Matt Clymo 
Perrelet are known for their spinning turbines, and French artist, Seconde Seconde is known for his quirky humour. Put the two together and you have a bit of fun on the wrist!
Perrelet has a long history, one of the longest in the industry dating back to 1777, and not only this, Abraham-Louis Perrelet, is the man to thank for the automatic winding mechanism most of the industry’s automatic movements are based on today. So don’t let the fun and quirky nature of the spinning turbines fool you, there is some serious watch-making clout behind the brand, to the point they have their own in-house movement division they acquired in 2008: Soprod. So as a brand, they are going their own way, doing their own thing. While they are serious about watches and how they make them, with movements like that of the dial side peripheral rotor, their watches, especially the turbine, are not to be taken too seriously, and as the brand says, they are for people who have the serious watches and want something that is a little more fun at a more affordable price point.
RELATED READING: In Person With Hugo Lesizza, Brand Director For Perrelet
For this outing, Perrelet has teamed us with French artist, Seconde/Seconde/ to bring just a bit of whimsy to their latest piece, playing on the 12-bladed turbine designed to look like a jet engine. For those who know Seconde/Seconde/, they will know the artist’s affinity for watches, and he likes to play around with the pieces in a fun and humourous way with elements of pop culture, or just what pops into his head. And he hasn’t disappointed here with his very astute observations that there is danger ahead when you play with spinning blades!
For this limited edition of just 25 pieces, Perrelet x Seconde/Seconde/ have played around with the 41mm Turbine model in titanium coated in black DLC. These are pretty good on the wrist, hitting that not-too-big, not-too-small sweet spot for most wrist sizes. We had the chance to play around with one of the models and as you can see on Champs’ 16.5cm wrist, above and below, it feels pretty true to size. The thickness is a tad under 14mm, 13.9mm to be exact, but as they say – black is slimming and it’s not overly cumbersome at all.
Seconde/Seconde/ has played with the watch’s aesthetics in a fun way to create this edition in his signature style. The seconds hand has been replaced with a yellow hazard sign, warning the user injury may occur if they get too close to the blades, and on the crystal, reiterates this warning – KEEP HANDS CLEAR. He has also played with the logo and the “1777” which indicates this is how many days since the last injury. For those who are not good at maths, that is approximately 4 years, 10 months and 10 days, give or take. One would have to wonder what injury occurred 4 years, 10 months and 11 days ago? 😉
Inside the watch is Perrelet’s In-house manufacture self-winding calibre P-331-MH, which is COSC-certified but also, has the additional Chronofiable® certificate from the Dubois Laboratory in La Chaux de Fonds confirming its long-term performance. The movement has a 42-hour power reserve, which is not a lot by today’s standards, but acceptable given the COSC and Chronofiable® certificate this piece holds. In another moment of humour, Seconde/Seconde/ has a statement to all users on the back of the sapphire caseback – “I sincerely love art. But it will always come second. Safety first”
When you play around with the Turbine collection from Perrelet, what seems like a silly gimmick to start with quickly turns to a smile on your face, or I think I may have said at one point, an adult fidget spinner. The way the 12 anodised aluminium blades spin so effortlessly is a testament to Perrelet and its engineering department. Patented in 2009, the propeller device rotates on its own axis with every movement of the wrist, using a unique ball-bearing assembly. When we caught up wit Hugo Lesizza, Brand Director for Perrelet last year at Geneva Watch Days, he explained this…
“There are a lot of influences and parameters of course. To be honest, we tested many materials for the turbine. We tried titanium and other metals, but aluminium for us, in the end, seems to be the ideal one because of the lightness. Depending on where you put the counterweight, and what type of material you are using, it will spin the right way or it won’t. If not done exactly right, sometimes it can stop because it can touch certain elements of the dial ring, so it’s very difficult to develop.”
Initial Thoughts
When the team and I had the chance to play around with the Turbine collection at Geneva Watch Days last year, in all honesty, it was fun. Perrelet has created something a little different to the norm, and has designed them to sit in a wider collection, not to be the “One Watch”. They are the pieces you add when you have the more serious pieces. Plus, in the grand scheme of Swiss or any luxury watch brand for that matter, Perrelet is not hugely expensive. They sit in that lower to mid-range with many of their pieces at around the A$2,500 – A$5,000 mark, and for the Turbine models, like the Ice Blue pieces brought out last year, under the A$10,000 mark, which today, is reasonable when compared to the mainstream bands pushing up over A$10,000 for many of their pieces.
The Perrelet x Seconde/seconde/ Turbine is another example of having fun with the watch. The clever use of the safety warnings playing on the jet engine-styled turbine works so well, as is the use of the 1777 days since the last injury. It shows Seconde/seconde/’s ability to look at a piece for what it is, and then come up with his own way of making it his own, without altering the essence of the watch. Yes, he could have done more, but then there is an elegance in the restraint which allows both the Turbine to shine as well as the artist’s humour.
Reference: A4067/S3
Specification:
- Dimensions: 41mm x 13.90mm thick
- Case Material: Grade 2 titanium with black DLC coating
- Dial: Black lower dial depicted with a black turbine. 12-blade turbine in black anodised aluminium with five tungsten counterweights. Arabic numerals mixed with indices, filled with white Super-LumiNova®, embossed on a matt black ring.
- Movement: In-house manufacture self-winding calibre P-331-MH
- Movement Frequency: 28,800 VpH (5hZ)
- Movement Power reserve: 42hrs
- Water resistance: 10 bar (100 meters)
- Crystal: Sapphire glass with double anti-reflective treatment on the dial and case back
- Case back: Grade 2 titanium with black DLC coating, sapphire caseback
- Strap: Black rubber strap, black DLC-coated titanium pin buckle embellished with the Perrelet logo
International Recommended Retail Pricing: CHF 5,180 / ~ A$9,275*
Availability: Enquire online at www.perrelet.com
*Conversion correct as of 28th February 2025.
