Heure Glorieuse

Creation Details

Heure Glorieuse is part of the Rare Compositions series, issued in only 3 exemplars worldwide.

Crafted on fine cotton rag paper and individually signed, it is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity and the Maison’s seal.

Set within a nocturnal circuit of measured arcs, the composition draws from the horological codes of precision and cadence. The number 2 recalls the vehicle driven by Emmanuel de Graffenried in 1948. Three hourglasses mark the trajectory, each shaped in reference to classical chronometry. At the centre, twenty-nine suspended grains form a visual allusion to the CH 29-535 PS caliber, where mechanical mastery and symbolic form converge in a single instant.

The Story Behind

The road fades, leaving only the momentum of a scarlet silhouette gliding through the stillness of night. Its number glows like a vestige of a bygone era, when Geneva echoed to the cadence of the Grand Prix des Nations and time itself responded to the rhythm of mastery.

Within this circuit, every turn once summoned a blend of courage and precision. Speed was never the destination, it was the consequence of perfect control. Each movement, rehearsed in silence, became a choreography of intent, where the ultimate challenge lay in holding the instant before it vanished.

Three hourglasses preside over the scene. Not observers, but silent arbiters of excellence. Twenty-nine suspended grains, shaped with the same finesse as a chronograph’s calibre, compose a silent testimony, never to be repeated.

Here, the chronograph becomes more than an instrument, it is the soul of the pursuit. A tool of consecration. Not to measure what was achieved, but to seal what must be remembered. For when excellence is captured within a fraction of a second, it ceases to be fleeting. It becomes legend.

Cultural Significance

Presented at the official Salon of Watches and Wonders 2025, Heure Glorieuse is part of the Rare Compositions collection, a trilogy where horological language is elevated through artistic creation. Anchored in Geneva’s motor racing heritage, the composition pays tribute to a moment when time was seized, measured, and immortalized in motion.

By transposing the chronograph’s precision into a symbolic vocabulary - hourglasses, tachymeter, and suspended trajectory - this creation affirms the role of horological artistry within the broader cultural canon.

Its presence within the Salon marks a discreet yet decisive gesture: that Geneva remains not only the capital of watchmaking, but a cradle of visual heritage shaped by time.