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The Loiseau 1f4 Grande Complication: a bird in the hand really is worth two on the wrist!
It’s not too often that a watch premier is held in London, and to small select audiences, but then in this instance, that probably has more to do with the status London has started to acquire in the watch collector world, and that in no small part, the name given to this first complication from the new watch firm: Loiseau’s 1f4 is actually named after an English chess player. 
As a firm and a watch, both debuted at the last moment at Basel earlier this year. Some managed to get around to visiting the small firm at the Basel show (unfortunately I was not one of them) and for the journalists who had sought out the new fledgling watch brand there was the reward of the new complication watch: the 1f4. 
The 1f4 was on display at two places in London on Thursday and Friday. A small group of us gathered at Texture Restaurant (one of London’s newest Michelin starred restaurants), and presided over by an Icelandic head chef on Portman Street, to view the watch over lunch. Otherwise, the watch was on display at an art gallery on Cork Street at the HayHill Gallery.
The firm and the watch are very much in the traditional line of thought. Although the manufacture of Loiseau is less than a year old, the methods for production are very much buried in the past. Dominique Loiseau has a long history in the traditional manufactures of Switzerland. Loiseau has worked at Omega and Franck Muller. More recently he was the watchmaker in charge at Blancpain when they developed the 1735 Grande Complication. There is no CAD involved in the movement design; everything is worked out by hand - trying out the part first: if it works, it stays. If it does not work, it goes. The movement, design, and layout of the watch is always by hand; with the guiding principles as a matter for the master watchmaker’s own thought and skill. It is old school!
[The ‘blue’ or perpetual calendar side of the 1f4]
[The ‘white’ or chronograph side of the 1f4]
Dominique Loiseau believes first and foremost in simplicity. And this driving philosophy was how the watch ended up as it did. There had to be simplicity in the readability of the faces of time. Dominique Loiseau always conceived of the watch as a two-faced watch as a single dial would only over complicate the dial. On one side of the watch is a perpetual calendar and on the other a chronograph. The six buttons on the side of the case divide equally between the two main functions: the repeater and grande sonnerie with one set; and the chronograph rattrapante with the other.
The dials are created from 18 carat gold; the blue side of the watch being the calendar, the white side (enamel coated) the chronograph. The chronograph dial has cutaway elements so that part of the movement can be viewed. All finishing is by hand and the satin finish on the gold plates is only achievable using a specific rock from Arkansas (I think I heard that right!). In between the two dials there is (quite literally) a perpetual repeater and an innovative automatic movement for both the repeater and the time mechanism. There is true innovation in the movement. The number of complications amassed into the watch is 32. I will forego the listing, but suffice to say, there is more here than most. 
[The finish on the rotor and crystal are such that the only way to tell there is a rotor on both sides of the watch are with a blue sapphire on the blue dial/a diamond on the white dial side of the watch. Note the blue ‘spot’ near the 2 in the photo above. Or the white ‘spot’ at the bottom of the bezel in the photo of the chronograph side above]
So why the name; where did that catchy name: 1f4 come from? Chess had always been a passion of Dominique Loiseau since he was a small boy. The precision, strategy and planning, had always appealed to the young watchmaker. Looking for an unusual opening, Dominique Loiseau came across one from an English watch master: the Bird opening. The Bird opening was the choice of a 19th century chess enthusiast, train spotter, and accountant called Henry Bird. The translation from French for L’oiseau is bird!
[Dominique Loiseau explains the watch to those of us at the table]
In talking with Dominique Loiseau, he compared chess openings to the way a Grande Complication can be built up by a watchmaker. Any one of a number of possible alternatives can be seen and explored, but there is a strategy that will work perfectly in a winning game. Part of that philosophy has been expressed in the watch. While there is a complexity to the movement, the reading of time has simplicity to it. It is why Dominique always conceived of the watch as having two dials (or faces) to it so that the time reading is always legible. 
The watch was designed as an integrated whole from the start. In total, an impressive 891 parts comprise the movement. All fitted within a case that has a diameter of 45.2mm and a height for the case of 16.6mm. The watch is regulated by a flying tourbillon. The Grande Sonnerie element to the watch has its own power reserve and winding system. The watch has two winding rotors in the bezel of the watch. An ingenious system to supply sufficient power to the main time keeping part of the mechanism, as well as supplying power to the Grande Sonnerie was thought out. Without adding an undue amount of bulk to the case, (and as described) the Loiseau 1f4 ingeniously puts the rotors in the bezel of the watch: on the outside of the mechanism and within the outer rim of the crystal. The gongs for the repeater and the grande sonnerie are crafted by hand, trialled, and if it works it stays, if not, it’s thrown out. As well as the hand craft and skill, there is true innovation here: two patents are pending on both the rotor and the mechanism for switching the face of the watch while the strap is still attached. 
[The unique rotating strap and lugs that allow one face of the watch to be switched around to the other face without changing casing or straps]
The question was: how much is the price of such innovation, finishing, and horological genius? I have to say at this point, the eyes started to water when the price was announced as 1 million CHF per face. A little basic arithmetic and this put the price of the watch at 2 million CHF! 
Given the limited world market for a watch of this price, there is the obvious question of why start here: why start with the most complex mechanism, rather than the most simple? Although there are other watches in the works, (they are currently in production) this was a watch that Dominique Loiseau had always wanted to build. It was only after he had completed working on complications for others that he felt he should set up on his own and produce a complication with his own name on it.
[Dominique Loiseau explains his watch to the Head Chef of Texture: Agnar Sverrisson]
With a total of 5 watchmakers at the Loiseau manufacture, where everything is still (made from scratch) Swiss made in the absolute sense, the first watch is due for delivery in April 2012, and the second watch three months later, in July. After that, production will depend on orders. The prospective owner will have the choice of 4 different metals for the case: platinum, or white, yellow, or rose gold. 
[Because of the reversible lugs for the watch, it is comfortable on the wrist]
It remains to be seen if there is a market for this particular watch. I am sure that the Loiseau manufacture will produce different watches to maintain the watchmakers and the fledging brand. While a Grande Complication is something to marvel at, to showcase the watchmakers’ expertise and ambition, it has been shown (by other watchmakers) that ‘time-only’ or ‘simple’ hand finished watches by artisan watchmakers are popular. Perhaps one possible name for the watch might be 3Nd4: Bird’s defense!
Andrew H
The Loiseau 1f4 Grande Complication: a bird in the hand really is worth two on the wrist!
Arkansas Stone
That is one impressive bird.
Someone will always..
it looks impressive from the specifications, but the price is just ridiculous
