A Matter of Optics: Franck Muller Reveals the Latest Vanguard™ New Tone Skeleton Collection

There’s ample research on our use of colours and how they influence our mood, attitude, and even point of view. The world of horology acknowledges the important role colours play in our life. Luxury watch brands have time and again experimented with colours to make their products more appealing to wearers. Take Franck Muller, whose Vanguard™ collection commands a large following among watch enthusiasts. This year, the Vanguard™ New Tone Skeleton collection comes in a spectrum of colours, courtesy of Spectracoat, a high-quality and iridescent colour coating made of a metal oxide.

Sir Isaac Newton’s experiments revealed that clear white light is composed of seven visible colours. With an optical prism, refracting each colour at a different angle, he was able to separate red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple. When a person wears a watch from the new Franck Muller Vanguard New Tone Skeleton collection, light reflections will change the colour of the timepiece. 

The watch’s aeronautic grade carbon case is made by compressing individual sheets on a signature tonneau-shaped case. The model for women will feature hand-set black diamonds and black PVD treatment. The timepiece maker hasn’t yet disclosed the details of the case sizes for men's and women’s collections. The dial is crafted from a microblasted material, with hour markers that are made of coloured composite polymer. The skeleton movement has Spectracoat bridges.

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The luxury timepiece maker has also incorporated various design techniques into the movement — sunray brushing and snailing, Côtes de Genève or Geneva stripes, mirror polishing (also known as black or specular polishing), diamond polishing, circular satin brushing on the wheels, the drums and the barrel covers, to name a few. Powering the watch is the in-house MVT FM 1740-VS, a manual winding movement, delivering a power reserve of seven days. This power reserve is possible because of the presence of two barrels. The new watch is finished on a nylon strap, accompanied by a brushed folding buckle with black PVD coating.