Produced in limited series of 15 examples in 1990, 10 in pink gold and 5 in platinum. MULLER Franck.Franck Muller is a contemporary master watchmaker, born in July 1958 to a Swiss father and a mother of Italian descent. He spent three years at the Geneva Ecole d'Horlogerie, where he was a brilliant student, ranking first in his class and earning two diplomas. He rapidly gained the confidence of prestigious collectors and private museums, who called upon him to restore their antique watches. However, his quick mind and nimble goldsmith's fingers soon led him to create his own mechanisms. In 198, he astonished the watchmaking world with his research into new conceptions of the tourbillon. Franck Muller is particularly fond of tourbillon writwatches with jumping hours, tourbillon wristwatches with minute repeater, tourbillon wristwatches with minute repeater and perpetual calendar, tourbillon wristwatches with split-seconds chronograph, and wristwatches with Grande and Petite Sonnerie, perpetual calendar and equation of time. In order to integrate such mechanisms into a wristwatch, extrme miniaturisation, and therefore great dexterity, are necessary. Some knowledgeable observers go so far as to say that he is making history in contemporary watchmaking. In less than ten years, he will certainly have made a important contribution, by blending complications and miniaturisation in a wristwatch, a novel technique which proves his exceptional talent. Franck Muller's hallmark is his ability to respect and perpetuate watchmaking traditions, while making important innovations. He is guded by the principle that watchmaking is not just an art, but also a science. A year ago, Franck Muller launched a line of watches which has encountered great success. Produced in limited series, extreme attention is given to their slightest details. Despite the great difficulty of working with platinum, Franck Muller has chosen to equip all his watches with 950 platinum rotors, because their higher specific weight makes for much quicker winding than that obtained with 22 karat gold.World Premières :1986 : The Tourbillon wristwatch with free sprung balances, jumping hours, and regulator dial.This is a World Première of the greatest importance, for it includes the complication which has characterised Franck Muller's work since 1983 : the Tourbillon. This fascinating complication remains very complex in its realisation. The system (invented and patented by Abraham Louis Breguet in 1796), which made it possible to correct variations due to the force of gravity, was further improved by Franck Muller. The innovations he has introduced are patented under his name.It took approximately 18 months to make this unique piece with manual winding, of which the movement consists of several hundred parts.1987 : The Tourbillon wristwatch with free sprung balance and minute repeater.Another World Première, in which Franck Muller has performed the exploit of combining his famous Tourbillon regulator with a free sprung balance and the complication of a Minute repeating mechanism.The Minute repeater strikes hours, quarters, and minutes on two gongs, at will. The movement's parts are decorated in the Empire style, and are visible through the skeleton dial. The Tourbillon carriage can be admired through an aperture in the back of the case.This watch took two years of research and development. Today, only one example exists in the world. It is the property of a private collector.1989 : The minute repeating wristwatch with perpetual calendar and reverse Tourbillon regulator.This is a World Première, for two important complications are added to Franck Muller's Tourbillon: a perpetual calendar and a minute repeating mechanism. The one-minute tourbillon carriage is visible on the dial at 6 o'clock through an aperture. Revolving once a minute, it compensates for variations due to position errors. The combination of these three important complications shows the exceptional character of this unique mechanical piece, which comprises several hundred parts and required overtwo years of research.1990 : The Tourbillon split-seconds Chronograph Wristwatch :This exceptional creation makes time-telling extremely precise. Franck Muller has added extreme mechanical complexity to the Tourbillon, in the form of the split-seconds Chronograph. It took sixteen months of research to perfect this unique mechanical piece with manual winding.1990 : The minute repeating, world time wristwatch.This World Première is a blend of elegance and technical perfection. The minute repeating machanism strikes the hours, quarters, and minutes, at will, on two gongs. This conception of time, which first appeared during the 17th century, but was claimed in 1676 both by the Englishmen Edward Barlow and Danien Quare. It remains the measure of a Master Watchmaker's skill, due to the extreme difficulty of its execution.The additional complication of world time enhances the time-telling capacity of the World Première achievement, which indicates the time in the principal cities of the world by means of its revolving bezel.1991: The World Time Double-Face Wristwatch with Single Button Chronograph.This World Première represents a totally exclusive conception, for it displays its various measurements on not just one, but two dials.The first dial is for the usual measurements : hours, minutes, and seconds, with a second time zone indicated by means of a mobile bezel. The second dial gives pulsimetric measurements, on a basis of 30 pulsations. It allows for measurement of heart beats within a certain period of time.This two-dial conception allows for a much clearer reading of the information.1992 : The Tourbillon split-second Chronograph wristwatch with perpetual calendar.This watch is a World Première because in it, Franck Muller has once again succeeded in combining his famous tourbillon which greatly enhances the rate of the watch, with a split-second chronograph and a perpetual calendar.1992 : The Double-face Chronograph wristwatch.This is a unique masterpiece of precision. Franck Muller has taken the idea of the double-faced watch (described above) and has further enhanced it, in a conception which is patented today. The first dial gives the usual indications: hours, minutes, seconds, split-seconds, and tachometer scale. The second dial, on the back of the watch, allows readings on a telemeter, pulsimeter, and tachometer. Its self-winding movement is wound by a platinum rotor.1992 : The world's most complicated wristwatch..In 1992, Franck Muller created an exclusive masterpiece, a veritable one-of-a-kind collector's item. It contains the most sophisticated complications known to watchmaking today : a Grande and Petite Sonnerie, a minute repeating mechanism, a perpetual calendar programmed up until 2100, indicating date, day of the week, month, and monthly fly-back equation, leap years, 24 hours, and phases of the moon, as well as the mechanism's inner temperature. The movement is placed in an Empire-style case creted from a block of 950 platinum. This piece, unique in the history of horology, has already become a legend. Franck Muller, however, continues to dream up further complications, in accordance with the wishes of its proud owner.1993 : The Caliber 93.This wristwatch with manual winding is a world première, for it features several important complications that only Franck Muller could combine : split-seconds chronograph, minute repeater, perpetual calendar set up until 2100, indicating date, day of the week, month, and monthly fly-back equation, leap years, 24 hours, phases of the moon, and the mechanism's inner temperature.1993 : Minute-repeating wristwatch with striking indicator.This is a world première, for Franck Muller has made considerable innovations in the minute repeating train main complexity : the strike indicator. This invention, which is patented under his name, shows the minute-rack's progress on the dial by means of a fly-back hand.1994 : The Double Jumping Hour, Moon Phase Wristwatch.This totally innovative system shows at once local time and that of a second time zone. While both time zones indicated on the dial change at once, with the passing of the 60th minute, the wearer can set the second time zone independently of the first. This watch features subsidiary seconds with inner moon-phase aperture.1994 : The Double-Face Split-Seconds Chronograph.This watch marks the combination of the split-seconds chronograph with the various features of the double-faced watch. Its self-winding movement is fitted with a platinum rotor.1994 : The Chronograph Wristwatch with a Fly-Back Perpetual Calendar.Aside from the fact that it features a chronograph and a perpetual calendar, the most extraordinary element of this piece is that it indicates the month with a fly-back hand, coupled with equation of time, marking the different length of the days according to the period of the year.1994 : The Minute-Repeater Wristwatch with Retrograde Perpetual Calendar and Tourbillon regulator.Included in the considerable complications here, the patented Tourbillon coupled with a retrograde perpetual calendar and a minute repeater, also patented by Franck Muller.1994 : The Caliber 94.The Caliber 94 includes a variety of complications, making for its exceptional character: a minute repeater with strike indicator, a perpetual calendar with retrograde monthly equation, the patented Tourbillon regulator, retrograde seconds, and an indicator of the mechanism's internal temperature. This unique piece was fashioned from a block of platinum, comprises over 350 parts, and required more than 3 years of technical research.1995 : The Caliber 95.The Caliber 95 sums up all the following exploits : it contains a Tourbillon regulator, a split-seconds chronograph, hours, minutes, and centre seconds, a perpetual calendar with date, day of the week, month and retrograde monthly equation, indication of leap years, 24 hours, phases of the moon, and indication of the mechanism's inner temperature. This unique piece is double-faced : for the day, the first dial shows all the above data. At night, or when the watch is turned, the beautiful hand-enraved and chased skeleton movement becomes apparent, with hours and minutes in its centre. The splendor of this "nocturnal" half of the watch is further enhanced by 68 sparkling diamond baguettes. It took two years of research to produce this unique watch, made up of several hundred parts.1996 : The Caliber 96, a Double Minute-Repeater.The Caliber 96 affords the rare privilege of combining two watches in one. This wristwatch is entirely reversible and offers its wearer two completely different styles. The side intended for daytime wear is traditional in style, with all the beauty and finesse of its mechanical complication clearly apparent. The night-time side scintillates, with its diamond-covered mystery dial. The same technical prowess is evident in the two day and night dials and the two distinct minute repeaters. This piec, made of solid platinum, comprises several hundred parts.1996 : The Master Banker Wristwatch.The Master Banker allows its possessor to instantly consult three different time zones at once on the same dial. This is also the perfect watch for a globe trotter or a financier, who can see at a glance what time it is in the world's major financial markets. This important technical innovation has never before been offered with such a simple setting procedure, for the different time zones are set independently with the same winding crown. The self winding movement is fitted with a platinum roto.1996 : The Imperial Minute-Repeating Wristwatchwith Tourbillon regulator.Franck Muller makes it possible to capture time not just by means of the reverse tourbillon visible on the dial, but to hear it as well, with the sounding of the minute repeating mechanism. The combination of these two complications had never before been accomplished in a tonneau-shaped wristwatch, and is yet another proof of Franck Muller's perpetually inventive mind.