Manufacturer: Vianney Halter Year: Circa 2004 Movement No: 15W Case No: 15W.41.A Model Name: Antiqua Material: 18k white gold Calibre: Automatic, VH198, 43 jewels Bracelet/Strap: Black leather strap Clasp/Buckle: 18k white gold Vianney Halter buckle Dimensions: 36 mm. diameter Signed:Case, dial and movement signed Accessories: With Vianney Halter undated Certificate of Authenticity, fitted presentation box and outer packaging. Literature: For another example of Antiqua cased in platinum, please see Master of Contemporary Watchmaking by Michael Clerizo, page 210.
Catalogue Essay
The Antiqua, Vianney Halter's very first model and first model of his Future Antérieur or Future Past collection was introduced at the Basel Watch Fair in 1998.
The Antiqua, caliber VH198, pushes the boundaries of watchmaking and gives us a completely different approach to telling the time. The dials are hand-engraved making each piece unique and display hours and minutes, date, perpetual calendar and days of the week. The perpetual calendar movement was developed in-house with Halter's patented Mysterious oscillating weight. In order not to obscure the movement, Halter manufactured his so-called Mysterious Mass rotor, hidden behind a peripheral ring with no apparent link to the rotor.
This white gold Antiqua has been manufactured and composed of nearly 100 parts, took over 900 hours to complete and is offered in almost new condition.
Vianney Halter seeks to change how we view time and creates mechanical timepieces with retro-futuristic innovative timekeeping displays. One of his most famous models, the groundbreaking Anitqua, takes inspiration from the nineteenth century with an industrial, steampunk aesthetic, using a case with four separate dial displays that wowed collectors when it was first launched in 1998. For some of Halter's creations, literature — in particular that of Jules Verne — has been a source of inspiration. Halter continues to create futuristic case designs and works with complicated movements.