The Pierre DeRoche TNT Royal Retro RB - Sometimes A Nip And A Tuck Are Enough.

This is the Pierre DeRoche TNT Royal Retro RB, a watch which has an unusual feature on its dial - six retrograde seconds hands, fluttering in an ever-changing flurry of activity.  Minutes, hours even could be lost by the wearer in complete oblivion, as each hand ticks off its own ten second segment then sends forth the next one in a relay around the dial.

I say "dial", but in fact this is a dial-less piece - all the better to view the micro mechanics involved in creating this mesmerising masterpiece.  At its centre is a bridge bearing 12 pivots and 6 chamfered, satin-finished seconds bridges.  Each of the seconds hands is gear-driven, the traditional balance-spring having been replaced by a strip-spring mechanism which sends each back to its original position as the next one follows on.

The Pierre DeRoche TNT Royal Retro RB is not a new watch but this is a new edition which has the addition of a rubber bezel on its titanium and steel 47.5mm case - minor changes perhaps, but sometimes a nip and a tuck are enough to raise interest, particularly when a piece is so technically adept as this one is.

The piece is powered by an exclusive Dubois Dépraz Calibre, a manufacture which takes movements by ETA, Sellita and other suppliers to which they add their own complication modules.  You may not recognise the name, but Dubois Dépraz supply calibres to some of the best names in the industry - anonymously.  They specialise in chronographs and flyback chronographs and their finished calibres are superbly decorated, durable and technically advanced.  A family business for more than 110 years, brothers Pascal and Jean-Philippe Dubois continue the watchmaking traditions started by their Great Grandfather in 1901.

Another brother, Pierre was resolute in his conviction not to enter the watch industry, a career path which he managed to avoid for many years.  Having pursued other interests, eventually he succumbed to his ancestral horological traditions and founded a watchmaking business of his own - which he named Pierre DeRoche, a brand which quite rightly makes full us of his family connections with the pick of Dubois Dépraz calibres with which to power his unique timepieces.

The Pierre DeRoche TNT Royal Retro RB comes presented on a tactile rubber strap with folding clasp and will be a limited edition of 201 pieces.

More information at the Pierre DeRoche official website.