One hundred and thirty uninterrupted years in watch–making are not few and Eberhard & Co. celebrated this milestone by showcasing the most significant watches of its history at the brand’s stand. This is one of the very few (independent) brands that survived the recent storm that has been hitting quite a lot of Swiss brands.
Last year, the brand’s booth at Baselworld moved from its historic location on the second floor to the main hall; a move that clearly showed how much Eberhard & Co. has further grown in the public eye, even if the brand has been among the very first to leave Baselworld from 2019.
One of its strengths is the clear image offered to the public and a nice product offering, like the Scafograf or the Targa Florio for example, meaning that its collections are all clearly marked and well-positioned and have an aesthetic flavour that is always recognized to Italian people.
That’s because the brand’s top management is Italian too and is supported by a constant improving in the product that will culminate, I am pretty positive about it, with an in-house built movement pretty soon.
The flagship of the brand’s first hundred and thirty years is an iconic timepiece, it doesn’t lie at the top of my favourite Eberhard & Co. timepieces because I’m a die-hard fan of the Tazio Nuvolari Vanderbilt Cup but, as I said a couple of lines above, it evolved and matured; that timepiece is the Eberhard Chrono 4.
Leaving aside my personal taste, it is quite clear that the setting of the four counters in one line (continuous seconds, minutes, hours, 24 hours and small seconds) is extremely original and made the Chrono 4 very popular, especially in Italy; so popular that Eberhard & Co. decided to produce this timepiece in two different versions to celebrate this important achievement.
The first version is the Eberhard & Co. Chrono 4 130 Anniversary Edition Limitee 31130.02, while the second version is the Chrono 4 130.
Kudos to the brand for choosing a name that is neither too long nor too short; it’s something not trivial at all in a time when names are very long because it allows the user to immediately remember and identify a specific model.
It gets more and more difficult by the day when you are faced with lots of names and references that get even more complicated when exhibitions and fairs are approaching.
This is a hymn to simplicity and an open arm towards those who are looking at buying this particular timepiece.
Eberhard & Co. Chrono 4 130th Anniversary Edition Limitee.
The first version – limited to 130 pieces – showed how much Eberhard & Co. has grown from a technical point of view, meaning that its savoir-faire has evolved (please compare the dial of this Chrono 4 to that of an Extra–Fort Grand Taille) and it also shows how much the brand is aiming at creating a bond with history; something quite noticeable when you take a look at the brand’s historic logo (from 1919) that lies horizontally on the dial.
The real novelty is the presence of a skeletonized dial on both versions (one is silver in colour and the other one that you can see in this picture is black in colour) allows the user to clearly discern the main plate and the gears (that underwent a DLC or Diamond Like Carbon treatment).
The upper bridge is a disc made of smoked sapphire glass that is only 3/10 mm thick and on which a rhodium-plated plate is applied and screwed sporting the historic logo and the logo of the collection too.
The winding rotor is in the shape of a wheel and it sports the number 130 and almost completely hides the movement.
The strap is made of synthetic fabric and it looks similar to those straps made of carbon fiber and gray/black in colour called “carbon wear” by Eberhard & Co.
The new Eberhard & Co. Chrono 4 Anniversary Edition Limitee 31130.02 is the most technological version of the Chrono 4.
It is a sports chrono that tends to a classic timepiece, where the skeletonizing adds in a deep visual and pleasant view of the mechanical side of this watch and also a clear reference to the world of engines; a field Eberhard & Co. is familiar with already as it supports classic races and historic rallies alike (Miki Biason is a brand ambassador).
Eberhard & Co. Chrono 4 130th Anniversary.
The Eberhard & Co. Chrono 4 Anniversary Edition Limitee 31130.02 is not the only novelty that concerns the Chrono 4; Eberhard & Co. also presented two additional versions of the Chrono 4 – non-limited – exploring, for the first time, new colours that completely detach themselves from pure tradition.
The case of the Chrono 4 on all models moves from polished to matted, while the dial gets a new slate gray colour with orange accents that make it particularly sports-like (the other one is silver with gray registers and light blued counters), it is some sort of a transition model between the classic Chrono 4 and the limited-edition version.
It maintains the same strap with a pin buckle. Which are the triggers that show a change in personality if compared to the original Chrono 4? There are three of them; the finishing of the case (the edges of the lugs are alternatively polished and matted), the new dials and, most of all, the chrono buttons that now have an elliptic shape.
Price list
The Eberhard & Co Chrono 4 130° Anniversary Edition Limitee 31130.02 retails at 8.800 euro and the Eberhard & Co Chrono 4 130° Anniversary 31129.02 CP at 4.650 euro.
(Photo credit: Horbiter®)
Gaetano C @Horbiter®
