If you’ve hung out in the watch community long enough, you’ve no doubt become familiar with all the romantic stories about the origins of certain watches. Polo matches, car crashes, heroic military missions, daring explorations into the unknown — these are just some of the tales told about why our favorite watches were created. But more often than not, these are fantasies rather than facts; I don’t mind getting swept up in the imagination of it all, but I always have one eyebrow slightly raised because I understand that myth-making is a big part of the watch market. So, what do you do if you’re a new brand with no history from which to pull narratives? If you’re independent watch brand Albishorn, then you proudly just make it all up and build retro watches that never were; you also coin the term “Imaginary Vintage®” watches. Being entirely transparent about running with imagination and leaning into fiction is the goal here — and that’s refreshing in a space that’s typically so opaque. With that in mind, let’s examine the company’s latest release, the Albishorn Type 10 military chronograph watch, a make-believe predecessor to the celebrated Type 20 chronograph.
The Type 10 is Albishorn’s second release. The first was a collaboration with Massena Labs that resulted in the Maxigraph, a single-pusher nautical chronograph that in Albishorn’s alternate reality, was created for the first regatta race on Lake Geneva, Le Bol d’Or, in 1939. Aside from introducing Albishorn to the watch world, the Maxigraph also established the brand’s Water Collection. And now, the Type 10 timepiece aptly kicks off Albishorn’s Air Collection.
If the Type 20 chronograph was made for the French military in the 1950s, then its fabricated forerunner would have had to have been designed before then. Albishorn settled on 1948 and set out to create a period-correct, military pilot-ready chronograph. The resulting Type 10 is a monopusher chronograph with a stainless steel case measuring 39mm in diameter, 12mm thick (including the boxed sapphire crystal), and 47.7mm lug-to-lug. There are polished and satin-finished surfaces, as well as chamfered and polished edges. The winding crown — made in either steel or bronze depending on the reference — is placed at the out-of-the-way position of 10:30, accompanied by the nearby single chronograph pusher at 9 o’clock, crafted in red aluminum. The placement of the chronograph pushers allows the wearer to comfortably activate it with the thumb of the opposite (and most likely the dominant) hand, which is arguably the best digit for the job. While case comfort is important for modern watch buyers, legibility would have been the top priority for mid-century fighter pilots.
As such, the top of the case is crowned with a black DLC-coated, bi-directional, conical-shaped bezel with engraved graduations that are alternately filled with lacquer and lume. The dark dial, featuring a striking grained finish, sets the stage for the large luminous Arabic numerals and pair of subdials. Note that the subdials are atypically placed at 4:30 (running seconds) and 7:30 (30-minute counter); according to the brand, positioning these registers lower than we’re accustomed to creates “a clear and well-organized “dashboard type” design. I appreciate the approach. There’s also an unconventional and patented chronograph operating indicator below 12, which shows either black (reset), red (start), or stop (white). Cleverly, when the chronograph is in reset mode, the hand covers the aperture, so it’s only visible when the chronograph has been started or stopped.
Before discussing the movement, it’s noteworthy to point out that Albishorn was founded by Sébastien Chaulmontet, who among other things is a movement designer with the likes of Sellita and La Joux-Perret on his resumé. As a result, the movement driving the Type 10 is a patented proprietary manual winding chronograph movement called Caliber ALB02 M. While we can’t see the 5.70mm-thick movement as it’s hidden beneath a solid caseback, what we do know is that it operates at 28,800 beats per hour, provides stop seconds, supplies 65 hours of power reserve, and is chronometer-certified by COSC.
Albishorn currently offers two versions of the Type 10: the Classic with a black dial and the Sihlwald with a green fume dial. The Sihlwald also includes a red chronograph hand and a bronze winding crown. The Type 10 Classic is available with either a black or beige leather strap whereas the Type 10 Sihlwald comes with a black or green leather strap — all fitted with a steel buckle decorated with Albishorn’s logo.
I have to say, Albishorn’s concept of imaginary histories and the watches that belong there have piqued my interest. It asks you to play along with the fantasy in a fun way. There’s the MCU, the DCEU, and now we have the Albishorn Horology Universe (AHU). Between the first Maxigraph and now this new good-looking and unique Type 10 chronograph, I’m intrigued to see what else is next. The Albishorn Type 10 chronograph is priced at CHF 3,950 and is available exclusively online. Although it’s not a limited edition piece, the brand has announced that only 25 pieces of each version will be released initially with deliveries set for November 2024. For more information about the Type 10 watch, please visit Albishorn’s website.
