News

Press release
November 2003

GENEVA HOROLOGY GRAND PRIX:
OPUS 3 - A TRULY UNIQUE TIMEPIECE - WINS THE
" TECHNICAL INNOVATION AND COMPLICATION " AWARD


Geneva, 21 November 2003

The courage of two watchmakers - HARRY WINSTON RARE TIMEPIECES and VIANNEY HALTER - to explore the uncharted regions of fine horology has been amply rewarded on Thursday, November 20, 2003, during the annual Geneva Horology Grand Prix ceremony, which gathered the entire watchmaking Industry.
A jury of ten renowned international watchmaking specialists and journalists gave the " Technical Innovation and Complication " award to a timepiece which already attracted a major attention during last Basel Fair: Opus 3, the third chapter of a unique creative adventure undertaken by Harry Winston Rare Timepieces in the field of fine watchmaking.
For the record, Opus is based on the idea of creating each year an exceptional timepiece in partnership with one of Switzerland's most gifted independent horologists.

Opus 3: A world premiere in movement, function and form
Opus 3 is both true to the principles of fine horology and a totally new vision of time. Its movement is unique, the first complicated mechanical movement to provide a full digital display, with jumping hours, minutes, seconds and date - with each digit indicated separately.
The way of reading the time is also unique: 6 "portholes" through which 10 discs, rotating independently, show us the hours (top outer portholes), the minutes (lower outer portholes) and the date (center top and center lower porthole). In addition, before a change of hour or minute, the upper date aperture displays a countdown of the final four seconds of the minute.
A shared obsession with detail led the partners to conceive and develop a world premiere winding system. Instead of the traditional vertical winding stem, the Opus 3 presents, for the first time, a horizontal crown that adjusts upwards and downwards to four setting levels.
Achieving what was supposedly impossible took a year and a half of development. Furthermore, 98% of the watch (movement and case) has been painstakingly developed from scratch and crafted specifically for this watch.

Opus 3 is created as a limited series of 55 pieces, 25 in 18-carat rose gold, 25 in platinum 950PT and 5 in platinum 950 PT set with white Harry Winston diamonds.

 

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