridged case and the dial is styled like a clutch disc.  This is a complex design, the dial is comprised of 21 parts assembled in three layers adding depth - a departure form the clean-faced plainness of the designers other pieces.  Other details affirm the automotive styling - the openworked mechanic's compass styled hands and the crown which replicates the spline shaft which transmits the engine's rotations to the gear shift.  Some familiar features remain, the atypical crown and the strap arrangement which integrates neatly into the case.

The Giuliano Mazzuoli Trasmissione Meccanica will be on display at the showcase of the season Salon QP in November.

Too rugged?  See the other pieces  at the designers official website.