Christophe Claret - History, Models and Owners' Reviews

Christophe Claret is a high-horology brand founded in 2009 in Le Locle, Switzerland, by the eponymous master watchmaker, extending the activity of a manufacture established in 1989 and long dedicated to creating complex movements for other maisons; the brand addresses collectors drawn to spectacular pieces that are playful, musical and technically sophisticated.

From independent manufacture (1989) to eponymous brand (2009)

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the manufacture delivered chiming watches, tourbillons and automata to third-party brands, earning a reputation as an “engineer of complications”; the next step, in 2009, was to sign creations under its own name with a first manifesto piece celebrating the workshop’s 20th anniversary and asserting a distinctive style in which the kinematics of mechanisms become an aesthetic language in themselves, so that the shift from discreet movement maker to public-facing creator is explicitly expressed on the dial.

Engineer’s aesthetics: open architectures, instrumental legibility and mechanical theater

At Christophe Claret, form never hides function: openworked bridges, layered volumes, transparency and light play frame the displays to reveal the mechanics; legibility remains intentionally instrumental — clear scales, bold markers — yet originality lies in staging: twin time belts, magnetically driven “floating” balls, gaming animations, or Westminster-style chimes; this scenography beautifies the movement without sacrificing use, such that reading time becomes a controlled spectacle halfway between scientific instrument and automaton.

Manifest pieces and watch-games: a repertoire you spot instantly

The brand’s vocabulary crystallized around a handful of creations that became landmarks: a twin-belt anniversary piece, another where two steel spheres travel inside sapphire tubes under magnetic drive, a triptych of “casino watches” playable on the wrist, and a chiming chapter where carillon and tourbillon converse in full view; taken together, these works outline a coherent path in which complication fuels imagination, interaction with the wearer is a deliberate choice, and technical bravura comes paired with an unapologetic sense of horological fun.

• Christophe Claret DualTow — Manifesto piece (2009) for the manufacture’s 20th anniversary: monopusher chronograph with planetary gearing, tourbillon, and twin belt display for hours/minutes; limited series with multiple case variants.
• Christophe Claret X-TREM-1 — Hours and minutes shown by two metal spheres “levitating” along lateral sapphire tubes driven by magnetism; inclined flying tourbillon with a futuristic, hypnotic signature.
• Christophe Claret 21 Blackjack — Integrates a card mechanism, a caseback roulette and a micro cage of dice; a true “mini-casino” embedded in a haute horlogerie calibre.
• Christophe Claret Poker — Recreates a three-player Texas Hold’em game: dedicated windows, miniature blinds system and a cathedral gong that chimes when pushers are actuated.
• Christophe Claret Baccara — Combines baccarat, roulette and dice within a single watch; playful spirit and refined staging.
• Christophe Claret Soprano / Christophe Claret Adagio / Christophe Claret Allegro — The chiming chapter: minute repeaters (Westminster for Soprano), 60-second tourbillon on certain versions, and open architecture showcasing tone and projection.
• Christophe Claret Margot — A poetic ladies’ complication: each press makes “petals” vanish to the sound of a delicate chime, echoing the “he loves me, he loves me not” game.

Explorations and variants: Aventicum, Kantharos, Maestro, Angelico

Beyond the headline pieces, the brand multiplied avenues to combine spectacle and real-world use: a tribute to Roman Helvetia with a micro-sculpted bust made “holographic” by a mirascope, a monopusher chronograph that chimes at every action and exposes its constant-force device dial-side, a more compact format introducing a mechanical “memo,” and an approach to classic chronometry revisited by a tourbillon paired with a cable-type fusée; together, these paths show that the Claret signature isn’t mere showmanship — it offers varied entry points for distinct buyer profiles and re-tunes theatricality to suit wearability and functional constraints.

• Christophe Claret Aventicum — Micro-engraved bust of Marcus Aurelius (≈ 3 mm) at the dial’s center, rendered three-dimensional by a mirascope; tribute to the ancient city of Avenches.
• Christophe Claret Kantharos — Monopusher chronograph with constant-force escapement, punctuated by a gong strike at each start/stop/reset; dial-side mechanics under a sapphire bridge.
• Christophe Claret Maestro — Around 42 mm: domed architecture, pyramidal date, mechanical “Memo”; conceived as a relative gateway into the brand’s universe.
• Christophe Claret Angelico — Tourbillon with long-detent escapement and cable-type fusée transmission, dual-time with jumping-hour displays; “classic-augmented” take on precision.

On-wrist experience: wearability, acoustics, interaction and care

The visual impact of Claret pieces invites practical reflection on wear: diameter and especially thickness determine balance, morphology and daily style; on acoustics, timbre quality — attack, harmonic richness, decay — depends on alloy, architecture and fine assembly, and perception varies with surroundings; lastly, interactive pieces (games, dedicated buttons, animations) require progressive appropriation and respect for operating procedures, because such expressiveness assumes precise handling and conscientious maintenance.

Positioning, pricing, volumes and retail channels

The brand is unequivocally positioned in haute horlogerie, with most major pieces (chimes, casino watches, magnetic displays) typically in the six-figure range; annual production for recent years is not officially disclosed — “not communicated” — and limited series remain the norm; historically, distribution relied on a tight network of top retailers and a handful of international partners, complemented by direct presence at watchmaking events; since 2023, official Swiss notices mention liquidation proceedings for certain legal entities connected to the manufacture, such that current new-watch availability and commercial setup are “information not confirmed” and should be verified with specialist retailers.

Buyer profiles and decision matrix

Three broad profiles emerge: chime connoisseurs attentive to carillon richness and architectural finesse; lovers of mechanical expression drawn to unconventional displays (magnetic balls, belts, animations); and aesthetes seeking “conversation pieces” that spark exchange; in every case, the decision benefits from balancing visual sensation, daily wear, collection context (complementarity with other complications) and long-term ownership plan, because a piece at this level is appreciated over time and warrants meticulous follow-up.

Conclusion

Instinctively recognizable, the Christophe Claret universe fuses mechanical theater, instrumental exactness and the joy of interacting with a watch. It speaks to enthusiasts for whom watchmaking is also kinetic and sonic art, not merely time display. To choose among families, weigh your appetite for a chime’s music, a “magical” display’s wonder, or a wrist-game’s conviviality, then confront these desires with real-world wear and maintenance. The right choice extends your collection without duplicating it and makes you want to actuate the complication again and again. To compare these criteria with lived experience, consult Dialicious customer reviews.

(Updated August 2025)