Hands-On with The Rudis Sylva RS12 Grand Art Horloger

The Harmonious Oscillator RS12 Grand Art Horloger is an intricate piece of modern machinery produced by the ultra-exclusive, independent Swiss manufacture, Rudis Sylva. It’s not everyday that you hear of a brand like Rudis Sylva. Contrary to F.P. Journe, Laurent Ferrier, and other independent watchmakers, it isn’t named after a watchmaker, but after the pine forrest near the village of Le Bois, located 10 miles from La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. And unlike the aforementioned brands, its focus is geared toward producing only the highest of complications, placing an emphasis on “grand complications” and tourbillons.

The Harmonious Oscillator RS12 is certainly a one of a kind tourbillon. Rudis Sylva designed the timepiece around the brand’s patented Harmonious Oscillator, and it becomes the third generation from the collection to receive the revolutionary regulator. The Harmonious Oscillator was first introduced at Baselworld 2009, in the RS05, as a more accurate alternative to Abraham Louis Breguet’s two hundred year old invention.

Dreamt up by Jacky Epitaux, the brand’s founder, designer Romain Gillet , and complications specialist Mika Rassinen, it features a system with two mechanically interlinked balances driven by a single escapement. A constant force is generated which allows the watch to continuously run, despite the strong gravitational pull, without any time-keeping impairments at all.

The accuracy of Rudis Sylva’s contraption is superb, and the aesthetics, unbeatable. The movement is housed in a remarkable 18-karat red gold, 44-millimeter case. The watch wears well, resting 14.3 millimeters tall on the wrist. The hour and minutes sub dial is located at 12 o’clock and hand decorated with gold instrumentations, while the lower part features a hand-crafted guilloché decoration of tapering pyramids, leaving space for the clou du spectacle, the rotating cage of the Harmonious Oscillator at 6 o’clock.

The caseback features am elegant hand-engraved sundial with oven-fired enamel. What you get with the RS12 is a highly complicated hand-finished timepiece, that pays tribute to the artistic and mechanical facets of the brand.

Whether you’re dining at La Pergola or at Louis’ Lunch, Rudis Sylva’s Harmonious Oscillator RS12 Grand Art Horloger is definitely going to turn heads.  This exceptional tourbillon is available at Westime for $280,000.

Photo Credit: Haute Time. For further information, please visit www.rudissylva.ch