Andersen Genève Prototype Date Discrete, Rose & White Gold

The Date Discrete is a modern reimagining of the ‘montre à tact’-style watch pioneered by Abraham-Louis Breguet in the late 18th century. The name is a reference to the design which allowed the wearer to read the time by tactile means, thereby tactfully abiding by the social conventions of the era that frowned upon someone explicitly consulting their watch while in polite company. An example of this is the Breguet No. 615 pocket watch made for Jérôme Bonaparte, king of Westphalia (present day northwest Germany) and youngest brother of Napolean Bonaparte.
 
The historic example perhaps acts as precedent for this Andersen Genève’s Montre à Tact watches, blending an inconspicuous time display with opulent artistry. The Breguet, for instance, utilised a secondary arrow time display on the outside of the beautiful flinqué, blue enamel case and a deceptively functional chapter of diamonds and pearls along the edge of the case. By orienting his hand using the gems, Bonaparte could get an approximate read of the time by feeling for where the arrow on the case was pointing, a function that served him well both in the company of others as well as in the dark of the night.
 
Andersen Genève’s Montre à Tact, first seen in 1999 followed in this vein. More discreet than tactile, Svend Andersen restricted the time display to an arched window on the face of the watch, with a secondary display on the case band between the bottom lugs. The backwind crown was also consistent with the discrete nature of the piece. Such a set up created room on the empire-style case for artistry and the Montre à Tact has been a canvas for experimentation, be it with jewels (such as in the Regina) or beautiful engraving adorned with fossilised mammoth ivory and mother of pearl like in the watch the brand created for Only Watch 2019. Says the brand’s owner, Pierre-Alexandre Aeschlimann of the design, “Elegance is everything.”
 
This prototype from 1999 sought to add to the functionality that such a discreet display afforded. In this case, the conventional two-hand time indication is complemented with a discreet date display on the case band between the bottom lugs. As is the case with many of the brand’s innovations, the Montre à Tact Date Discrete was created based on a request from a client. According to Aeschlimann, no more than a couple of examples of the Date Discrete were ever created.
 
This prototype features several details that mark it as a particularly early attempt at the Montre à Tact line.
 
The case is two-tone with white and pink gold. It is 42mm across and stands just over 10mm tall. Its trapezoidal form means that the watch face is marginally smaller in diameter than that of the caseback. The white gold midcase meets the sapphire crystal in a prominent lip, with this detail repeated on the caseback side. The caseback, crafted from pink gold, has a rounded lip that offers a hint of warmth to the profile view of the case.
 
The caseback is home to the two crowns, a detail found in the earliest Montre à Tact watches. The brand transitioned to a single crown set up soon after.
 
In this example, the crown on top winds the mainspring in an anticlockwise direction and is also used to set the date display when turned clockwise; the crown below it set the hours and minutes hands. The crowns are set by dedicated winding tools. The caseback is engraved with details such as Montre à Tact, Date Discrete and the year the watch was crafted (1999) done by hand by Geneva-based engraver Kees Engelbarts. Also present are the precious metal hallmarks and the mark of the master casemaker Jean-Pierre Scherrer, a long-time and Andersen collaborator and contemporary of Jean-Pierre Hagmann.  

The midcase is fluted and satisfying to the touch. The pink gold thin, downturned lugs span the width of the midcase. They stand 21mm apart and are furnished with a wide-grained black leather strap secured by a signed white gold pin buckle. In between the lower lugs is a rectangular window through which the horizontally brushed, lightweight aluminium alloy date wheel – which runs the diameter of the case – rotates once every 31 days. The dates are etched in black, in an elongated font that makes them immediately readable.   
 
The pink gold dial wonderfully complements the sparing use of the metal on the case. The dial is remarkably opulent. On the outer reaches it is decorated with a moiré-style pattern of engine turning that creates a chevron effect directing the eye in a clockwise fashion. The full chapter of applied Breguet hours is applied on a circular brushed rim. On the inside, the dial is adorned with an intricate fish scale pattern that radiates from the cannon pinion. The wide, leaf-style hours and minutes hands are black polished.   
 
While the Montre à Tact watches have featured self-winding calibres from F. Piguet and in some cases from LeCoultre, this prototype features an A. Schild 1873 ebauche topped with a modified version of the thin, ‘bell’ module Andersen developed for the wandering time display. In this example, it was changed to work with the conventional time display to show the date. The movement offers 60 hours of reserve.

The set includes a tan leather winding box from Milanese specialist Scatolo del Tempo. The outerbox wears the Andersen Genève mark.
 
This prototype Montre à Tact Date Discrete is perfectly emblematic of Andersen’s watchmaking philosophy. It is experimental, yet with historical precedent. It benefits from the watchmaker’s ingenuity and at the same time bears the mark of some of the finest masters and craftspeople whom Andersen regularly collaborated with. Coming at the turn of the 21st century and before the proliferation of modern independent watchmaking, the Date Discrete is as important as it is attractive.

Closer look

Condition

This prototype of the Date Discrete variant of Andersen Genève’s Montre à Tact is in very good overall condition. The case is shows light marks and surface imperfections.

A service is recommended with Andersen Genève, being a prototype and having not been closely examined by the brand in several years. One can arranged with the brand for the future owner.

Warranty

A service is recommended with the band, so one can be arranged with Andersen Genève. It also comes with a lifetime guarantee of authenticity from A Collected Man.