15 February 2014 | Christophe Claret , Avantgarde , Haute Horlogerie

The CHRISTOPHE CLARET Poker: le jeux sont faits!

One thing is certain: CHRISTOPHE CLARET loves to gamble! And we also know he is a genius of fine mechanics because he enclosed, within the case of his wristwatch, the third in this series after the 21 Black Jack and the Baccarat, what is considered to be the most popular game of poker: Texas Hold’em. The CHRISTOPHE CLARET is a super-complicated timepiece which supports a complete deck of 52 cards and poker rules for three players.

Place the watch on a card table and push the button placed at 9 o’clock. This button activates a spring that spins four concentric discs mounted on ceramic or ruby ball bearings on which the cards are printed: the mechanism inside the CHRISTOPHE CLARET Poker comes to life and shuffles the cards. Once it stops, the cards are placed in the little windows at 6, 10:30 e 2:30, but they can be screened by small shutters.

The Texas Hold’em poker game has started and we assume you are frequent players: the button at 10 o’clock shows the FLOP, the one at 8 o’clock shows the TURN and then, by pushing the button again, the RIVER also appears on the right of the dial. Following suit with traditional high-end watchmaking, both genius and tradition coexist as CHRISTOPHE CLARET equips the CHRISTOPHE CLARET with a cathedral bell sound, which chimes at each FLOP and TURN/RIVER push.

The dial is made out of a black matte disc the shape of playing cards. The hour and minute hands are made out of rubies and titanium, and the hour indexes are placed on the bezel. If you think “the show is over”, you are wrong; as always, little details are what stand out in a crowd: blow over the sapphire glass of the CHRISTOPHE CLARET Poker and see a pin-up girl appear! If you then turn the watch over on its transparent case-back, you will be stunned: this timepiece works as a roulette, too.

655 components, through which 3 barrels guarantee 3 days of power supply, are needed to manufacture such a marvel. The caliber is made in-house: CHRISTOPHE CLARET is a master watchmaker who, even after creating his own brand, is often involved in projects on super complicated timepieces by renowned maisons. The CHRISTOPHE CLARET Poker is an aesthetic and micro-mechanics masterpiece. Very few are made of white or pink gold, or of titanium, with a PVD coat.

(Photo & Video credit: courtesy of CHRISTOPHE CLARET)

Gaetano C. @Horbiter - Watches & Luxury

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