Since its production in 2016, the Lausanne-based CODE41 brand, based on Claudio D’Amore, has always banked on a policy of total transparency on its own manufacturing costs, sales margins, and also the origins of all its components. So as to be as transparent as possible, the business has created its own label, the TTO Label, standing for Complete Transparency on Origin, and functioning on the principle that the”Swiss Made” label can be obtained without any real difficulty nowadays and is thus losing its value.
CODE41 shows to its prospective clients all: its resources, how many parts are sold and how they’re sold, how everything is made, and what the manufacturer will do to sell the final product for the best price.
After selling out of the first 500 watches in just a couple of days, a total of nearly $2,000,000 in pre-sales, CODE41 given the wish of many members on its waiting list by launching a new edition of its X41 watch. With 300 pieces accessible, this timepiece maintains the brand’s unique ambition, namely offering an illustration of fine watchmaking for under $6,000. Incidentally, the latest figures published by the Swiss Watchmaking Federation show this price industry is the one most influenced by overseas competition; after all, Swiss expertise naturally fills this market, and the launch of the X41 is evidence that the demand for such a timepiece does exist.
Prior to going into more detail about the inside of the watch, let’s discuss its own exterior components. With an ultra-modern design and a metal construction, its case measures 42 millimeters in diameter, with a total thickness of 11.7 mm. It combines polished finishes with satin-brushed bevels, and also the absence of a conventional dial allows the opportunity to be read directly in the skeletonized movement. At precisely the same time, some bridges are engraved with markers and finished off with red-tipped hands to assist the consumer tell the time. As for the crown, it’s shaped like a turbine and discovered at 3 o’clock, with a design of the brand’s emblem. It sports two scratch-resistant sapphire crystals, one on the front and another on the rear. The entire timepiece is water-resistant to 50 meters (5 ATM), the standard for this a SIHH watches meant for urban use, and fitted with a leather strap equipped with a deployment clasp.
Now let us move on to the motion that produces the X41. It was invented in conjunction with Timeless, a Swiss manufacturer based in Courfaivre that specializes in the design, manufacturing and assembly of mechanical movements. With such a collaboration, CODE41 and Timeless both put the bar high: a grande date, winding by means of a peripheral rotor, a 45-hour power book, and a daily deviation of -2/+10 seconds. Relatively thin thanks to the peripheral oscillating weight — a little technical accomplishment mastered only by leading brands such as Carl F., Bucherer, Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet — this movement, which oscillates at a speed of 28,800 vph, is made up of 297 components, with a design that permits the wearer a much better view of its own workings. It’s worth remembering that, while it was outsourced to another firm, the movement was created only for CODE41.
Should you´re not familiar with CODE41, officially called the Goldgena Project, we strongly advise that you go to the official website. The brand’s strategy is rather simple: unveiling the secret underside of the watchmaking sector when demonstrating full transparency using its timepieces. Together with the TTO (Complete Transparency on Origin) label, the brand shows the source and the cost of each one of the components that compose its Canary Wharf watches; hence we learn that the movement alone price $1,620 to create. And rather than restricting itself to the 60% figure for value of Swiss source necessary to obtain the”Swiss Made” tag, CODE41 has attained nearly 90 percent, vastly exceeding the requirements. With a cost close to $6,000, CODE41 is creating a solid impact.
