The watchmaker has released a new model featuring excellent finishing and a beautiful sapphire dial. But this watch is more than just a pretty face.

The Poinçon de Genève – or Geneva Seal – is a sought after certification granted to watch movements that have a high level of finishing. To obtain the recognition each watch component must be made with the utmost precision and be finely decorated, and all that has to happen in Canton of Geneva.

The mark ensures that the watch is of exceptional aesthetic quality, a work of art, if you will. As a result, the distinction is held in high esteem in the industry, although it is larelgy based on the finishing and not the performance of the movement. Still, this latest addition by Ateliers deMonaco is finely finished and a great performer.

The new Poinçon de Genève timepeice is limited to just 18 pieces, most probably because the watch is available in 18K white and rose gold. The most striking part of the watch is its beautiful sapphire dial, which is aesthetically appealing and also shows a great deal of technical refinement.

But as I said, this watch isn’t only about looks. The watchmaker has equipped it with an in-house dMc-708 calibre with central hour, minute and second hands. While the power reserve is nothing to write home about – only 38 hours – the movement has a low profile, allowing for a clean looking 9.2mm thin case.

Of course, the watch movement is excellently finished, sporting hand-decorated bridges adorned with a delicate Côtes de Genève finishing that can be appreciated through the sapphire case back.

But on top of that, this movement includes the brand’s patented “Freebeat” adjustment system. That allows the regulation of the length of the hairspring with an adjustable crémaillère, a straight bar with teeth on one edge allowing it to be fixated at different lengths.

So what does all that meant? Well, now there is no need for the traditional pins on both sides of the hairspring to regulate how much it can wind and unwind. Simply put, this innovation reduces that kind of interference and the movement is more precise as a result.

 Ateliers deMonaco timepieces might not be for everyone – not least because they are highly exclusive and quite pricey. But their Poinçon de Genève collection shows they have the substance to match the pretty face.