Raymond Weil, one of the few independent, family-owned operations in the Swiss watch industry, marked their 40th birthday this year. And while I’m sure there was cake, and perhaps even champagne, the best part of the celebrations has to be the Calibre RW1212. This automatic movement, with distinctive open-heart escapement, is unique to Raymond Weil, designed in-house and made by Sellita. RW1212 marks the first time Raymond Weil have dipped their toes into the deep (and often murky) waters of in-house movements, and it’s a testament to the brand that they’ve been transparent about the movement’s design, development and construction, and they’ve made a mechanism that meets their needs, in that it’s a solid, robust automatic, with a touch of drama, thanks to the design of the escapement, which has been positioned in such a way to allow an uninterrupted view from the dial-side, suspended via a diamond-polished double bridge, a look that evokes (very consciously, I suspect) the placement of a tourbillon. While closer inspection (of the watch, or the price tag) reveals that the RW1212 isn’t a tourbillon, the effect is somewhat the same — allowing the user to see the beating heart of their watch. It’s a…
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