Romain Gauthier: Insight Micro-Rotor Lady

With its highly visible, intricately engineered, automatic movement featuring snow-set micro-rotor and its gently shimmering mother-of-pearl dial, Insight Micro-Rotor Lady – Romain Gauthier’s first ladies’ watch – is for those women who want their timepieces blessed with more than just a pretty face.

“Increasingly, female collectors are looking to own truly exceptional mechanical timepieces,” says Gauthier. “While aesthetics still play a role, these women want the real deal in terms of innovative mechanisms and fine hand-finishing. Insight Micro-Rotor Lady offers this combination of style and substance.”

Not just the mother of pearl subdial, the timepiece is chatacterized by indications powered by an in-house calibre that boasts a bidirectional micro-rotor made from 22k gold. The front is spectacularly decorated with brilliant-cut diamonds of varying sizes.

The dial is a picture of depth and harmony, with the mother-of-pearl subdials and mainplate cover superbly setting off the red gold hands, gilded balance wheel and red gold treated plaquette and bridges that are hand bevelled and straight-grained. The arcs of the sweeping bridges marry with the inner contours of the red gold case.

The case’s 39.5mm diameter ensures a comfortable fit on slim wrists. Impressive design details include a lip in the caseband that flares out to meet the bezel; the crown placed at 2 o’clock to free up space for wrist movement; and the bombé sapphire crystal which gradually rises so its highest point is over the hour-minute display – the true centre of the dial in Romain Gauthier’s eyes. The micro-rotor efficiently winds a serially operating double mainspring barrel that, when fully wound, provides a generous 80 hours of power.

“With Insight Micro-Rotor Lady, I wanted to create something that is feminine, but which avoids clichés of femininity, and something that is technical but where the showpiece complication provides a simplicity of use,” says Gauthier. “A few turns of the crown get the movement going, you set the time, put the watch on and let the micro-rotor do its work. You can then just enjoy it as an elegant and reliable daily companion.”

Insight Micro-Rotor Lady is available in two 10-piece limited editions in red gold: with Tahitian black mother-of-pearl dial and anthracite strap, and with Australian extra white mother-of-pearl dial with white strap.

Valentina Dalla Costa