Raúl Pagès RP2 | INTRODUCING

Borna Bošnjak

• Raúl Pagès, winner of LV’s first Watch Prize for Unbiased Creatives, returns together with his third watch.
• Housed beneath an agate stone dial, the hand-made calibre is superbly hand-finished, although extra industrially produced than the RP1 Régulateur à Détente.
• It’ll be produced in 50 examples over 5 years, with the worth said at CHF 89,000.

Because the curiosity in impartial watchmaking is selecting up, so is the variety of impartial watchmakers, which makes it more and more tough to discern watches which might be actually particular. Fortunately, Raúl Pagès is one watchmaker that you simply don’t actually have to fret about legit-checking, and the Swiss-born artisan with Spanish roots is now saying his third watch. The Raúl Pagès RP2 continues the minimalist design ethos of the RP1 Régulateur à Détente and the Soberly Onyx, however dials it up (or down?) a notch with a stark white dial and newly developed motion.

The RP1 actually was Pagès’ breakthrough piece, and the one which gained him the aforementioned LV prize. Geared up with a often fragile detent escapement, it was a superbly completed piece of engineering that integrated a curler cam that prevented the detent from being overly prone to shock. The RP2 is its religious follow-up, with an excellent cleaner dial aesthetic, and easier, lever escapement-equipped motion that’s meant to carry the Pagès playbook to extra individuals.

With a watch like this, it could be completely comprehensible to start out with the motion. They’re the beating hearts of those little machines that we get all too severe about, and much more particular after they’re designed and completed to the extent we’re used to in a Pagès watch. However I need to begin with the dial, because it fully captured me. It’s comprised of two items of agate stone, segmented by brushed silver rings sitting atop a blue-coloured brass base. The milky, translucent floor virtually seems enamel-like, however is even smoother nonetheless, and I completely adore the refined branding at 5 o’clock.

The well-considered design options proceed with the fingers, that are impressively three-dimensional for such a small element, the spotlight being the hour hand. The Breguet-style tip is intricately completed and offers nice distinction, attaching to the stem with a rounded rivet. I’m a sucker for well-executed hand kinds, and Pagès’ RP2 is correct up there with the Kikuchi Nakagawas and Simon Brettes.

For any impartial watch, no matter high quality or design, the primary subject tends to be availability. The RP1 was made in a handful of items, and Pagès got down to rectify that considerably with the RP2, which was introduced as a restricted collection of fifty items over a five-year manufacturing run. That’s definitely very restricted nonetheless, however for a small atelier producing a handful of watches yearly, will seemingly pose a big problem. That is additionally one of many the explanation why, in contrast to the RP1, the RP2 doesn’t function a detent escapement, and can see suppliers offering some uncooked parts which can then be hand-finished by Pagès.

With that mentioned, Pagès couldn’t simply accept a easy lever escapement, as an alternative including counterweights to the pallet fork. Together with the outsized stability wheel that featured within the RP1, the counterweighted fork is one thing you’d see in pocket watches, serving to with escapement stability, and isn’t in any respect frequent in trendy wristwatches. The opposite spotlight is undoubtedly the extent of ending – there’s côtes de Genève in every single place, with sharply chamfered bridges, cocks, and wheels, and even components which might be hidden from view completed to a formidable normal.

And reality be informed, I’d anticipate nothing much less. Not solely due to the repute that Raúl Pagès has made for himself, but in addition as a result of it is a chrome steel watch with a reasonably easy, hand-wound motion that’s set to value CHF 89,000. Being absolutely conscious of the entire comparison-joy-thieving-thing, that makes the RP2 costlier than the RP1, which had a extra complicated and distinctive motion. In a world the place watches completed in addition to the Kallinich Claeys Einser Zentralsekunde exist (at virtually 1 / 4 of the worth), the RP2 may appear an outlier, although, it actually isn’t. We’ve entered an period the place impartial watchmakers can set their costs nevertheless they like, and if the watch actually is one thing particular, there’ll undoubtedly exist a small handful of individuals bored of the Daytonas, Royal Oaks, and Nautiluses that yearn for uniqueness strongly sufficient. The Raúl Pagès RP2 maybe doesn’t have the quick draw of its predecessor, however its wonderful tackle minimalist design (one thing that small manufacturers usually don’t get proper) and superbly completed motion do make it a particular watch, and I’ve little doubt that Pagès may have bother discovering 50 wrists comfortable to pay the asking worth.

Raúl Pagès RP2 pricing and availability

The Raúl Pagès RP2 is proscribed to a manufacturing run of fifty items over 5 years. Worth: CHF 89,000