Charles Zuber presents a horological Founder’s collection

Named after its inspiration, this Genevan-born atelier pays homage to the life of mystery Swiss jeweller Charles Zuber. Its first collection, aptly named the Founder’s Collection, and inspired by Charles Zuber, features a special edition of Perfos timepieces that embody the essence of aesthetics and shatters the norms of tradition

In the spirit of rekindling the legacy of their founder, the brand is fuelled by obsessive creativity, an affinity for crafting mesmerising moments, and a daring vision. Placed under the sign of a unique blend of materials, colours, and savoir-faire, Perfos crystallises all the skills that revive the history of Swiss watchmaking excellence, which is particularly close to the requirements of high jewellery.

Universal and iconic by its visual cues, Perfos is powered by a calibre that does justice to its aesthetic. The Caliber 01 is a form movement, designed to snugly fit into this particular case, closely following the curves and lines of the interior perimeter to the nearest millimetre – a discreet yet no less impressive prowess, true to the spirit of Charles Zuber. The brainchild of the famous Swiss designer Eric Giroud, Perfos catches the eye with its sleek, powerful build and multiple facets offering a playground for contrasts. Its distinctive dial marries ultracomplex construction with uncompromising elegance.

Projects of substance require time and patience. It took Eric Giroud a year to refine the design of Perfos. With Perfos, he pays homage to the spirit and personality of the master jeweller, a lively and luminous man, building on an aesthetic that echoes that of the timepieces from the 1970s and 1980s, truly a golden age in the history of wristwatches.

The integrated case and bracelet is the designer’s stroke of genius; it was Eric Giroud who came up with a three-tiered case, without straight lines, and gave it a flat bezel and a festival of curves. The Perfos watch epitomises understated elegance and the provocative beauty of simplicity.

The so-called “sandwich” design is of uncompromising precision. With its chamfered perimeter, it favours a multiplication of facets. The result are rich contrasts between satin-brushed and polished surfaces, between the textures of the materials and the silkiness of their touch. Titanium, steel, the three colours of gold, white, pink, and yellow – all play off each other as they alternate and meet.

Among the subtleties of Perfos, the sophistication of its dial is one of the most distinctive and uncompromising expressions of elegance. Whether on a black background with gray rhodium-plated indexes, or on a white background with ebony indexes like piano keys, it takes extreme precision to create each triangular groove from a mother blank, a first dial base upon which a second plate, delicately openworked by laser, is then placed. Each opening coincides perfectly with each of the sixty indexes.

The dial is galvanised, a technique that relies on a pertinent choice of steel. The action of coating the metal with a layer of zinc protects it from corrosion while creating an iconic effect with flamboyant tones. One key element is the light – the way it plays on the case and dial pays tribute to Charles Zuber’s sunny personality, which Eric Giroud often describes as “rock’n’roll”.

Charles Zuber is about courage and consistency, and above all chronometric mastery. It is about refusing to compromise and slaking a thirst for universal beauty. A beauty that extends to the hidden parts of Perfos, through the design of a form movement calibre that hugs the rounded corners of the square case.

Automatically wound with a bidirectional oscillating weight, this three-hand calibre with 164 components and 33 jewels lends itself to future developments and the addition of complications. Decorated and rhodium-plated according to the purest practices of a watchmaking industry proud of its fundamentals, its blued screws as well as other selected details underline the sunray patterns worked on its surfaces that are not visible to the eye.

By now it should be clear that underneath its apparent simplicity, the watch is in fact very complex. Complex in its design and complex in its realisation. Nothing is left to chance, every detail counts and increases the watch’s appeal.