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Sometimes overlooked in the pantheon of iconic 20th century timepieces is Corum’s Admiral, a 1960 model that helped usher in the age of leisure. Originally produced in a water-resistant square case with a sailboat engraved on its caseback, the collection was redesigned in 1983 with its by-now famous 12-sided bezel and hour markers replaced by nautical pennants corresponding to the international maritime code.
Six years ago, the collection spawned a new, more refined line, the Admiral AC-One 45, a sporty 45 mm titanium wristwatch inspired by the world of luxury boating. This fall, two new additions to the Admiral AC-One 45 range—the Openwork Automatic and Openwork Tourbillon—join the line-up.
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The AC-One 45 Openwork Automatic is fronted by a skeletonized dial and backed by a self-winding movement, calibre CO 297, developed in-house. The sporty model, which comes in a titanium version that retails for $25,700 and a rose gold and black PVD-coated titanium version that retails for $32,900, retains its signature dodecagonal-shaped case as well as the silhouettes of the nautical pennants. A subdial at 9 o’clock displays small seconds, while a power reserve indicator sits at 3 o’clock. The model also houses a cool Easter egg.
“The Admiral AC-One 45 Openwork corresponds to a more sporty and technical masterpiece with a fun wink located at 9 o’clock, which is the three-minute counter (not one, nor five minutes as you usually find in watchmaking, but three minutes),” says Boon Chong Soon, global sales and marketing director of Montres Corum. “Why the number three? It’s a lucky number for Corum (a “quorum” is composed of a minimum of three persons, the key of Corum has three petals, there are three buildings at the HQ in La Chaux-de-Fonds).”
The AC-One 45 Openwork Tourbillon is designed for fans of complicated timepieces. Bearing the same aesthetic codes as the Openwork Automatic, this model also contains a tourbillon at the 6 o’clock position. The titanium edition retails for $58,900, while the rose gold edition retails for $65,800.
Both the automatic and tourbillon models come on new straps composed of rubber and a synthetic textile on the underside, designed with comfort and ergonomics in mind.
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