Franck Muller: Vanguard went crazy at WPHH 2019

On the sidelines of this year's SIHH, Franck Muller will unveil the new Vanguard Crazy Hours for men and women at WPHH 2019.

I've been a huge fan of Franck Muller's Crazy Hours since it first came out in 2003. This timepiece puts standard timekeeping at your ear by readjusting the hours on the dial, using a special patented complication to ensure precise hourly jumps, while the minute hand keeps time in the traditional way. The result is a unique and fun way to keep track of passing time.

How was Crazy Time born?
Although Franck Muller was already considered a master of complications, he wanted to do something different. "One of the things I kept thinking about was that all the information displayed on a traditional complication could be read from your computer," recalls Mueller. "So I wanted to create a watch that would provide an experience that electronic devices cannot. The watch had to evoke emotion; it had to remind you that the watch is a living object, not a soulless electronics. In order to do that , I had to study the fundamental concepts behind time."

During a holiday in Mauritius, Muller, dissatisfied with all the rules a luxury hotel imposes on its guests, Muller came up with Crazy Hours, a watch that broke all the rules.

"I thought to myself, I hate rules," he said. "But, in many ways, time itself is a rule. It's imposed. I wanted to create a watch that had no rules but always showed the correct time. I called this watch Crazy Hours."

Still a bestseller for the brand, the Crazy Hours have undergone many changes over the years, including the tourbillon.

At WPHH 2019, which coincides with SIHH at the Watchland SA headquarters in Genthod, Geneva, Franck Muller will present the new Crazy Hours men's and women's watches from the Vanguard collection. The masculine model features a black carbon fiber case with yellow indicators, a yellow crown and a yellow stitched alligator rubber strap.

For the ladies, it's the Vanguard Crazy Hours Ladies Watch, featuring a steel case and pavé dial set with over 200 diamonds and over 80 rose sapphires.

Both timepieces are powered by Franck Muller's own automatic movements.