The Stunning, Japan-Only Andersen Genève Jumping Hours Rising Sun Edition

Japan is, without a doubt, a country of watchmaking culture. Not only is it one of the largest producers of watches alongside Switzerland, but it’s also home to many discerning collectors. Without surprise, a close relationship was formed between Andersen Genève, the brand founded by AHCI member Svend Andersen, and the country of the rising sun. This gave birth, for example, to a 50-piece limited edition Voyage Worldtimer made in 2005 in collaboration with Mr Yoshi Isogai of the celebrated retailer Shellman. This year, Andersen Genève again creates a 50-piece limited edition designed for its Japanese clientele, a splendid take on one of its signature models, the new Jumping Hours Rising Sun Edition. 

While many will be familiar with his countless (and highly desirable) takes on the world time complication, Svend Andersen has masterminded many more watches over his long career. In 1995, Svend Andersen was commissioned to create a watch with jumping hours combined with a minute repeater. It subsequently became requested in a number of unique pieces and later gave birth to one of the most recognisable Andersen Genève watches, the Jour & Nuit. This ingenious design, which used the Jumping Hours module to carry a double-ended jumping 24-hour hand, led to a series of watches made for Cartier in 1998, as well as editions under its own name. In recent years, Andersen Genève took the Jumping Hours complication to a new level with the launch of a dedicated watch, where the empty space of the dial, inherent to watches with such minimalist displays, was filled with motifs obtained through refined métiers d’art such as guilloché.

Image by @salondeshorlogers

The new Jumping Hours Rising Sun Edition is a variation of a well-known watch… but one that is as fascinating and delicate as it can get. Pink gold and platinum are paired to create a splendid “salmon over white metal” edition, a combination we love here at MONOCHROME. Refined, detailed, striking, yet supremely elegant, the classic Andersen Genève Jumping Hours pays tribute to the land of the rising sun with a hand-crafted platinum 38mm case and a solid pink gold dial decorated with the brand’s signature guilloché pattern.

Technically speaking, this watch splits the time into two separate indications; the hours are indicated in a window at noon with a jumping motion, while the minutes are discreetly displayed in a sub-dial at 6 o’clock. The minute hand points to a railway-style chapter ring printed in dark blue, matching the brand’s logo above the hour window. The rest of the dial (and there’s some space) forms a canvas for artistic crafts. The solid pink gold dial is decorated thanks to a hand-guilloché technique executed by a Swiss artisan, showcasing the signature “magic lozenge” pattern. The small minutes counter features a classic hobnail pattern. This warm and almost iridescent textured gold dial contrasts greatly with the discreet, cold colour of the platinum case – measuring a compact 38mm x 9.2mm.

The back reveals an automatic movement to power the in-house jumping-hour module on top. The base is a Frédéric Piguet 11.50 movement, a slim calibre equipped with two barrels and providing a comfortable 72h power reserve. It’s mostly its decoration that catches the attention, with Geneva stripes, anglage, perlage and mirror-polishing of the screw heads. The movement is wound by a solid gold rotor decorated with a guilloché grain d’orge pattern and encircled by a ring of 21k BlueGold (produced thanks to a unique heat-treating process).

Worn on a light grey hand-stitched suede strap, the Andersen Genève Jumping Hours Rising Sun Edition is a limited edition of 50 pieces exclusively for the Japanese market (even though I’m sure the brand can help if you’re in Europe or America). It is priced at CHF 48,800. For more details, please visit www.andersen-geneve.ch.