ource is the latest collection to emerge from Emmanuel Bouchet’s workshop in the sleepy mountain hamlet of Les Bayards, located in the Jura mountains in the canton of Neuchâtel. It comes in two versions: Source Aleph and Source Ribbon, both powered by the new double micro rotor movement EB21L, which gives ample and stable power supply.

Let’s start with Source Aleph: the main dial of this 39-millimetre gold or platinum watch shows – unsurprisingly – hours and minutes, and the subdial at 06.30 is a night and day indication made of two superimposed 24-hour discs; one featuring stars and sun, the other night and day colours. Again, no surprise. But then it becomes unique. On the bottom right half of the dial, you will find three pointy, mirror-polished platinum pillars, clad with precious stones. Just like everything ranging from electrons to planets, these pillars, or cones, spin at various velocities. The fastest, at 05 o’clock, moves at a second pace, making a full revolution in 60 seconds, whereas the next one at 04 o’clock takes 24 hours, followed by the 12-hour-pillar at 03 o’clock.

“These triangular pillars could also be seen as mountain peaks, or fir trees growing on the mountainsides. To me they represent the roots of timekeeping, and with these pillars I have symbolised the deconstruction of time. Two of them are moving so slowly that you can barely notice that they are moving at all. And yet they do – it is at this slow speed that all important changes and developments occur,” mused Emmanuel Bouchet about Source Aleph. www.emmanuelbouchet.com [email protected]

The double rotor movement EB21L – at only 4.76 millimetres thin – solves an ever- present challenge in watchmaking. How do you make sure the time-measuring part of the movement remains efficient when you have power-consuming complications? This solution not only solves a problem, as the timekeeping’s power supplied is not interfered with by the complication, but it will also allow for future complication developments that until now were impossible.

Source Ribbon is more dichotomous as it has only two moving pillars, which move at second and 24-hour velocities. “By juxtaposing the seconds, the quickest increment in quotidian timekeeping, together with the longest – night and day, you get a dreamy notion of time. Especially since these increments of time are not presented in a traditional display – instead they are hiding in plain sight. My aim with this watch is for you to start thinking about time. It may also be a good thing if your watch reminds you to slow down,” said Mr. Bouchet.

Source Ribbon also allows for a feast of luxurious materials. The case is available in gold or platinum, shimmering mother of pearl can be used for the main dial, the pillars and dials are draped with sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and diamonds, and next to the cones there is a fixed ribbon clad with diamonds. “With Source Ribbon the whole watch becomes a canvas for beautiful materials and metiers d’art, conceived, constructed, produced and decorated in our workshop and select Swiss partners.” (All Emmanuel Bouchet watches are 100% Swiss Made).

A rotating ring of sapphires in all colours of the rainbow set with rainbow-coloured gemstones – or customised – surrounds the main dial and serves as a reminder of the double rotor. This unidirectional ring can only move clockwise, because as Mr. Bouchet puts it: “There is never a comeback in time.”

The Source collection fits like a glove in Emmanuel Bouchet’s portfolio of unique complications, which focus on creative ways of displaying different segments of time, thus expressing a philosophical approach to time. Mr. Bouchet is the first to admit that segmenting time may not be obvious: “Sometimes it is hard to comprehend my complications as they may not add a lot of function, per se. They are more a way of expressing a philosophy.”