Baltic x SpaceOne Seconde Majeure Watch
The charbonné dial finish on the Seconde Majeure comes from 19th century precision clockmaking, applied by hand with a piece of charcoal, each one taking up to three hours to complete. It's an unlikely material choice for a watch with otherwise forward-looking bones: a collaboration between Baltic, known for vintage-coded dress watches, and SpaceOne, whose deconstructed displays read closer to spacecraft instrumentation than a traditional dial. The two were connected through independent watchmaker Théo Auffret, who developed the jumping-hour complication at the heart of the piece. Housed in a 38.5mm 904L stainless steel case at 12.3mm thick, the dial uses sapphire discs in place of traditional hands, with hours at 12 o'clock and minutes at 6, both guided by crosshair arrows, while a large seconds hand sweeps above the composition and gives the watch its name. The module runs on a Soprod P024 automatic with a 42-hour power reserve, all anchored by a maillechort plate cut from a single piece of the nickel-silver alloy. A jumping-hour complication developed by one of France's best independent watchmakers, finished with a technique borrowed from 19th century clockmakers. It's a strange combination that works.
