What We Know
Pretty much anything that independent watch brand Krayon produces feels like it rests solidly in the if-you-know-you-know realm of exquisitely engineered high-end complications. The brand’s focused catalog contains variations on three main complications—the universal sunrise and sunset calculator that is the Everywhere, the watchmaker-adjustable sunrise and sunset-indicating caliber that is the Anywhere, and the most recently introduced weekday and weekend pointer date display in the Anyday. Sure, Krayon’s recent Pac-Man collaboration in a limited run of Anywhere watches might feel like an odd one out, but most of the examples I’ve seen on the wrists of collectors have all flown well under the radar with tastefully measured executions.
But if you’ve ever wondered what a Krayon would look like with a touch—scratch that, a lot—of bling, well, the new Parhelion might just do the trick. It’s hard to mistake this new watch for anything else in the catalog thanks to the sheer number of baguette-cut sapphires set across the entire watch—159 of them, to be exact. To house this number of gemstones, the case is 42mm in diameter, made from an alloy of white gold with a high percentage of palladium for a very white hue to match the brightness of the stones. Thickness, given the complication, is impressive at 9.5mm.
When I first saw a prototype of the Parhelion a few months ago, only the bezel was inlaid with sapphires, in a stunning gradient from white to blue. But in the final product, that gemsetting extends to everywhere else on the case save for the crown, from the lugs to the midcase. 35 of these sapphires are set within the pin buckle alone, which means that even if your watch is facing away from you, you’ll still be sufficiently entertained by sparkling light. The sapphire directly above 12 o’clock on the bezel shows off a new type of gemstone cut called the Krayon Cut that pays homage to the brand’s logo with a unique Y shape that you’d typically find as a motif on many of Krayon’s dials.
The natural triangle silhouette formed by the Y-shape of the Krayon cut means that the stones cut in this fashion naturally serve well as indices, and here on the dial of the Parhelion, eleven hour markers (minus one where the subdial sits) are fashioned out of white Krayon-cut diamonds, fixed in invisible settings on a light blue mother-of-pearl dial that evokes the shimmering of water. The name Parhelion comes from an optical phenomenon in which sunlight refracts through ice crystals in clouds, and when you learn that the watch’s inspiration comes from a trip to Greenland by Krayon’s Rémi Maillat and Fei Hou, the dial and gradient of stones suddenly make sense.
As the Parhelion is largely an Anywhere on steroids, the actual layout of the dial design will seem quite familiar. The subdial at six o’clock shows the date and month, which are integral parts of the sunrise and sunset display sitting in the recessed ring around the time dial itself. The sun rotates around the dial as each day progresses, above a peripheral day/night ring that lengthens or shortens with the seasons. In this display, you can see the progression of the day on the dial and how close the current time is to the sunrise and sunset times, an incredibly visual and romantic representation of the shifting of light and the passage of time. The daytime portions of the ring are executed in an iridescent light blue, while the sparkling dark blue of the night section is splattered with white for a playful touch.
Some live pics of the prototype (note the lack of full gemsetting on the case). Photos by TanTan Wang.
While there’s so much going on with the front and sides of the watch, the back is no slouch either, showing off that clever Caliber C030 powering the Anywhere complication. Beating at 3 Hz, the manual winding movement offers a power reserve of 72 hours and is hacking despite the lack of a seconds hand on the watch. Despite its complexity, the caliber remains impressively compact with a diameter of 35.4mm and a thickness of 5mm. Best of all, the setting of the date is accomplished entirely within the crown and can be adjusted in both directions. No pushers needed. It’s important to know, however, that the Anywhere requires a specified latitude and longitude, which is configurable when ordering the watch and adjustable later on by a trained watchmaker via a few screws within the caliber. If you want on-demand adjustability of such information, well, you’ll have to spring for Krayon’s Everywhere complication instead.
If you’re curious about how much such a creation costs, well, it’s not for the faint of heart. The Krayon Parhelion will be priced at CHF 430,000. While not strictly a limited edition, production of the Parhelion will be in very small numbers.
What We Think
I’ve long been a fan of Krayon’s Anywhere watch. In its standard form, there’s so much going for it in the context of modern independent watchmaking. You have an interesting execution of a romantic complication with a novel implementation of adjustability, a beautifully (and uniquely) decorated caliber, and a fantastic-looking dial in a very wearable package. That is all to say – I adore the classic Anywhere. The Parhelion, by specs alone, should theoretically throw all of the Anywhere’s elegance out the window. And yes, in many ways it does—there’s no way I’d ever use discreet here. But I’m also kind of impressed with how cohesive the final design turned out. Ironically, I do think that it’s thanks to the fact that the entire case is gemset that makes it work so well, rather than just a ring of gemstones sitting proudly around the dial. Given the gemstones’ gradient, it’s very believable to me that Krayon needs an incredibly long time just to source the sapphires alone to achieve the specific hue changes.
At this price point, the Parhelion sits in an echelon of watchmaking that is so far removed from most collectors, but that’s okay. I think it’s an incredibly interesting riff on the brand’s own creations, showing off a different type of craftsmanship while still delivering what the brand does best.
The Basics
Brand: Krayon
Model: Parhelion
Diameter: 42mm
Thickness: 9.5mm
Case Material: White gold
Dial Color: Blue mother-of-pearl
Indexes: Krayon-cut white diamond hour markers with invisible setting
Lume: No
Water Resistance: 30 meters
Strap/Bracelet: Dark blue alligator strap
The Movement
Caliber: C030
Functions: Hours, minutes, 24-hour display, sunrise and sunset times, simple calendar with day and month
Diameter: 35.4mm
Thickness: 5mm
Power Reserve: 72 hours
Winding: Manual
Frequency: 21,600 VpH (3Hz)
Jewels: 55
Chronometer Certified: No
Pricing & Availability
Price: CHF 430,000
Availability: Now
Limited Edition: No
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