Credits: Article and images by @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/09/29/why-i-bought-it-rexhep-rexhepi-akrivia-chronometre-contemporain-2/
Hindsight is 20:20, isn’t it? As I sit here writing at the end of 2021, nothing seems more obvious than having bought one of the 50 available examples (51 if we count the 2019 Only Watch example) of one of the hottest watches of recent times from a maker who is now widely acknowledged as a present and future star of the horological world.
From that perspective, this could have been my shortest-ever article: “well, just because” or “that’s pretty clear, isn’t it?” would have easily explained “why I bought it.”
There’s a bit more to it than that, though, and in any event it’s a pleasure to be able to share with you my experiences in acquiring this piece and both wearing and photographing it over the past several weeks.
Akrivia Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Contemporain in pink gold with black enamel dial
Why I bought a Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Contemporain and how it fits
It’s coming up on five years since I first wrote here on Quill & Pad about Akrivia and its young founder, asking the still-open question of whether the promising signs to date would turn into full-fledged success for him.
Rexhep Rexhepi at Baselworld 2017 with images of the Akrivia AK-06 in the background
I was (and am) a big fan of the Akrivia AK-06 with its slimmed-down take on the brand’s assertively shaped case design, and when I heard that Rexhepi planned to introduce a round-cased watch at Baselworld 2018 I was hoping for an open-dialed piece with the AK-06 movement.
What we saw was a more traditional treatment with a version of the AK-06 caliber, including the zero-reset seconds and 100-hour power reserve features, but with a solid enamel dial.
And as I departed Basel on that Saturday, I missed out on seeing the pink gold variant with black dial, which to my eye (with all due apologies to owners of the platinum piece) turned out to be “the one” to have.
Akrivia AK-06-based movement, different look: Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Contemporain in pink gold
The platinum version I did see also had the initial prototype dial lacking the two-layer treatment and accent ring around the subsidiary seconds dial of the production watch.
I’ll confess that I wasn’t completely convinced at the time and it wasn’t until November of 2018, after I’d seen a second-generation pink gold prototype in person, that a good friend of mine and I begged our way onto the allocation list of one of Rexhepi’s retailers for the last of the available pink gold pieces.
Worth begging for: Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Contemporain
Fast forward three years, and it was time to take delivery of a long-awaited piece that I am confident will stay in my collection for a very long time indeed.
During those three years, the way that this watch fits into my selection migrated to some extent. At the outset, it was very much a “patronage” piece, bought in support of an outstanding independent maker and his craft.
With the growth in recognition for independent makers and Rexhepi’s own continued rise in stature, I think it’s also fair to classify the Chronomètre Contemporain (or RRCC for short) as a foundational piece that can serve as a worthy cornerstone of any collection.
RRCC, the watch that made Rexhep Rexhepi famous (photo courtesy Wisconsin Historical Society)
It’s also foundational in the sense of being the reference that collectors see as moving Rexhepi into the upper tier of makers. I’ve now developed a new rule of collection management: whenever possible, never sell a watch that “made” its creator’s reputation.
So far I’ve violated that rule a couple of times, selling my Kari Voutilainen Observatoire (oops) and F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain (double oops).
But I’ll think long and hard before allowing the RRCC, Philippe Dufour Simplicity, or Vianney Halter Antiqua out of my clutches – and even have hopes that the Greubel Forsey Invention Piece 1 will eventually get the recognition it deserves.
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Credits: Article and images by @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/09/29/why-i-bought-it-rexhep-rexhepi-akrivia-chronometre-contemporain-2/
