Franck Muller: 싸이 Psy keeping watch “Gangnam Style”

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The Franck Muller Cintrée Curvex PSY watch is a one-of-a-kind and features the caricature of the gentleman himself performing his signature invisible horse-riding “Gangnam Style” dance moves on the dial complete with sunglasses and his black-and-white Oxfords while not forgetting diamonds totalling 6.97 carats on the case and dial. Photo: © Franck Muller

The Franck Muller Cintrée Curvex PSY watch is a one-of-a-kind and features the caricature of the gentleman himself performing his signature invisible horse-riding “Gangnam Style” dance moves on the dial complete with sunglasses and his black-and-white Oxfords while not forgetting diamonds totalling 6.97 carats on the case and dial. Photo: © Franck Muller

As the gentleman with the most-watched video on YouTube, what with more than 1.7 billion views as of August 2013, what does Psy 싸이 love to watch?

Well, perhaps what he watches more of these days is none other than his very own personalised, one-of-a-kind PSY watch (pun intended, as usual).

Made by Franck Muller and very recently presented to the South Korean singer, dancer and rapper for the global success of his hit single, “Gangnam Style”, this is a one-of-a-kind watch.

You can therefore be sure that this will be a keeper for Psy as it is indeed a very special and meaningful Franck Muller “Gangnam Style” pièce unique.

The PSY watch was handed over to him personally by Franck Muller, the gentleman himself, in Seoul, South Korea. Also present were Dr Pollyanna Chu, chairwoman, Franck Muller Asia and Kingston Chu, vice chairman, Franck Muller Asia.

The Franck Muller timepiece comes in the distinctive Cintrée Curvex case that is oversized and in white gold. The three-hand PSY watch houses the Calibre FM 2800 automatic movement.

On the dial of the Franck Muller PSY watch is his caricature in a black suit with sunglasses performing the “Gangnam Style” invisible horse-riding move complete with his black-and-white Oxfords.

Psy performing at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore in December 2012. Photo: © Marina Bay Sands.

Psy performing at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore in December 2012. Photo: © Marina Bay Sands.

Not to be missed will be the bling – totalling 6.97 carats of diamonds. These come from 216 white diamonds (1.86 carats) and the 80 black diamonds (0.61 carats) that form the Roman numerals on the dial. The remaining 4.5 carats are from the 305 diamonds set on the case.

Love it or hate it, there is no denying that the “Gangnam Style” music video is a global sensation. “Gangnam Style” is Psy’s 18th single from his album “Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part I”.

It seems that at its peak, between seven and 10 million views a day were registered on YouTube, or around 200 million views a month on average from July to December 2012. This explains how Psy achieved one billion views in five months.

These days, viewership is around 100 million a month on average (given that 700 million views were recorded from around January to August 2013) and that is still a substantial figure.

Just imagine, every second indicated by the Franck Muller PSY watch sweep seconds hand means 39 clicks had been activated to play the “Gangnam Style” music video on YouTube.

We are pretty sure this is one watch that will be most-watched by Psy, who has been observed wearing a wristwatch during performances. Who knows, if he performs more regularly with this Franck Muller PSY watch on stage and in videos, this may very well (here comes the pun) become the most-watched watch globally.

Another Franck Muller article which may be of interest: “Franck Muller: Shenyang Forum“

Boucheron Epure Tourbillon Vitis: On the grapevine?

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Boucheron Epure Tourbillon Vitis. The grapes are carved from mother-of-pearl. Together with the leaves, it sits on a haematite dial. Limited to 8 pieces. Photo: © TANG Portfolio

Boucheron Epure Tourbillon Vitis. The grapes are carved from mother-of-pearl. Together with the leaves, it sits on a haematite dial. Limited to 8 pieces. Photo: © TANG Portfolio

What is the perfect wristwatch for oenophiles? We discovered the answer when we walked into a Boucheron boutique recently and found the ideal reward or gift for those having a love of wine or oenophilia.

The answer was sitting quietly in a secure display cabinet and the reaction was immediate. We were under the influence of a strange excitement. It was not all about its flying tourbillon. Neither was it totally about the diamonds.

It was the entire package deal and what truly sent the heart a flutter was the artwork depicting leaves of the grape. There was no further contest after realising that the bunch of grapes on the dial was actually carved out from mother-of-pearl.

Now combine the phenomenal artwork with the flying tourbillon, the haematite dial, the sparkling diamonds, the power reserve of 90 hours and a white gold case – the result is a timepiece made for true wine connoisseurs known as the Boucheron Epure Tourbillon Vitis.

Boucheron scores highly with us for this well-executed time-telling art object limited to eight pieces and yes, it does tell time, discreetly though, if you can spot the hour and minute hands between the one and two o’clock positions.

Now here is the best part, for the gents, there is another Boucheron Epure Tourbillon Vitis version with the bezel set with baguette diamonds. Hence, it can even be a well-paired couple watch set.

We did not get such information from the grapevine. We checked and can confirm that there is such an Epure Tourbillon Vitis version and it is similarly limited to eight pieces.

For owners, the good news is that should they become too intoxicated and experience an accidental spillage of precious wine onto their Boucheron watch, all should be fine as the piece has water-resistance equivalent to the pressure at 50m.

Santé!