Is it strange to refer to a men’s watch, one crafted in masculine carbon none the less, as a beauty? Not when it comes to a de Grisogono. Fawaz Gruosi, founder and CEO of the brand, has its own approach towards designing watches, and beauty always seem to be the main ingredient. Followed right by unorthodox, because another important hallmark of any de Grisogono is that it doesn’t look like anything out there.

That is also the case with the new Intrumento Carbon Chrono. Until quite recent, most carbon watches featured that camouflage like look, with black spots in different hue’s making up the case. And when that wasn’t the case your watch looked like it was crafted out of fabric, with woven carbon fibers. De Grisogono was able to craft the Intrumento Carbon Chrono out of solid sheets of carbon fiber, which are stacked and then pressed to from a block that follows the curve of the watch. From this block the case of the watch is crafted, but also the flexible lugs.

Creating this case is quite a technical accomplishment that required a lot of care and precision. Not only do the layser of the flexible lugs need to line up with those in the case, just like you would expect from your Italian made pinstripe suit, but also do the alternating layers of carbon sheets have the same thickness throughout the entire case and lugs. Since they are pressed on a mold, to already create the rough shape of the watch, the pressure is not equally distributed, making this extremely difficult to accomplish.

De Grisogono’s trademark; the black diamond, is also present in the watch its crown, but further it is green that offers a dash of color. Thanks to this, the numerals and hands are quite easy to read. The hour and minute hand are even filled in with a green luminova, so that they look solid, but still provide the ability to read time in the dark.

The light weight of the carbon case, for this watch combined with a rubber strap, make it a very comfortable watch to wear. Although it most certainly has a sporty side to it, this particular carbon case would also match the more formal events in life. With its matted brushed finish on the top side of the watch, and the visible carbon layers on the side (which still remind me of the year rings of a tree) it has a distinct style of its own, and makes it distincly a de Grisgono. Limited to 100 pieces, it is bound to become a collectors item by birth.

Martin Green
Eclectic taste in Haute Horlogerie, passion for diamond set watches, loves the classics

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