Sylvain Pinaud Origine ‘Ste Croix’

Sylvain Pinaud is one of the more recent guard of independent watchmaking, one can be easily forgiven if the name is unfamiliar. His work is of a very high bar, both in being design led but with masterful quality. Pinaud’s story differs from many of the more recent independents in a long career, working first for Franck Muller then in restoration and eventually the THA guys and mingling with FP Journe, Flageollet, and Vianney Halter. In 2018, he sold his home to go independent. In fact, it was Vianney who godfathered Pinaud into the AHCI. Pinaud’s work is decidedly modern in aesthetic, traditional in technique. This is the Origine, his second model.

Its calibre is the star, asymmetrical and sketched first, then engineered. Pinaud sourced a ton of traditional machinery for his shop to make this happen, and those traditional machines have a learning curve. Luckily for us, he’s man who likes doing things properly, the hard way. This Origine is his take on a three-hand watch, dial an exposed baseplate cutaway for a dial-side balance. A complexatrava, if you will. The expertly finished dial is a visual trick, the petite seconds are in fact the same size as the inner dial area, tangent but distinct by guilloché. The back doesn’t let it down either with beautiful finger bridges and well resolved angles. Cases and dials are made at Voutilainen’s Comblémine. This dial arrangement has drawn comparisons from others to both Greubel and FPJ, but I see it as very much its own thing. If you’re going to be compared to someone, it might as well be Brad Pitt; you know what I’m saying? Evidently GPHG thought so too, as this took the Revelation Prize in 2022.

This collaborative edition, the ‘Ste Croix’, features a few alterations. The dial removes text that was on the origin simply stating ‘Hand Made’. That’s clear enough in my estimation. More notably, the baseplate is now frosted in gold rather than rhodium. It was made in 12 pieces with Esper Luxe, celebrating 5 years. You’d expect to wait if you ordered a watch from Mr Pinaud, but these are just available and that’s lovely. The Origine is meant to recall the early days of watchmaking and his hometown. In truth, it’s the early years of something great. This is one to keep an eye on.