November 22, 2022
Romain Gauthier Titanium Insight Micro-Rotor
Independant watchmaking at its finest.
Romain grew up in the Vallée de Joux, the cradle of Haute Horlogerie, but began his professional life as a micro-mechanical engineer for the watch industry. Determined to build from scratch his own high-end watch brand, Romain completed an MBA in 2002 and launched the Romain Gauthier brand in 2005.
Its first timepiece, the Prestige HM (for Hours / Minutes) was unveiled at Baselworld in 2007 and well-received by collectors, largely due to the quality of finishing. This was followed by Prestige HMS(2010), Logical One (2013), Logical One Secret (2014) and, here we are, the Insight Micro-Rotor in 2017.
The Insight Micro-rotor is Romain Gauthier’s first automatic watch. Crafted in natural Grade 5 titanium, just 30 pieces have been made in this material, divided evenly between white, black and blue enamel dials. This example we have here is the only one known with a burgundy enamel dial.
Housed in a 39,5mm case, the in-house movement features a 22k solid gold micro-rotor visible from both sides. On the back side, the double mainspring barrel can be seen, providing 80-hours of power reserve. Romain Gauthier is known for his spectacular hand-finishing. Here is what you can see when you take a closer look at the watch.
S-slot screw heads plus gears and ratchet wheels with circular, bevelled spokes are also part of its signature.
The multiple layers of this open-worked dial allows the wearer to see each level and gives a lot of depth in a very pleasing way to the eye. A micro-rotor has always been one of my favorite sins, so being able to see it from both front and back is a real pleasure. Furthermore, the double bridge construction around this micro-rotor provides stability and fits a reversing gear for an efficient and bidirectional winding.
On the wrist, the thickness of the watch could be the first thing we noticed. With 12.9mm and a relatively “simple” case and lugs, the watch can appear too thick at a first glance. But as said previously, the fantastic open-worked dial makes us completely forget the thickness. Just as the titanium makes us forget this piece on the wrist.
To go deeper on the matter, the piece being very light, I found the strap a bit too rigid compared to the weight of the case and a bit too simple for this watch. So we changed the original strap for a new one with a very soft leather to let the piece embrace the wrist.
The crown for winding the movement and setting the time is placed at 2 o’clock to free up space for wrist movement which is a good idea in terms of wearability. The first winding is easy and smooth and the power reserve of 80-hours told us that we will not wind it very often.
After wearing it for a few days, I found this piece incredible due to its dial design, its perfect readability, its lightness and the sun hits differently on this watch thanks to its multiple layers face and its stunning Burgundy enamel dial.
It is now available in our showroom in Geneva, viewings can be arranged by appointment. Feel free to contact us for any details !
Arthur B.
UPDATE : Watch is now sold.
