Timekeeping Art: How MUSE Watches manage to display time without hands

The name already gives a first hint: Once a divine source of inspiration for artists, the young Swiss brand MUSE Watches is also all about creativity and capturing beauty. In doing so, the young brand’s watches see themselves as an antithesis of today’s fast-paced world, allowing the wearer to slow down and savour the present moment.

The brand achieves this through a decelerated form of time display, enabled through finely crafted patterns. Before we give too much away, let us just say you have probably never seen anything like this before.

Two watch engineers on a new mission

The duo behind the young Swiss watch brand consists of the two industry experts and watch enthusiasts Pascal Robert and Frédéric Leuba, both able to look back on decades of experience in the Swiss watch industry. What unites the two watchmaking engineers and what led them to embark on this horlogical journey together is their mutual vision of fusing watchmaking tradition and modernity of contemporary art.

MUSE was founded in 2016 in the Swiss mountains of Vaud. Until this day, all watches are not only conceived and designed, but also assembled and tested between St. Cergue and La Chaux-de-Fonds.

The brand’s approach is to fuse watchmaking tradition with the modernity of contemporary art. For that, the founders have created an innovative design that eliminates traditional hands. Instead, their watches use finely crafted patterns that run at the speed of hours, minutes and seconds.

A now concept of telling time

The basic idea of the two creators was to fundamentally rethink and represent the display of time. Therefore, the traditional hands were replaced by artistic patterns that were, in turn, inspired by elements of nature and architecture. As time goes by, the hands generate compositions that continually evolve, thus perpetually modifying the appearance of your dial. True art in motion.

Time is displayed by three independent overlapping (rhodium-plated) geometric discs (for hours, minutes, seconds), which are decoratively patterned and therefore reminiscent of a contemporary art installation. Telling the time works as follows: The disc closest to the sapphire crystal represents the seconds, the middle one the minute disc while the disk closest to the dial is the hour disc. The largest shapes are for the hour display, the smallest is for the minutes.

Not only the time display per se is exceptional, but so is the use of rare materials on the dial: In addition to mother-of-pearl, MUSE also makes use of semi-precious stones such as onyx, aventurine and jasper. They are not only difficult to manufacture, but – more importantly – also provide the perfect background for the geometrically shaped hands.

Admittedly, as three-hand watch wearers ourselves, we had to get familiar with this type of time display at first, as it may take some getting used to. However, trust us when we say that once you get the hang of it, it’s a breeze to read the time right off the bat.

Loads of variations and styles

MUSE watches are available in two sizes, namely 37 and 44mm. The hexagonal cases are always made of titanium, which is becoming an increasingly popular material in the watch industry. Titanium is not only extremely lightweight, but also robust, corrosion-resistant and scratch-resistant. In addition, titanium is considered hypoallergenic, making the ideal material for watch enthusiasts who are looking for a nickel-free timepiece. Simply put, it’s the perfect choice for an everyday watch.

Nevertheless, MUSE also offers the possibility to customize its watches according to one’s individual wishes. So, if you like your watches a wee bit more exclusive, MUSE has got you covered with various shades of gold, platinum and even gemstone settings. As for the straps, you have the choice between, calfskin, a snake pattern, rubber and satin – depending on the model and your taste.

Under the hood: A rare collector’s caliber

Special attention should also be paid to the caliber used, which is anything but ordinary. Although it comes from the famous movement manufacturer ETA, MUSE was lucky enough to find the components of the historic calibre 2776, which has now disappeared. Indeed, the ETA 2776 was only produced between 1969 and 1982, as the onset of the quartz crisis made production economically unviable. However, MUSE managed to get hold of a large collection from a collector.

Of course, MUSE does not merely house the 2776s in the new watches – quite the opposite. Leuba and Robert decided to give them a fair bit of refinement before. Besides the black rhodium plating, the movement uses a circular “Côtes circulaires” graining, while the rotor is decorated with a sunburst finish. Moreover, it bears the inscription “MU 01”, the new name that was given to the reworked caliber. Thanks to an oscillation frequency of 21,600 vph or 3 Hz, the movement’s power reserve amounts to about 48h.

MUSE Watches at Montredo

As an official partner, we are pleased to announce that you can now shop MUSE Watches directly at Montredo.

Right this way for our large selection of MUSE Watches.

This is a sponsored post by MUSE Watches for Montredo.