For their second watch, Revelation will release a very cool and much more sober piece compared to their first piece called the R01 Tourbillon Manege (that I covered here). This new for 2012 watch is called the Revelation R03 Chronographe RS. Not sure where the R02 watch went – I must have missed that one. The special feature of this watch is a face that goes from totally opaque black to completely transparent.

The system is much more simple on the R03 than on the R01 (which applied the same special set of crystals). The latter piece has a crazy motor system while the R03 has a face that is manually adjusted by turning the bezel. Let me try to explain a bit more in case the concept is a bit vague. Think of the system of two crystals as creating a series of shutters – nano shutters. When they are lined up one way the watch face looks totally black. As you turn the bezel the shutters move and the dial gets progressively more transparent, until it is totally clear. This means you can have the dial be totally black or totally clear, and everything in between. Cool right?

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3X34CAHojM]

The concept is really brilliant and I love its application in watches. The R01 was intentionally exotic and super expensive, but this R03 Chronographe RS feels a lot more like something average people could wear. Aside from the special crystal system, the dial is rather standard and straight forward sporty. Legible, with nice hour markers and hands, this is a handsome timepiece even without the cool face made of the unique polarized glass pieces.

Offered initially in steel, the R03 will come in a 45m wide case that requires a lot of work to produce. Revelation showed me some images of the case being hand machine-polished. I have a feeling there will be 18k rose gold versions available as well. The case is pretty cool and I like all the different angles and polishes – as well as the indented sections. Nothing is incredibly unique but the overall design is satisfying.

Another nice feature is the strap. Made from Barenia leather, the black strap is specially fitted to the case in a satisfying way that always look good for watches like this. I have to say that over the last few years with the decrease in metal bracelets being released, most brands have really been raising the bar for strap to case integration quality.

An important part of the R03 Chronographe RS is the mechanical automatic movement they call the caliber CH01. Revelation worked with Dubois-Depraz to produce the movement. Given the design of the skeletonzied movement I have a feeling it is a chronograph module built on to a base ETA automatic movement. The chronograph is built in a symmetrical manner and the laser-cut date disc is neat. Note that you need to make the dial transparent to read the date.

For a retail price of about 12,900 Swiss the Revelation R03 Chronographe RS is by no means a cheap watch. Factors such as the special polarized glass system and highly detailed case, as well as the Dubois-Depraz movement probably help justify the price. I look forward to seeing the piece hands-on and think that Revelation has a lot more they can do with the glass technology in the future.

REFERENCE R03.CH01.ST.A0001
CASE Stainless Steel
Sapphire back
Ø 45 mm, H. 14 mm
WATERPROOF 3 ATM
DIAL Revelation System® Patented polarized glasses, Black when the bezel is closed, transparent when the bezel is open
INDEXES Grey, green Superluminova
HANDS Grey green Superluminova
STRAP Black « Barenia » genuine leather
BUCKLE Stainless Steel Revelation folding buckle
JEWELERY CASE Travelling case, outside black leather like material, inside genuine grey suede
MOVEMENT CH01: Chronograph, automatic, squeletonized bridges, Special Revelation inverted corner mass
POWER RESERVE 42 hours
DIMENSIONS Ø 30 mm, H 7.10 mm
JEWELS 61
ALT/H 28’800
PRICE Suggested Swiss Public Price 12’900.- (can be subject to modification)