Kauri Régulateur Carbone – Comprehensive Study Notes

Kauri: independent Swiss watch brand created in 2019 by Samuel Gillioz.
- Mission: craft "unique and original" timepieces with hybrid case construction and in-house complications.
- Gillioz’s résumé
- Studied at École d’Horlogerie de Genève.
- Professional experience at Timelab and Vacheron Constantin’s Cabinotiers.
- First model (Model 01)
- Steel container + wood outer shell.
- Personalised Soprod M100 base.
- Second model (subject of this note) escalates originality and mechanical complexity.

Workshop location: Plan-les-Ouates (Geneva suburb) – same industrial zone as Vacheron Constantin, Piaget, Frederique Constant.
Tooling philosophy: blend of vintage precision machines + external Swiss suppliers.
- Schaublin 102 lathe from 1949.
- Aciera F1 milling machine from 1993.
- In-house production for many dial and display-module parts; outsourcing for others when quality/efficiency dictates.
Small-series artisanal operations → capacity limited to a handful of watches per year, enabling high customisation.

Core architecture retained from Model 01: two-part “hybrid” construction.
1. Inner container (movement / dial) in ** $316L$ stainless steel.
2. Outer shell (protective body + lugs) swapped from wood to Carbonium® (forged carbon sourced from aerospace off-cuts; eco-friendlier & lightweight).
Physical specs
- Diameter $41.5\,\text{mm}$ .
- Thickness $11\,\text{mm}$ .
- Water-resistance $30\,\text{m}$ (splash-proof only).
Geometry & language
- Octagonal carbon shell contrasts with round steel bezel → modern, technical vibe.
- Visual weight reduction vs wood model; forged-carbon marbling adds sportiness.
Crystals: sapphire front & exhibition back, both with double-sided AR coating.

Traditional regulator clocks isolated hours/minutes/seconds on separate sub-dials → high legibility for watchmakers.
Kauri version keeps the dissociated indications concept but omits running seconds; thus technically not a “true” regulator.
Layout
- Central hand = retrograde minutes (arcs across $240^{\circ}$ then snaps back anti-clockwise each hour).
- Jumping hour aperture at 6 o’clock (analogue disc/hand style rather than a digital window; still jumps instantaneously).
Visual design cues
- Brass dial plates & hands made in-house.
- Alternating matte-grained, brushed silver/grey sectors; gold-coloured hands for contrast.

Composed of 157 parts (incl. base-caliber components) & 23 jewels.
Key mechanisms
1. Double wolf-teeth rack system (visible + hidden racks).
- Primary rack (dial-side) works against snail cam at 12 o’clock + minute pinion.
- Secondary rack (spring-loaded, under dial) drives minute-hand return and triggers hour disc in perfect sync.
1. Snail cam: defines graduated minute path; when follower reaches cam cliff at $60\text{ min}$ , stored spring energy propels rack / hand back to $0$ .
2. Hour star wheel: receives impulse simultaneously, causing +1 hour jump.
3. Safety disconnect wheel (wolf teeth under snail) decouples mechanism during manual time-setting to prevent breakage if crown turned counter-direction.
Benefits
- No backlash thanks to wolf-tooth geometry (smoother meshing than standard involute teeth).
- Instantaneous & synchronous hour/minute jump → theatrical kinetic event each hour.

Hand-wound architecture frequently employed in contemporary micro-brand tourbillons, now stripped of tourbillon carriage and re-purposed.
Specifications
- Frequency $21\,600\,vph\;(3\,Hz)$ .
- Twin-barrel energy → $100$ -hour power reserve (≈4 days).
- Variable-inertia balance with fine-adjustment screws instead of index → better chronometry stability.
Decoration visible through sapphire
- Matte-grained bridges; large hand-polished chamfers.
- Circular-grained wheels; heat-blued screws.

Case: $41.5\times11\text{ mm}$ ; modular $316L$ steel container + Carbonium® shell; sapphire crystals; $30\,m$ WR.
Dial/Hands: brass, produced in-house; dual-finish silver/grey; gold hands.
Movement: hand-wound OM base + Kauri display module; $157$ parts, $23$ jewels; $21,600\,vph$ ; $100\,h$ PR; jumping hours + retrograde minutes.
Strap: integrated carbon-grey alligator nubuck (Geneva-made); steel pin buckle.
Edition: subscription series limited to $20$ pieces; custom options on request.
Price: CHF $34,000$ (≈€35 000 / US$37 000 as of May 2024).

Independent watchmaking trend: customers crave originality, artisanal provenance, and mechanical theatre → Kauri addresses all three.
Retrograde + jumping complications historically complex, typically reserved for haut-de-gamme brands (e.g., Audemars Piguet Star Wheel, FP Journe Vagabondage). Kauri brings this to a micro-scale operation.
Use of Carbonium® underscores sustainability: made from up-cycled aerospace carbon-fibre off-cuts, boasting $\sim40\%$ lower environmental impact vs virgin carbon.
Location near major manufactures symbolizes symbiosis between independents & industrial “giants” – access to subcontractors, yet freedom to innovate.

Philosophical: Emphasis on “time as performance” – hourly jump dramatizes passage of time; invites wearer to pause and observe.
Ethical / Sustainability: carbon up-cycling; ultra-short production numbers reduce waste; long service-life products combat throw-away culture.
Practical: Absence of running seconds sacrifices chronometric feedback (e.g., hacking) but aligns with aesthetic purity of historic regulators.

Classical regulators (e.g., Chronoswiss Régulateur, Omega De Ville-Hour Vision 8500 regulator dials) – Kauri differs by omitting seconds and adding retrograde path.
Jumping hours timeline: 1880s digital pocket watches → 1920s Art Deco wristwatches → 2000s A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk → Kauri’s analogue disc variant continues heritage.
Retrograde antecedents: Breguet No. 160 “Marie-Antoinette”; 1990s Girard-Perregaux Richeville; 2000s Cartier Roadster.

Case: $\varnothing=41.5\,\text{mm},\ H=11\,\text{mm}$ .
WR: $30\,\text{m}=3\,\text{ATM}$ .
Frequency: $f=21,600\,\text{vph}=3\,\text{Hz}$ ⇒ $T_{beat}=\dfrac{1}{6}\,\text{s}$ between ticks.
Power Reserve: $PR=100\,h\approx4.17\,days$ .
Retrograde sweep: $\theta=240^{\circ}$ traverse every 60 min ⇒ average angular velocity $\omega_{avg}=\dfrac{240^{\circ}}{3600\,s}\approx0.067^{\circ}/s$ (then instantaneous reset).

Compare pros/cons of wolf-tooth vs involute gearing in precision horology.
Explain interaction of snail cam and rack in a retrograde display, referencing Kauri’s double-rack solution.
Discuss advantages of modular case construction (steel inner, carbon outer) regarding serviceability and design customisation.
Evaluate environmental benefits of Carbonium relative to conventional carbon composites.
Outline reasons independents might choose subscription / pre-order models vs standard retail distribution.