A French watchmaker who began his career by restoration work in Paris, Vianney Halter settled in Switzerland in 1989. Co-founder of a company specialising in complications, he left in 1994 to found a Manufacture where he continued to work for other companies before branching out with watches under his own name. The very first, the Antiqua Perpetual Calendar, dates from 2008.
Antiqua is based on the concept of ‘Future Past’: the future as it might have been imagined by people living in the 19th century. Vianney Halter happily looks to the novels of Jules Verne for inspiration; indeed, his first watch might easily have been designed for Captain Nemo. Three of its four portholes jut out from the round case on which they rest via cone-shaped elements. By decreasing order of size, the first displays the hours and minutes, the second the months and the leap-year cycle, the third the days of the week and the fourth the date. This perpetual calendar in gold or platinum, studded with 104 tiny rivets, measures 46.5 x 42.5mm, including the lugs and crown, while its case measures just 40mm in diameter. It is thus suited to most wrists, especially with its vertically-fitted bracelet that embraces even the slimmest sizes.
