Haute Timepieces: Corum 30th Anniversary Golden Bridge Watch

Fun fact about Corum’s in-house made CO113 movement as used in the new Golden Bridge watch: Swiss watchmaking schools like to use it to teach students about movements because you can see it operating at all angles. The concept also makes the movement particularly impressive to watch in operation. Typically in round or square shapes, Corum is now celebrating 30 years of making the needle equivalent of a mechanical movement.

Corum takes its masterpiece movement and houses it in a solid case made of precious metal and sapphire crystal windows, situated not only on the front and rear of the watch, but also on the sides. It is incredibly easy to see the marvel in operation. Simply winding the movement via the bottom-mounted crown is cause for visually observing the gears in action. Interestingly enough, past Corum Golden Bridge watches had no dial, just the stick figure movement with hands in the 34 by 51mm wide case. Wearers complained about seeing too much of their own arm hair through the clear sapphire back. So Corum gave the watch a true dial and shrank the sapphire caseback window to only show the movement outline. The dial has some deep sunburst engraving with applied hour markers in various tones. Of course the watch wouldn’t be called the “Golden Bridge” if not for the hand-engraved gold movement bridge and plates.

Watch hands are in gold, skeletonized, and a gentle bubble shape as an homage to Corum’s character. The signature Corum key logo is engraved into the watch crown. As modern pieces go, the Golden Bridge is a more medium sized watch. Though it is comfortable on the wrist, and should evoke a sense of wonder in onlookers seeing the tiny machine on your watch. The movement is made up of 140 pieces and is just 33mm tall, 3mm wide, and 5mm thick. It still has a power reserve of 40 hours when fully wound. Difficult to assemble properly, the watch is a true haute horlogerie creation. Wearing the piece requires a special taste and appreciation for micromechanics. Corum takes pride in the fact that it is certainly not for everyone. Still, the elongated tonneau shaped case has a certain elegance that is very pleasing to anyone’s eyes.

The 30^th Anniversary Golden Bridge watch comes various limited edition versions in 18-karat red, yellow, or white gold, as well as a platinum version, each with a highly polished case. With the various precious metals and two dial options, the entire collection is available in a limited edition of less than 400 pieces total. There is also a smaller women’s “Miss Golden Bridge” version available.

1. 34-mm-wide case in gold or platinum
2. Sapphire crystal windows on sides, front, and back of watch
3. Ultra thin 3-mm-wide mechanical movement
4. Hand engraved 18K gold movement bridge
5. 40 hours of power reserve despite small size

Pictured piece is priced at $27,500, more for platinum. www.corum.ch.

Ariel Adams is the Haute Living Watch Editor and also publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.