March 28, 2024

Corum offers you a close-up on the Bubble Swiss Edition watch.

Exploding from the head of the late Severin Wunderman, the Corum Watch Belt Bubble watches defied expectations upon release. The profile of the watch remains remarkably towering, with among those highest-domed crystals I have ever seen. The impact that has on the dial is not possible to ignore. The glass distorts the dial providing it an unnatural sense of depth. This is appropriate concerning style fidelity, as it totally adheres to the use of spheres all over the view — most clearly on the rubber-ringed crown at 3 o’clock. Furthermore, it manages to remain true to Wunderman’s unique vision, which has been inspired by a 1960s dive watch that featured a huge crystal to hold out against the pressure of deep seated exploration. But is this view just an homage, or have Corum updated it significantly to appeal to a contemporary audience?The first major change is the diameter: The new releases all quantify 47mm wide and an impressive 18.8mm high. Smartly, though, the lugs are curved and short to enable a close fit to the wrist. Of the 18.8mm of height, 8mm of this is down to the sapphire crystal alone. This is seemingly no mean feat: obtaining a perfect finish on a Sapphire component of this depth, curvature, and necessary consistency is actual obstacle. Corum achieves this unusual effect by starting out with a block of crystal and squeezing it into a bubble-like shape, prior to polishing to absolute clarity.To make the most of the feature, the designers of the Corum Bubble watches, chose to fit the timepieces using “Op-art” (optical-art) dials. These clever patterns give the sense of movement, in addition to shadow and depth. Though level, the dials have a degree of presence. There’ll be two Corum Bubble Op-Art watches available at a limited run of 350 pieces each: The Corum Bubble Drop watch has a brown PVD-coated case and a “ripple” effect dial; the Corum Bubble Sphere2 is coated in blue PVD and features an “atom-inspired” pattern on the dial. Both watches use Super-LumiNova on the hands. The Op-art dials have been inspired by the work of Victor Vasarely, a French artist of Hungarian descent as well as the creator the Op-art movement. The magnifying sapphire crystal has such an affect on the horizontal dials that they appear to be sharply domed themselves. With this arresting design leaping out of this watch, it is a lot easier to understand why this crazy contraption has so many lovers all over the world. Both watches are fitted with rubber straps wrapped with leather, with a buckle matching their individual case finishes. The straps start out at 24mm between the lugs and taper to 20mm at the buckle.