Grail Watch 7: Angelus x Alain Silberstein U11 Streamline Tourbillon

Let’s flashback in time to 2015, which may not seem like a long time ago, until I remind you that it was when Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” and Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” were being played on repeat incessantly everywhere, their sugar-coated melodies threatening to send us all into the sonic equivalent of diabetic seizure. But one of the most exciting watch launches that year was the Angelus U10 Tourbillon Lumière, heralding the return of this once-mighty brand. While it didn’t have any salient connection with Angelus’ past, the U10 was irrefutably stunning to behold. It featured an oversized flying tourbillon seemingly detached from the dial and the movement, rotating alone and unencumbered in space, in a poetic isolation that felt like it should be accompanied by Johann Strauss’ “Blue Danube.”

The massive tourbillon took primary position, contained within a curved sapphire crystal showcase on the right side of a long rectangular case measuring 60.75mm in length and 37.65mm in width. It looked like an electric shaver from the ’70s. Balancing it out on the left side, inside a second sapphire window, was the dial that showed hours, minutes and central dead-beat seconds. The crown of the watch was positioned to the left. It was made in a series of 25 pieces and priced reasonably at 100,000 Swiss francs. The U10’s wild libidinous vibes took the watch world by storm and was the subject of innumerable stories, videos and online posts.