A contemporary detail rarely seen on vintage watches

As owner of Bunter SA, one of the world's most prominent jewelry-watch specialty houses, Sanz has personally played a major role in preserving and developing upon the long-standing traditions of haute horlogerie. But his unusual find enabled him to take his dedication to timekeeping's past a significant step even more by employing these vintage mechanisms to revive a historically significant but obscure brand name.

Shortly after Sanz revived the defunct Arcadia brand, established in 1858, and its corporate parent, the Fleurier Watch Company, he identified a single from the firm's classic chronograph designs from the 1930s because the model for his first vintage-movement look at, which he hopes will showcase the intricate watchmaking techniques artisans employed long before the era of mass creation. "The watchmakers from the Val-de-Travers [where Fleurier is located] really produced a large aspect with the look at industry, and nobody knows it," he says. "I want to spend tribute to these folks with products."

Soon to be released, Arca-dia's first column-wheel chronograph ($30,000) consists of a Valjoux 22 movement that was widely used from 1950 through 1964. Each the vintage motion as well as the case style, however, have been totally updated to suit modern tastes. The expanded 43 mm situation is fitted having a traditional dial that, on sportier versions, may integrate this kind of nontraditional components as carbon fiber. Through the crystal about the reverse side, one particular can admire the high-level finishing that craftsmen applied towards the lateral-clutch chronograph motion - a modern detail rarely seen on vintage watches, which typically had solid cases.

The brand's vintage-oriented timepieces are restricted in quantity by the amount of movements Sanz can source and assemble; in fact, the firm's creation is unlikely to exceed 300 examples this year. However these watches' scarcity will probably increase their appeal among aficionados, who have long appreciated and sought handcrafted and, in some instances, hand-wound chronograph movements like the ones Sanz has selected for his line. "Back [when these movements were made], it was difficult to interchange elements without having an excellent deal of hand adjustment," he notes. "But these watches were built to last hundreds of years."

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