What happens when you sprinkle gold dust on a carbon watch?
Well, you get Corum's new limited-edition Admiral 45 timepiece, in which no two pieces are alike.
The Admiral 45 Automatic Openworked Flying Tourbillon Carbon & Gold. (Photo: Corum)
For the past 60 years, Corum’s Admiral collection has been synonymous with sailing. Even if it wasn’t named after an international yachting regatta (the Admiral’s Cup), the 12 nautical pennants on the dial found on many of the Admiral watches have made that connection clear.
Of course with a history this long, fun deviations are to be expected. Literal case in point: The new Admiral 45 Automatic Openworked Flying Tourbillon Carbon & Gold.
The collection’s signature dodecagonal case and flag-shaped indices are still present, but they’ve been given a glamorous makeover thanks to a sultry black and gold livery and a brand new case material. By mixing layers of carbon composite with resin and 18K gold glitter, the resulting effect is not only striking but also random, thus ensuring no two cases are identical.
There’s no dial, so you can see the open-worked CO 298 movement and its one-minute flying tourbillon in all its gala-worthy glory. The rest of the watch face dutifully follows the theme: Gold-toned brass minute ring on the flange, black pennants, gold dauphine hands filled with black SuperLuminova.
Flanking the tourbillon are a power reserve indicator at 3 o’clock and a three-minute regatta countdown at 9 o’clock. The brass rotor, shaped like a sailing ship wheel, dominates the view of the exhibition case back. At rest, the watch will run for 72 hours.
At 45mm this is by no means a subtle watch, and the crown guards shielding the red gold crown adds to its imposing profile, but it won’t weigh down the wrist. Being carbon composite, the case actually weighs 2.5 times less than titanium and is 4.5 times lighter than stainless steel. The strap is another brazen fusion of sporty and dressy, being made of rubber and synthetic textiles with genuine gold stitching for accent.
This won’t be anyone’s daily watch, but Corum’s Admiral 45 watches often aren’t anyway. They’ve shown up with bright skeletonised dials, in bronze, in wood, and even in some combination of the three, but dull they are not. In fact, we’ll bet the owners of the 48 pieces released will be the most interesting folk at boat shows.
