Norman Vincent Peale, controversial author of The Power of Positive Thinking, once said, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”
This looks great on a Pinterest post, sure, but practically, it doesn’t work at all. Firstly, the moon’s closest star, our sun, is four light years away, so you won’t be landing anywhere near it if you fail, and secondly, you wouldn’t last long enough in the cold vacuum of space to realise you’ve fallen short of what you wanted.
It seems neither outcome is a good one, but for the sake of explanation, I’ll use Peale’s quote to introduce a recent experience I had in Switzerland. One where I shot for the moon but instead of landing among the stars, I landed somewhere better.
Right in the centre of the watchmaking sun.
I flew into Zurich early on a Friday morning, walked through the immaculate airport and out to the train station. In true Swiss fashion, I quickly remortgaged my house so I could buy a ticket and then off I went. It was a two-hour trip, heading west from the industrial outskirts of Zurich, through Biel where I caught a glimpse of the Rolex and Omega facilities, past a lake or two and on to Neuchâtel. Equal parts excited, nervous and exhausted, I was on my way to my first-ever manufacture visit. “Don’t mess this up” I thought to myself as the train pulled into the station.
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After arriving a little late due to some language-related mishaps, I had to pause at the door before I rang the bell. ‘Is this actually happening?’ I thought to myself. I had dreamt of the moment my writing would open doors for me, and now it was happening. The intercom button buzzed and seeing ‘Krayon’ written next to it made my heart skip a beat. A soft voice crackled through the speaker - ‘Bonjour’ he said. The door clicked open then Rémi poked his head out one level up and welcomed me in.
Trying to explain the sense of calm I felt while walking into the Krayon Atelier through the medium of the written word is extremely difficult, to the point where I’ve agonised over this part of the story for a week. I wanted to do the space, Rémi and Krayon justice and in a rare moment of humility, I'll admit that my skill as a writer just isn’t up to the task. I will say however that I see parallels between his watches and his space. Both are slightly unconventional, with the atelier’s abundant use of natural light, uncommon in watchmaking, a direct connection to Rémi’s motivations and philosophy.
It’s a small manufacture, no bigger than a few rooms, that overlooks Lake Neuchâtel. It’s idyllic.
Everything is clean and orderly but not sterile. There’s magic here, and you can feel it as soon as you walk in.
What Do Fish Eyes Have To Do With Krayon?
Apart from the manufacture being just a hop skip and a jump away from Lake Neuchatel? Quite a lot actually.
Time for a marine biology lesson. Have your textbooks at the ready!
The perfect time to be in the ocean is at sunrise. I know this because I used to live in a small beach town in northern Australia, swimming and surfing so often that my hair barely had a chance to dry. Over the years I learnt that sea life is most active just as the sun comes up. I would share the water with turtles, fish and the odd stingray on my early morning swims, it was incredible. Although I hadn’t thought much about it before, the reasons behind this hive of sunrise activity are fascinating.
The most interesting is that fish have fixed pupils. Unlike ours which work like the shutter of a camera, letting more or less light in as conditions change, the eyes of a fish are static. Poor old Nemo and his dad had to make do with just one setting for their eyeballs. Maybe that’s why Marlin kept losing him. That or just irresponsible parenting I guess.
Anyway, the darker conditions of dawn are perfect for marine life to come out and explore and feed. The more you know!
Rémi told me that he loves to go free diving, and always tries to time his aquatic adventures at either sunrise or sunset (the other time fish are active).
This need to know the precise dawn and dusk time was the genesis of both his Everywhere and Anywhere watches and has driven his philosophy for Krayon as a whole.
What Is The Krayon Anywhere?
The connection I made earlier between his space and his watches is no more apparent than in the complications of Anywhere. The sun flows into his Atelier just as the sun rotates around the dial to indicate 24-hour time. At its periphery, two concentric sapphire blades overlap each other, pushing and pulling throughout the year to indicate the precise sunrise and sunset times. The hours and minutes are told centrally and at six, a beautiful simple calendar rests.
This watch is anything but complicated in its readability and aesthetics, but it’s worth breaking down so we can understand what’s going on under the hood. Let’s dive in.
Hours and Minutes
Floating in the centre is the most conventional feature of the Anywhere, the time display. The Hour and Minute hands are sharp and tapered from a circular base, they point to markers that feature the brand's ‘Y’ Logo which is made up of 12 visible facets polished into gold. The dial finish is comprised of lines that radiate out from the subdial at six, representing longitude and latitude, a nod to the setting mechanism for the sunrise/sunset time. My favourite version of the watch, however, the Anywhere Arborea, features a dial made up of 575 miniature alveola (small niche-like depressions or cavities in a structure) painted by hand to represent a contemporary interoperation of Henri Rousseau’s The Virgin Forest at Sunset. It’s beautiful in photos and breathtaking in person.
Date and month
A subdial at six indicates the date with a long hand and the month with a shorter one. Krayon calls this a ‘simple calendar’, due to it not compensating for the fluctuation of days within the months. I think the term ‘simple’ does it a disservice. The calendar, and the rest of the watch, can be adjusted with the crown both forward in time and back. Plus, as you will find out shortly, the calendar interacts heavily with the Sunrise and Sunset mechanism. The only simple thing about it is that I simply want one.
24 Hour indicator
The 24-hour indicator is romantic in any watch and this one especially so. A golden sun rotates around the dial and indicates the time on a fixed outer ring. I find it especially endearing that Midnight, Midday, Six AM and Six PM are written around the periphery. It adds to the friendliness of its design language and doesn't assume you know what you're looking at. As with the rest of the Anywhere, it feels approachable and fun.
Sunrise and sunset
The party piece, and perhaps the most interesting function of the Anywhere is its ability to accurately display the sunrise and sunset times of a set location, anywhere in the world. This is achieved with the use of two overlapping rings in sapphire. One a lighter shade for daytime and one a darker shade, with Super-Luminova™ stars, indicates the night. These two rings make up moveable sectors that expand and contract to follow the length of the day and indicate accurate sunrise/sunset times on a fixed scale at their periphery. When demonstrated, the two discs sliding underneath and over each other had the effect of the watch taking a breath, it's a shame this would usually happen extremely slowly.
The mechanism that makes this possible works in unison with the simple calendar and the 24-hour indicator to accurately calculate the precise moment the sun crosses the horizon at that particular time of the year. I wish I could expand on this in detail but I’m afraid to say that it’s beyond my technical abilities. Rémi did explain it to me but I was so drawn in by his passion and enthusiasm that I completely forgot to take notes… I’m a terrible journalist sometimes.
From what I did understand, however, at the movement’s six o'clock, the regulating mechanics for the Day and Night rings occupy a large part of the available space. It’s made up of racks and yokes with an adjustment screw in the centre, for changing your sunrise/sunset location on Earth using longitude and latitude. This is a simple process he told me, and can be done quickly by his watchmakers.
As I think back on my far too short visit with Krayon, I still remember the feeling of the sun pouring in through big windows overlooking the lake. When I arrived Rémi placed his wactches on the table and gently encouraged me to take them out into the daylight, where they belong. His watches are intimately connected to the feeling of oppenness, warmth and light I experienced while I stood on his balcony. I sometimes wonder how he’s been able to translate something so emotional into something you can wear on your wrist. Maybe it’s just what happens when you’re true to yourself and let your surroundings and passion guide your hands.
What an experience.
Thank you to Fei for organising my visit and to Rémi for indulging me. One day I’ll take an Anywhere home.
Cya in the next one.
P.S. If you ever get your hands on a Krayon Puzzle, best to put a week or two aside. It’s not easy!
