The Chronoswiss Delphis Firestarter is one of the boldest colored watches I’ve handled in a while, and it does something that no luxury watchmaker has seemingly done to this point: dip a titanium case in nail polish. I am actually joking; the Delphis Firestarter’s red case color is not the outcome of nail polish, but that isn’t actually too far off from what we are seeing here. Chronoswiss vaguely refers to this as its “Titanium Core Nano Shell” case, which is a fancy way of saying the titanium metal case has been coated (AKA “bonded”) with a thin material shell. In fact, while the deep red-colored coating is semi-translucent, it isn’t actually very “nano,” and is quite thick in places such as the crown. The standard cut texture “onion-style” crown is “dipped” in red and comes out as smooth as a candy sphere. Chronoswiss never fully reveals what the red coating is, but it is hardly the first time it has released a brightly colored watch with a coating or style that no one has attempted before in an exposed watch case. While Chronoswiss emphasizes the bonded nature of the red “composite” with the titanium metal case, I still suspect it can scratch off, meaning this is another artistic timepiece that needs to be babied a bit. Check out previous aBlogtoWatch coverage of a Chronoswiss watch with a blue case, and also one with a purple case. Red seems like the natural next step, especially since last year, Chronoswiss played a bit with the idea when coming out with a Dracula-themed watch model, as well as the “Psycho.”
The underlying Chronoswiss timepiece model that serves as the base for the Firestarter is the updated Chronoswiss Delphis that launched in 2023. This higher-end model features a jumping hour, retrograde-minute dial display, and tends to feature traditional craftsmanship on the dial in the form of hand-engraving and enamel work. Accordingly, the upper part of the Delphis dial is first engraved with an attractive pattern and then coated with a translucent red color in a process that isn’t entirely different from how the case is coated in red. The base titanium watch case is 42.6mm wide, 14.5mm thick, and water-resistant to 100 meters. Over the dial is a domed sapphire crystal, and another crystal is placed over the caseback for a view of the mechanical movement inside.
The movement produced for Chronoswiss by Swiss La Joux-Perret is the caliber C. 6004 automatic. It operates at 4Hz with about 55 hours of power reserve and indicates the hours (jumping via the window), minutes (via the half-circle retrograde dial), and seconds via a traditional subsidiary dial. The movement fills the case up nicely and is well-decorated, which suits the price point. Of course, with a theme like the Firestarter, it is hard not to want some red in the movement, too.
Chronoswiss achieves an almost sinister personality with its pyromania-inspired Delphis Firestarter. The oddest part of the design isn’t actually the red case, but the umbrella-looking motif used as the spinning seconds indicator disc. While it is missing a spoke, it looks very similar to the design of the evil Umbrella Corporation logo from the Resident Evil video game universe. My point is that whether or not Chronoswiss was attempting it, they created a pretty awesome watch for villains to wear with the Delphis Firestarter, attacking the forces of good in slick horological style. Chronoswiss seems to understand that watches like the Delphis Firestarter bring a distinct personality and thus this watch is first in their “Area 51” collection of watches “where boundaries are pushed, and watchmaking legends are born.” That might be a bit lofty, but it does signal the fact that we can expect even wilder and more novel limited edition Chronoswiss watches like the Delphis Firestarter to be released by the brand in the future.
Paired to the watch is naturally a red rubber strap. A black folding deployant buckle is used as I believe the red-shelled titanium might have proven too delicate for this “high wear” component. I would have liked for the red strap to be a slightly deeper hue to better match the truly lovely Christmas ornament red of the timepiece case. I’d be curious to know what people make of this interesting high-end watch that combines traditional elegance and complications, with fire mania and science fiction. The reference CH-1429RE.1E-BKRE Chronoswiss Delphis Firestarter watch will be produced as a limited edition of 50 pieces and has a retail price of $41,800 USD. Learn more at the Chronoswiss website.
