In 2017, Raymond Weil introduced Caliber RW1212, the family-owned Swiss brand’s first in-house-developed movement, inside a classical two-handed watch in its flagship Freelancer collection. Just one year later comes the next evolution of that movement in the Raymond Weil Freelancer Calibre RW1212 Skeleton, a new, openworked timepiece unveiled at Baselworld 2018.
Raymond Weil Freelancer Calibre RW1212 Skeleton – black
Like its predecessor (which I reviewed here), the watch has a 42-mm round case and is equipped with Calibre RW1212, named for the postal code (1212) of Raymond Weil?s headquarters in the Geneva suburb of Grand-Lancy, the fruits of an 18-month collaboration between Raymond Weil’s R&D department and the designers at Swiss movement specialists Sellita. Its most notable and eye-catching feature is its dial-side regulating organ, whose balance-and-spring construction, positioned above the mainplate and held by two bridges, dominates the vista at 6 o?clock. In this version, however, the dial has been openworked and the movement pared down to offer an unobstructed view of not only that telltale front-mounted balance but much of the rest of the mechanism as well. Raymond Weil Freelancer Calibre RW1212 – brown
This latest iteration of Raymond Weil’s exclusive self-winding movement powers a no-frills hour-and-minute time display on two barrel-shaped hands, beats at a frequency of 28,800 vph, and carries a power reserve of 38 hours. The o...