C by Romain Gauthier Takes Titanium to the Max with Integrated Bracelet

The C by Romain Gauthier, the watch formerly known as the Continuum, has grown into a two-part family since we first wrote about it last year, and the latest example, which falls within the Freedom collection, welcomes a new titanium bracelet integrated directly into the case design. It doesn’t merely fit into the existing lug design of the watch, it gets a fully redesigned titanium case to accommodate the titanium bracelet design. Oh, and the movement is titanium as well. So is the dial. The whole thing weighs a mere 85 grams, and was designed so that the wearer “does not feel it”.

The C by Romain Gauthier has taken a few forms since its release, and at an increasing pace over the past 6 months. We’ve seen new dial colors and textures, as well as a new platinum case in the Heritage collection (which also get Roman numeral dials). But each has come on some form of strap, until now. The full titanium bracelet makes a lot of sense on this watch, which bills itself as something of a sport watch, aligning with the theme of wearability and comfort.

The dial gets some unique features as well, placing a familiar handset atop a gray sand blasted titanium dial (the release also makes mention of a salmon dial on the horizon), and most notably, the hour markers are made entirely of Super Luminova. They appear as monolithic blocks made of the stuff, with some structure to their height allowing them to appear as applied pieces. The offset sub seconds with exaggerated lines stretching across the dial remain as something of a signature feature. 

The big news with this particular example, though, is the bracelet. One of the unique elements of the case has always been the shape of the lug, which stepped back toward the edge of the case along its inside wall, making way for a flush fit synthetic strap. With this example, which is formally called Titanium Edition Bracelet, the case sections around the lug have been redesigned as a single surface, accepting the center articulating link of the bracelet at the center. The center links of the bracelet get a polished finish while the rest of the link is brushed to match the case.

Inside sits Romain Gauthier’s own hand wound movement, which is also made largely from titanium with some steel and German silver thrown in for good measure. It is decorated by hand and as you might imagine, is quite the looker. Like all of Gautheir’s watches, the movement gets a unique design and finish that is unmistakable thanks to the dimpled texture running the center of the bridges, and the flower-like motif within the gear arms. The stop-seconds mechanism uses a snail cam, which stops the balance when the crown is pulled, and when finished, the increasing radius of the cam turns to give the balance an impulse on startup. 

The C by Romain Gauthier is impressive as ever as it continues to evolve, and it may be just the beginning as it opens the brand up to a new market of buyers not able to plunk down 6 figures for watches like the (incredibly impressive) Logical One. At CHF 42,000, this Titanium Edition Bracelet is still far from inexpensive, but this is a lot of watch (and a lot of titanium). Romain Gauthier.