RÉGULATEUR CARBONE – The new KAURI challenge

“Today, I am proud to unveil this watch, which I have been working on for several months, offering both a time display and a material that are equally captivating.”  - Samuel Gillioz

This new model, disclosed in April 2024 at watch fairs, is a combination of different watchmaking challenges. The innovative KAURI case, the brand's signature since its launch, features a new material, the Carbonium®, while the heart of the watch reveals technical features that are as captivating as they are creative.

The design of this watch has been thought through to the smallest detail in order to offer a top-of-the-range construction, thanks to the experience at Vacheron Constantin in the watchmaking specialities workshop acquired by the brand's founder and watchmaker, Samuel Gillioz.

The objective was clear: to combine technical challenges with fine watchmaking hand-finishes, such as hand- bevelling, mirror polishing and inner angles.

The Régulateur Carbone watch thus combines a distinctive design with functions rich in history, while offering remarkable autonomy with its power reserve of over 100 hours.

Specific features of this new model

The movement at the heart of the watch
This new model features a movement with remarkable technical qualities, the latest creation from the talented watchmaker and manufacturer Olivier Mory.

This collaboration with Olivier Mory enabled Samuel Gillioz to follow and participate in the genesis of this movement, from its conception to its manufacture.

The movement has then been entirely reworked at KAURI to give it a strong identity in line with the brand's values. An additional mechanism featuring a regulator with jumping hours and retrograde minutes was integrated into the movement.

Focus on the regulator with retrograde minutes and jumping hours
Regulator clocks have traditionally been used by watchmakers to set the time on their watches, that is why it was a particular wish of Samuel Gillioz to honour them with this new model. He worked on every detail of this new construction to give structure to the unstructured dial typical of regulators.

But as a challenge never comes alone in the mind of this watchmaker, and backed by over ten years' experience in the watchmaking industry, it was necessary to make this regulator a timepiece that would be appreciated by connoisseurs.

To offer a creative and captivating time display, the regulator has been enhanced with two technical features that are well known in the watchmaking world: jumping hours and retrograde minutes. These two special features are displayed by two hands positioned on two separate axes. The minute hand is driven by a double wolf’s teeth rack to avoid any gear backlash. A wolf’s teeth disconnect mechanism has also been integrated to ensure maximum reliability and avoid any risk of damage to the mechanism should the time be set in the wrong direction.

The retrograde minute hand makes an instant anti-clockwise jump of 240° every hour. At the same time, the hour hand jumps one notch each time the minute hand performs its retrograde.

This new stage for KAURI could not be achieved without preserving the brand's uniqueness since almost 5 years, the hybrid case imagined and designed by Samuel Gillioz, perfectly combining exceptional materials that are as different as they are complementary. As its name suggests, the Régulateur Carbone watch highlights the carbon... except that it's not actually completely carbon.

For this new model, the watchmaker has chosen to combine steel with a material with a very distinctive aesthetic: Carbonium®. This material, composed of compressed carbon fibres, has the particularity of giving a dynamic effect to the material when it reflects light. In addition to its aesthetic qualities, this material has remarkable technical characteristics, being three times as rigid as titanium for half the weight.