‘We’ve created the world’s first calibre with three jumping windows for the hour, minutes, and grand date’: Franck Muller’s head of design

Mention Franck Muller and images of horological wizardry and the thrill of innovation come to mind. The brand has gained a reputation for crafting monumental firsts in watchmaking history. It began in 2003 with the launch of the Crazy Hours, which eschewed the traditional watch face layout and displayed precise time in a fun, never-seen-before manner. This playful defiance exemplified the Swiss manufacture's willingness to rewrite the rules. In 2004, it unveiled the world's first tri-axial tourbillon, the Revolution 3, a complex mechanism that fine-tuned the art of accuracy against the forces of gravity in all positions.

Franck Muller's quest for the unprecedented reached a new peak in 2007 with the Aeternitas Mega. The most complicated watch of its time, the mechanical marvel boasted an impressive 36 complications. The brand went on to present the Giga Tourbillon in 2011, which flaunted the largest tourbillon ever seen in a wristwatch.

This year, Franck Muller introduces the Asia Pacific-exclusive Long Island Evolution collection with three models: The Master Jumper, Giga Tourbillon, and 7 Days Power Reserve. Each timepiece features an updated Long Island case design – first launched in 2000 – with a rounded rectangular shape, fluid curves, and Art Deco-inspired numerals. The latest rendition is encased in black PVD-coated brushed titanium, accented with a pine green anodised aluminium bezel. This reimagined collection has a multi-layered case architecture, designed to accommodate precisely shaped movements that fit perfectly within the new case’s silhouette.

The maison takes innovation to the next level with the star of the range: The Long Island Evolution Master Jumper. Its triple jumping complication is the first in the world to combine numerical time and date functions in a symmetrical vertical display.

Measuring 35.3mm by 48.1mm, it’s distinguished by three windows arranged in a neat column down the middle of the watch, with hours at the top, minutes in the middle, and the date at 6 o’clock. The minutes and date windows each use two separate discs for the tens and ones, both jumping at each decimal number. The hour window, on the other hand, employs a single disc to indicate the hours from 1 to 12. All five discs, as well as the wheels that drive their motion, are visible through the front of the watch.

What’s striking about this high-tech looking model is the added inner sapphire crystal, on which useful text elements indicating the watch functions are printed and where the three aperture frames are directly incorporated. Details of the brand-new Calibre FM 3100 are also displayed here to express the movement’s technical prowess.

The collection also features the Long Island Evolution Giga Tourbillon that showcases the grandeur of a large tourbillon cage within the sleek confines of its blackened titanium case. The movement’s four mainsprings provide a generous four-day power reserve that is indicated in a display between the barrels.

Completing the trio is the Long Island Evolution 7 Days Power Reserve, a skeletonised 33.7mm by 45.3mm iteration offering a seven-day power reserve that showcases the intricate workings of its hand-wound FM 1745 calibre.

In an exclusive interview with CNA Luxury, head of design at Franck Muller, Jean-Loup Glenat talks about the challenges of creating the maison’s latest history-making movement, the new Long Island Evolution collection, novelties for 2024, his 14-year career at Franck Muller and more.

Launched 24 years ago, the Long Island case isn’t a new one in Franck Muller’s repertoire. Why was it chosen and can you tell us more about the changes?

While many fans might be familiar with Franck Muller’s tonneau shapes like the Curvex or Vanguard, we wanted to highlight its beautiful square and rectangular cases like the Long Island. In fact, the Long Island was Franck Muller’s second case shape after the Curvex. The new Long Island Evolution still retains the proportions and silhouette of the original, but with a totally new construction. Our vision was not to change it completely, but to make it look more dynamic and contemporary. The new iteration has harder angles, as compared to the smoother, curved lines of its predecessor.

What was the most challenging part of the new case construction?

The designer and engineer have the hardest jobs. As a designer, I have lots of ideas, while the engineer has to work within many constraints, so we always have to find the right path to be able to go forward together. The most complex part for us both was to maintain the case’s elegant proportions and insert an extremely complicated movement into it. For instance, the Long Island Evolution Master Jumper complication is a very condensed calibre with numerous components, so we had to find a solution to fit everything in without affecting the case size or thickness.

What was the design inspiration for the Long Island Evolution Master Jumper?

As seen on the emblematic Crazy Hours, we like to play with watch displays at Franck Muller, so the idea for the Master Jumper was to create an all-new movement with only discs and no hands. It was a difficult calibre that took four years to realise because instead of developing it from a mechanical vision first, we started from a graphic idea: To have three equidistant rows of two windows each in a vertical line. There was no compromise to be made on this vision, which was difficult for the engineers. We wanted to push the limits of the jumping function here and I’m proud to say that this is the world’s first movement to have three jumping windows for the hour, minutes, and the grand date.

What were the major hurdles that you and the team faced when developing the Master Jumper movement?

We have five numerical discs to turn, so that requires a lot of force and power. To achieve that, we chose to fashion some discs in aluminium and others in titanium to reduce their weight. You’ll also see two barrels at the back of the movement, and one is for powering the disc rotations alone, so that’s how we solved the problem. Another feat was to ensure that the hour and minutes discs jumped instantaneously. However, to execute that many actions at the same time, we needed many components... 372 to be exact, so you can imagine that finding space to fit every element in, while keeping to the strict graphic aesthetic was another huge challenge.

Tell us more about adapting the Giga Tourbillon into the Long Island case.

The Giga Tourbillon has been in our collection for about 10 years now, but we revamped it about two years ago where certain parts of the mechanism are highlighted to draw attention to the tourbillon. For this new collection, it’s still the same large 20mm tourbillon, but once again, the trick was to fit everything harmoniously within the 36.3mm case width. Assembly must be precise as there are many small, delicate parts that can be scratched.

Describe the Long Island Evolution 7 Days Power Reserve in three words.

This was the first model we designed for the triptych, so we combined all the aesthetics and design philosophy into this model. It’s the simplest complication of the three, but a very interesting one, so we gave it a strong face and expression. Dynamic is the first word that describes the watch. I wanted to create something that was in between elegant and sporty. And since the model has a lot of power, cryptic is the second word. Lastly, it’s graphic. The idea of the inner sapphire dial began here. As you can see, the hand-painted large luminescent numbers contrast very well against the closed skeleton design. I think it imparts a dark, mysterious but modern mechanical vibe to the watch.

What can we expect from Franck Muller’s 2024 collection?

That would be creativity first and foremost, so fans can expect a wide range of timepieces in terms of watch sizes, colours and materials. For ladies, there are beautiful skeletonised models and novelties, such as the elegant 31mm Round Skeleton, and Vanguard Lady Slim Vintage in pastel colours like blue, turquoise, and sand.

Then, there are creative projects like the Master Lighter, which is a collaboration between Franck Muller and ST Dupont, the French luxury manufacturer of lighters, pens and leather goods. One of my personal favourites this year so far, it’s an unexpected fusion of high watchmaking and goldsmithing artistry as the standing lighter incorporates a skeleton watch with a three-day power reserve. The result of over two years’ work, this is a first for both brands.

What has been your proudest achievements in your 14-year career at Franck Muller so far?

I’m asked this question every year, but my answer is always different. Maybe I’m a bit nostalgic this year, but I’m most proud of the first Vanguard we created 10 years ago. It’s special for me because it was the beginning of an incredible and crazy experience. We didn’t anticipate the Vanguard's huge potential or how far it would take us because we’ve developed so many iterations for men and women since its launch.

What do you think sets Franck Muller apart from other watch brands?

I think we have the advantage to become a major brand because we have the capabilities for developing new watches with our machines and know-how. At the same time, we also have the advantage of having the freedom of an independent brand in that we aren’t bound by any rules. This is what our co-founder and CEO Vartan Sirmakes envisioned Franck Muller to be... it’s all about the freedom of creation. We’re in between traditional and mechanical, and creative and crazy.