The Swiss independent watchmaking brand
GUEBLY presents its inaugural creation!
A brand envisioned by a discerning collector based in Switzerland,
GUEBLY offers a fresh proposition in the world of independent watchmaking,
distinguished through the purity and simplicity of its designs,
complemented by an exceptional level of hand finishing.
GUEBLY ‘Prologue Chapitre 1’
New to the watchmaking scene, GUEBLY is first and foremost a brand created by a watchmaking enthusiast, a connoisseur and collector of both high-end contemporary watches and rare vintage timepieces, whose humble and intimate intention is to create a new proposition in the world of independent watchmaking.
GUEBLY is the fruit of a passion and a personal vision of horology nurtured over many years, born from a concept rooted in simplicity and meticulous attention to detail into the world of classic and contemporary watchmaking.
Passion, because it gave the impetus for creating the brand.
Every action undertaken in its name reflects this sentiment – it’s in GUEBLY’s DNA. It sweeps us into a universe all its own – that of a brand unequivocally contemporary yet deeply steeped in tradition; a brand that embodies to its core the strong values that define Haute Horlogerie. The history of GUEBLY is one shared with those who love fine watches, and those who appreciate exceptional objects, so that its future, faithful to tradition and open to new horizons, may continue to be written.
When you contemplate a GUEBLY watch, you’re seduced by a sense of timelessness that transcends ephemeral trends. Elegant in its simplicity, it expresses a resolutely contemporary classicism that never goes out of style. Each meticulously crafted detail bears witness to the passion that goes into creating a timepiece with a singular, ageless personality. And so the watch becomes much more than an object that tells the time or a simple wrist accessory, it becomes a work of art that arouses the senses and emotions, and bears witness to a deep love of watchmaking.
Conceived and designed in the grand tradition of high horology, a GUEBLY perfectly illustrates this inspiration in an ongoing quest for perfection and harmony.
Visually, GUEBLY watches are naturally balanced; their aesthetic is intuitively pleasing thanks to the harmony of their lines. The natural beauty of the mechanics, with an ultimate degree of finishing possible only with intense passion and deep savoir-faire, reveals an unknown, exciting and extraordinary universe, the one in which GUEBLY brand draws inspiration for the design of its timepieces.
Origin story
The brand was born in 2018. The founder, a watch collector, had always been immersed in the world of watchmaking. An entrepreneur at heart, he learned about “watches” in the field: by looking at them, studying them, repairing them, touching them, handling them, even researching them around the world… Over the years, he grew a strong network of collector, seller and repairer friends around the world.
GUEBLY, as imagined by its collector founder, is built on three fundamental values:
- Vision driven by the fluidity of timeless, sophisticated and sober timepieces,
- Faith in the purity of lines, a passion for contemporary design coupled with intuition, sensitive and pure, and nourished by an intimate sense of timeless aesthetic,
- Conviction that simplicity is key – a simplicity into which the founder has distilled all his passion and dedication, striving for exceptional hand-finished quality in keeping with the finest Swiss watchmaking traditions.
GUEBLY’s exclusive production is limited to just a dozen pieces each year, creating true works of art for the wrist.
The First Watch‘Prologue Chapitre 1’
Titanium, Blue Dial
GUEBLY’s journey as a brand began in earnest five years ago, when its founder, passionate about high-end watches – both vintage and contemporary – found there would no way around launching his own Swiss watch brand. Although a novice in the field, he assembled a team of experts to create a watch that met his criteria as a demanding collector.
His vision: to design a watch that embodies everything he loves about Swiss watchmaking – the self-evident elegance and harmony, technical sophistication combined with perfect legibility and ease of use, noble metals with an exceptional level of finishing and decoration, living objects that resonate with collectors who are sensitive to a distinctive proposition, far away from the diktats of marketeers.
Timelessness in and by design
With an approach steeped in humility and sobriety, the RTG-01’s design mirrors the intricate process involved in the creation of a work of art. Its dial pays tribute to vintage watches, and the meticulous hand-crafting of every detail imbues the timepiece with an added dimension of soul.
Carved from a block of Grade 5 Titanium, the 42 mm diameter case embodies both elegance and resilience, creating the spatial volume of a watch destined for timelessness amidst changing fashions and trends. Neither too slim nor overly robust, its contours are at once harmonious and streamlined, employing trompe-l’oeiltechniques to create the illusion of a smaller diameter, more like 39-40 mm. It also has the effect of enhancing the watch’s unobtrusiveness and wearability.
The round dial, seemingly simple and sober, stands as a testament to unparalleled attention to detail.
Its captivating deep blue hue is no accident; it is the culmination of a year’s dedicated effort to capture a color both dark and luminous. This hypnotic shade wasn’t merely chosen; it was born out of exhaustive research and numerous trials, perfected further with a spiral finish that radiates from the dial’s center. The titanium hour, minute, and retrograde sector hands showcase an extraordinary level of artisanal finishing: satin-brushed, with finely drawn lines, each detail is a testament to ultimate aesthetic perfection. The hand-applied Super-LumiNova® SLN, a rarity in horology, further optimizes legibility.
“My inspiration for the dial design came from period watch faces. I didn’t want to make a dial with added indexes, but I’ve always liked the “décalque” or pad printing as can be found on old Rolex and Patek Philippe dials. It’s a detail that makes the fine workmanship stand out a little bit more. When you look at this beautiful décalque, it’s just perfect, but at the same time also, imperfect because it’s handmade, and that gives the watch its soul.”
As with the dial, the retrograde sector has also been pad-printed by hand – rather than laser-engraved, which would have been the easy way out, which is what you see on so many watches.
Last but not least, the round bezel has been finely hand-worked with a variety of finishes – polished, sandblasted, straight grained, hooped, pearled and snail-grained, including on the inner surfaces. The crown, discreet, sober (no logo) and practical, is also an example of meticulous craftsmanship, sandblasted, satin-finished on each notch face, and mirror-polished at its tip, the whole having been designed for perfect aesthetics and optimum ergonomics.
Screwed in three places (at both ends of the retrograde sector and at noon with visible screws), the dial caps the movement. Even the back of the dial has been given a pearled finish, providing for a homogeneous and pleasing result both above and below, on the hidden part. The degree of decoration impresses at every level. Last but not least: centered just below 12 o’clock, the GUEBLY emblem, discreet and distinctive.
Titanium: a lightweight, modern choice
As so many collectors’ watches all too often weigh quite heavily on the wrist, the choice of titanium for the case and for a maximum number of components was an obvious one. Similar to steel in many regards, yet much lighter and non-allergenic, titanium is the perfect material for creating ergonomic watches designed for everyday life.
Polishing in some parts, mirror-polishing in others, satin-brushing in still others – here, the finishes applied to titanium, which is known to be more difficult to work than steel, reveal a multitude of shades of grey and reflections in the light. The result is a richness, a harmony of much greater visual and emotional depth. On a GUEBLY, even the non-visible parts of the case have been hand-finished and meticulously circular-grained on the inside. The curved case back, with its curving sapphire crystal, hugs the wrist perfectly, offering an exceptionally comfortable feel.
Titanium in movement
Within ‘Prologue Chapitre 1’ beats a 179-component movement, manufactured in the Swiss Jura. Highly unusual: GUEBLY’s founder expressly requested that the movement be made entirely of titanium, to ensure perfect visual harmony with the case and the watch’s other components.
The plates and bridges, for instance, whose standards of decoration exceed even the stringent requirements of the Poinçon de Genève, the Geneva Seal, have also been carefully crafted by hand; finishes such as circular graining, satin-brushing, chamfering and straight graining reveal a beauty that goes far beyond functionality.
As for the wheels, they are particularly slender, with curved spokes that accentuate a sensation of movement, an effect further enhanced by the spiral grain, which, naturally, is also achieved by hand.
A micro-rotor in gold
GUEBLY made a bold choice by equipping its first self-winding movement with a tungsten micro-rotor. Designed and manufactured with unrivalled precision, it incorporates steel ball bearings. The micro-rotor not only enhances the visual harmony of the whole, but it also highlights the beauty of each component and the movement’s architecture.
The balance and weights assembly sets a benchmark in reliability and beauty. Featuring a stud support imagined by GUEBLY’s founder, it combines simplicity and harmony in design with the assurance of exceptional precision.
One of the key elements of the movement within ‘Prologue Chapitre I’ is the barrel. Its complexity is highlighted by meticulous finishing touches, such as the finely-worked pawl spring and the polished, spiral ratchet. Every screw used in the watch is exclusive to GUEBLY, polished and chamfered to a perfect finish.
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Text & Images by 289consulting