New from Ferdinand Berthoud, in a limited edition of 20, is his FB 1R.6-1 Chronometer featuring a brand new regulator-type display: its dial in nickel silver with a vertical satin-finish manual finish and black rhodium-plated, in fact, instead of having an open window on the tourbillon and the wheel that drives the seconds, as in previous versions, is essentially solid. Three small windows stand out on it: the first allows the hours to be read off-centre at 2 o'clock on an anti-reflective sapphire disc, punctuated by decalised Arabic numerals; the second reveals a power-reserve display mechanism that is the subject of a patent application and enhanced by a large window, at 10 o'clock, revealing part of the finely sandblasted and black-rhodium-plated plate; the third aperture is located at the centre of the minute counter at 12 o'clock and inside it one can admire the gear-trains and the hand-engraved decoration depicting a so-called "pyramid" motif, inspired by a decoration on a Ferdinand Berthoud skeleton astronomical pendulum belonging to the Luceum collection. The seconds are displayed on the periphery of the dial on a flat flange in black rhodium-plated nickel silver.
The movement that animates the watch, visible through the sapphire crystal case back and the two octagonal side portholes arranged along the case middle, is the calibre FB-T.FC.R, a Cosc-certified hand-wound mechanical movement with a tourbillon equipped with a central seconds hand and a spindle and chain drive. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that the barrel and the spindle are inverted, with the head pointing downwards, and above all, they are both suspended, held on one side only. Thanks to this construction, the subject of a patent application, the movement is extremely slim for its category, despite the regulator-type display and the new power-reserve indication.
Another characteristic of the watch is the material used for its case: this is case-hardened stainless steel, i.e. subjected to a thermochemical process of carbon diffusion in the gaseous phase, which has made it possible to achieve a Vickers hardness of 1,200, guaranteeing maximum resistance. In addition, it is extremely resistant to corrosion and is biocompatible.
