Last year, while I was touring the stands at Time to Watches – the springtime Geneva watch show that runs parallel with Watches & Wonders – one watchmaker in particular caught my eye and stood out from the crowd: BA111OD.
For one, this young Neuchâtel-based brand – founded in 2019 by La Chaux-de-Fonds native Thomas Baillod – has an innovative approach to marketing and distribution.
As Baillod explained to me, rather than ambassadors, influencers, e-commerce and points of sale, BA111OD aims to pioneer “we-commerce”, assembling a network of “afluendors” – ambassadors-influencers-vendors – in addition to providing “points of experience”. Baillod, formerly manager of international distribution at Victorinox, Maurice Lacroix, and Louis Erard, even reckons he was the first person in Switzerland to use the term “phygital”.
But beyond its disruptive sales and community building tactics, BA111OD makes some really interesting watches that offer cool design and impressive engineering at an affordable price point. After all, this is the brand that markets what is thought to be the most affordable Swiss-made tourbillon, its Chapter 4 series, that starts at a very accessible CHF 5,950.
Other models in the company’s collection come in at even lower price point, including the visually alluring CHPTR_Δ – Chapter Delta. This avant-garde piece notably combines a conventional central minute hand and date window with a hypocycloidal hour display that sees a dot marker trace the internal curves of a deltoid to produce an entrancing reading of time.
Sleek and Stealthy
For the latest iteration of the CHPTR_Δ, BA111OD has teamed up with Label Noir – the Geneva-based customisation house known for its black-colourway collabs – to create a sleek and stealthy CHPTR_Δ.5 limited edition.
To make the new co-creation, Label Noir, led by watchmaker Emmanuel Curti, has chosen to infuse the faceted steel hour deltoid and outer dial with deep black tones using physical vapor deposition (PVD), enhanced by a mix of glossy and matte finishes. To match that, the 44mm stainless-steel case has also been treated with black PVD and paired with a black textile strap.
It's not a jet-black design, mind you. Against the darkened backdrop, the rhodium-toned mainplate and arrow-shaped hour lever really pop, as do crisp white and fluorescent green dial accents including a green Super-Luminova-treated hour dot. The stitching on the black strap is also in neon green.
“Emmanuel Curti's innovative approach, which boldly reinvents iconic pieces, deeply resonates with our vision of watchmaking,” says Baillod, who first connected with Curti when their respective brands were exhibiting near to each other at the aforementioned Time to Watches fair in 2023.
He adds: “I have always admired Label Noir's ability to reinvent codes while remaining faithful to the essence of each brand. This partnership has allowed us to combine our ideas and create a unique watch. Together, we've explored new frontiers for our brand.”
Cycloidal Spectacle
Powering the highly original time display is the same automatic Swiss-made movement used on previous editions of the CHPTR_Δ. The calibre combines a Soprod M100 base movement with a proprietary module initiated by Diego Böttger-Zevallos and developed by Olivier Mory, formerly of Sellita and ValFleurier and now movement maestro to a number of brands.
The use of the cycloid in watchmaking is not exactly new – in the 17th century, Christiaan Huygens' pendulum clock swung in a cycloidal curve. That the CHPTR_Δ’s hour dot follows a hypocycloidal path means the dot decelerates and accelerates in a controlled fashion.
“I particularly appreciate this aspect,” says Baillod. “Besides being mesmerising, it's the symbolic aspect of life that fascinates me. Like those precious moments that last or slip away. The hour dot slows down and then speeds up again in a movement that appears irregular yet is perfectly calibrated and precise.”
Packing a 42-hour power reserve, the movement is decently decorated too – with perlage, straight-graining, frosting and snailing on show among mirror-polished elements.
NFC-Connected Glass
Finally, in keeping with BA111OD’s ultra-innovative approach, the domed sapphire crystal of the CHPTR_Δ.5 features an invisible, non-invasive Near Field Communication (NFC) tag.
In other words, it makes the sapphire “connected” allowing for contactless communication between two devices within a 1cm range. That allows owners to, say, share their business card with someone when that other person positions their phone next to the watch.
And that is precisely how Thomas Baillod shared his contact details with me when I chatted with him during that memorable encounter at Time to Watches!
Priced at CHF 2,950 and limited to just 111 pieces, the CHPTR_Δ.5 Label Noir Limited Edition is now available for pre-order. To find out more, please visit the brand’s website.
