The Concord C1 Code Chronograph

This week’s piece from Swiss watch maker Concord is certainly unique but we’re not really sure if that’s a good thing. Over the last few years the luxury brand has built a reputation for pushing the envelope when it comes to design, in large part thanks to the marketing ingenuity of former President Vincent Perriard, who is now working his magic over at Techno Marine as the global CEO. However, this latest piece, the C1 Code Chronograph seems to lack that spirit of innovation, replacing it instead with cheap gimmicks.


Under the guiding hand of Mr Perriard Concord produced the C1 Chronograph, a watch which attracted a great deal of fanfare and was well-known for being as loved as it was hated. Admirers extolled its innovative and unique design while critics said it was clunky and unattractive. Regardless of what you think, it cannot be denied that the C1 series well and truly put Concord back on the map.

As such its not surprising then that the brand would want to create further variations of this successful base model in order to maintain interest in the brand and continue to drive sales. Having said that though, this latest version due to be officially launched at Basel World next month, seems to lack the creativity and boldness of its predecessors.

Essentially what we have here is a Concord C1 Chronograph with mathematical equations engraved into the sapphire crystal. The reasons for this are rather vague as there is no direct link that we can see between Concord and mathematics, although we do appreciate that watch making is certainly a very precise art.

To us, it seems that the designers over at Concord just got lazy.

Fellow watch enthusiast Kyle over at Perpetuelle recently gave his thoughts on this rather unusual choice of dial “decoration” saying:

“…while the engraving of an algebraic formula/cryptic mathematical equation directly into the crystal of the watch is novel, it seems to make the (already busy) dial hard to read and I wonder what is the real allure of this for a potential buyer? I see none.”

We tend to agree.

From our point of view there is no added value to the consumer and legibility (arguably the most important aspect of a watch) is further reduced. To be honest, we would be surprised if even mathematicians found this to be an attractive timepiece, although undoubtedly it would draw some attention.

The concept of engraving on the sapphire crystal on the other hand though is undeniably cool, and it will certainly be interesting to see what other (perhaps more innovative?) brands will come up with. Who knows, perhaps we’ll see a watch with the entire dial engraved on the sapphire crystal? Admittedly unlikely, but you never know!

While we think Concord have got it half right by trying something a little different,

in our eyes they have missed the mark somewhat. Perhaps this is yet another example of a concept not transferring as envisioned from the drawing board to design reality? Whether it was their intention or not, this new model simply comes across as a poorly disguised attempt to exploit a previously successful model which we don’t think will fool seasoned consumers.

Yes it is unusual but not really in a good way.