Romain Gauthier began his professional life as a micro-mechanical engineer, but he could not deny that watchmaking was in his blood, as both of his parents had worked for manufactures such as Audemars Piguet, Lemania, and Dubois Dépraz. He launched his watch brand in 2005 with the Prestige HM, which was well-received by collectors, largely due to the exquisite movement finishing incorporating brushed and grained finishes with sharply hand-beveled edges. Indeed, no less a personage than Philippe Dufour himself inspired Gauthier not only to establish his own brand rather than a single timepiece, but encourage to push the envelope of craftsmanship.

Released in 2020, this updated version of Romain Gauthier’s Micro-Rotor Insight is laboriously and lavishly hand-finished to the finest degree – on both the dial and movement sides. An open-worked dial allows the wearer to see each meticulously crafted bevel of the titanium bridges and mainplate, with the hours and subsidiary seconds displayed on two oven-fired blue enamel discs suspended above the mechanics of the watch. Crafted in a 39.5mm platinum case, the Micro-Rotor Insight Squelette marries a painstaking commitment to technological perfection with design elements emblematic of traditional haute horologie.