It was on 26 January 2012, that the consignor of the present watch finally receives a response from Christian Klings whom he had been trying to contact for years to no avail. The email exchanges became frequent with a creative ping pong being played between the two, with Klings accepting to turn the collector’s ideas into a mechanical masterpiece.

Klings accepted the commission that featured the following brief: a novel movement made from scratch, time only, white metal, a high degree of finish and Klings signature elements.

Two years later the collector was presented by a unique masterpiece with a movement architecture and structure never seen before, aptly named the Open Version the habitual flat bridges were replaced by superbly mirror polished tapering tubular ones perfectly standing out above a frosted gilt base plate.

Two of Klings signature elements stand out, the 40mm tear drop lug case and what seems to be a guilloché dial which in fact is silk fabric that has over time changed to a mesmerizing champagne hue giving the watch even greater character.

Pronounce the name Christian Klings before a crowd of lovers of technical mastery and you will receive a revered silence and knowing nods. Klings, a German born and based watchmaker is known by the cognoscenti for his superlative timepieces made by hand using traditional watchmaking methods.

Klings is as much an artist as he is a watchmaker and thus focuses on creating bespoke timepieces upon commission from savvy collectors. His creations have ranged from a 10-second tourbillon with a free balance escapement, to detent escapements to highly finished time-only watches with single-beat escapements.

The present Open Vision N°1 is the only example known with this fully tubular architecture displaying Klings’ desire to try new techniques and think out of the box in order to create truly unique masterpieces.