Funky and colourful, KB2 is the fruit of a collaboration between Philippe Lebru, founder of Utinam, a French company based in Besançon that has become famous for its monumental watches, and Alain Silberstein, an architect and designer known for his proximity to the Bauhaus style and his playful approach to the world of watchmaking. Silberstein was responsible for the name chosen for this creation, which is an abbreviation of Kontwaz Bauhaus 2, a tribute to the line of watches he himself created in the 1990s and characterised by the "Comtoise" movement with weights and pendulum. Immediately recognisable to Alain Silberstein is also the dial of the KB2, with the colours and shapes of the hands that made him famous on the international scene: red, blue and yellow on the one hand, and triangle, square and circle on the other. Lebru's contribution, on the other hand, is recognisable in the structure of the watch, inspired by his iconic Pop Up, and the Utinam movement used, winner of the Grand Prix at the Concours Lépine in Paris and the gold medal at the Geneva Invention Exhibition in 2005. What changes is the design, with the gear train and pendulum wheels redesigned and the moving parts of the clock streamlined and perfected. KB2 combines brass, steel and resin in its construction and is available in two versions: a floor-standing version, with its red and yellow stand, measuring 2 metres high by 53 cm wide and 38.5 cm deep (price €27,400); a wall-mounted version, with a height of 1.31 metres, the same width as the other and 25 cm deep (price €22,000). This is a limited edition of 88 pieces, which can be purchased in the Utinam boutique in Besançon, where it is developed and made, and in the M.A.D. Galleries in Geneva, Taipei and Dubai, as well as online.
