CHALLENGE JET-LINER GERARD DEPARDIEU

THE TIME KEEPER

Named after the Latin word for Guardian (or Custodian), CVSTOS was founded in 2005 by CEO Sassoun Sirmakes and Chief Designer Antonio Terranova to represent a new way of preserving time while being always one step ahead of time, focusing on a distinctive cutting edge approach to high-end watchmaking.

Sassoun Sirmakes, of Armenian ascendancy and born in Geneva (1983), has since his childhood been immersed in high watchmaking, as the son of Franck Muller Watchland Group co-owner and chairman Vartan Sirmakes; he dominates every aspect of the watchmaking industry and from early on was set to create his own independent brand – a brand that could exude an avant-garde definition of the traditional art of watchmaking through ultra-contemporary technique and aesthetics.

Antonio Terranova provided the look that has been defining CVSTOS since the inception of the brand; born in 1967 in the very heart of the Swiss watchmaking industry (La Chaux-de-Fonds), he has embraced watch design and worked for several top-notch brands such as Cartier, Piaget, TAG Heuer, Breitling, Ebel and Zenith – until moving on to fulfil the dream of launching his own company with Sassoun Sirmakes, inspired by the innovative aerospace and automotive industries.

The CVSTOS headquarters are based in the historical Saint-Gervais quarter in Geneva, complemented by a production site close to Ferney-Voltaire and the Swiss border. Average price of the timepieces range between 8,000 and 30,000 CHF.

THE ADVENT OF A PARTNERSHIP

CVSTOS, a high-end young company founded in 2005 by Sassoun Sirmakes and Antonio Terranova, has developed an exclusive open-worked dial concept based on various coats of arms representing several countries. When Sassoun Sirmakes met Gérard Depardieu in Paris last March through mutual friend Frederik Mahler and showed him a timepiece with the Russian imperial eagle, the renowned actor was immediately seduced by the concept and the idea of expressing the Russian pride through a highly symbolic timepiece. A friendship between the two flourished and with it the ‘Proud to be Russian’ collection that also carries a collateral project: to rediscover and revive the glorious Russian watchmaking heritage through limited editions featuring historic calibres, set up a movement decoration studio (first in Geneva, then in Russia) and eventually ignite a Russian watch manufacture.

“ I was immediately attracted to the watch, I loved the two-headed eagle and the use of the screws on the case ”, says Gérard Depardieu. “ I like the size, I like the architectural tonneau case, I like to ‘drink the time’ from it and I have been using the watch non-stop since I first got it on my wrist, except when I am filming and representing a role that is not supposed to have it on ”. And he also fancies a watch that shows more than just the time: “ I love the idea of a watch that means something that is our own. CVSTOS has managed to conceive a timepiece that is close to my heart, that illustrates some sort of flagship and makes me feel like home when I’m travelling around the globe ”.

Sassoun Sirmakes says the empathy was there right from the beginning, when he first met the famous actor: “ Gérard loved our watch straight away and had an immediate grasp of the symbolic value of the coat of arms concept. Since he likes to underline that he is proud to be Russian, the first pictures of him wearing the inaugural ‘Proud to be Russian’ watch caused quite a stir around the world and it became obvious that we had to develop a dedicated range of timepieces that now comprises two distinct sizes, four different types of cases, jewellery versions and also more complicated models featuring a tourbillon and a minute repeater. Being passionate, non-conformist, iconoclast and independent just like us at CVSTOS, Gérard is the perfect ambassador ”. The actor concurs: “ I am proud of this association with CVSTOS, as I am proud to be Russian. Besides, the partnership soon evolved into a friendship and I have been happy to work with the CVSTOS team – I foresee several new projects in the near future! ”.

THE LEGENDARY GÉRARD DEPARDIEU

Probably the best-known French male actor around the world, Gérard Depardieu has participated in almost 200 movies throughout a career spanning five decades and crowned with multiple awards. He has also been a director, a producer and an entrepreneur developing various businesses. His larger than life personality granted him a massive aura; as CVSTOS ambassador, he has been totally invested in the ‘Proud to be Russian’ project.

Born in Châteauroux on the 27th of December, 1948, Gérard Depardieu built an eclectic résumé based on strong characters that fit his charismatic figure and passionate acting. Some of his most notable movies are ‘Going Places’/’Les Valseuses’ (Bertrand Blier, 1974), ‘1900’ (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1976), ‘The Last Metro’ (François Truffaut, 1980), ‘The Return of Martin Guerre’ (Daniel Vigne, 1982), ‘Danton’ (Andrzej Wajda, 1983), ‘Under the Sun of Satan’ (1987), ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ (Jean-Paul Rappeneau, 1990), ‘Green Card’ (Peter Weir, 1990), ‘1492: Conquest of Paradise’ (Riddley Scott, 1992), ‘Asterix & Obelix’ (various, 1999-2012).

Having received Knight honours in France (National Order of Merit; Legion of Honour) and collected Cesar, Golden Globe and Oscar nominations, Gérard Depardieu also received the Stanislavsky Award at the 2006 Moscow film Festival for “outstanding achievements in the acting career”. After his role as Rasputin in a 2011 TV movie, he proclaimed: “I love Russia, its people, its history, its writers, its art”; in January 2013, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed an executive order granting Russian citizenship to the French-born actor and delivered the passport himself. Gérard Depardieu is nowadays viewed as a hero in Russia and surrounding Republics such as Chechnya, Uzbekistan or Mordovia.

An art connoisseur and watch collector, Gérard Depardieu has recently opened a restaurant in Moscow; as a reputed vineyard owner he also has an interest in developing Russian wine. He embodies the CVSTOS spirit; furthermore, if CVSTOS motto is ‘The Time Keeper’, Gérard Depardieu also played a role on a 1992 movie by Jeff Blyth called… Timekeeper.

THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL EAGLE

Antonio Terranova, co-founder and chief designer at CVSTOS GENÈVE, is the author of the design that defines the ‘Proud to be Russian’ collection – and underlines the manufacturing complexity of both the coat of arms dial and the open-work mechanical movement: “CVSTOS is a brand driven by the latest technologies and we’ve been developing extreme skeletonizing as a result of our on-going research into lightness. The base calibre was entirely rethought, redesigned and then skeletonized without compromising rigidity and reliability”, he says.

The creation of the coat of arms dial also represents a thorough and complex process, reveals Antonio Terranova: “a plate of 2mm in height is cut by a 5-axis, multi-level machine; then the eagle is sculpted through an electro-erosion procedure by an extremely thin laser beam; finally, the surface is sandblasted”. The CVS 350 automatic calibre and the CVS 2600 hand-wound tourbillon also require a lot of skeletonizing and galvanic sandblasting to protect the micro-mechanical parts. The finalized crest is stunning, with the Russian imperial eagle shining in all its splendor.

A STATEMENT AND A COLLECTION

A statement on the wrist! ‘Proud to be Russian’ is a new collection conceived by independent luxury Swiss watch manufacturer CVSTOS GENÈVE and endorsed by Gérard Depardieu – the French-born superstar actor that carries Russian citizenship since 2013 and who, as an ambassador, embodies that pride.

Every timepiece in the ‘Proud to be Russian’ collection is highlighted by an open-worked dial featuring a finely cut 3-dimensional double-headed eagle representing the Russian coat of arms. Gérard Depardieu has been wearing the ‘Proud to be Russian’ timepiece and that inaugural ‘Proud to be Russian’ watch has evolved into a range that now includes four automatic timepieces, a tourbillon watch, a minute repeater tourbillon watch and jewellery versions. The see-through sapphire crystal on the case-back bears Gérard Depardieu’s signature and CVSTOS plans on further expanding the collection with chronographs, complicated masterpieces and special series.

Jet-Liner Gérard Depardieu

Automatic Bicolor 5N Pink Gold

Jet-Liner Gérard Depardieu

Automatic Black Steel PVD

Jet-Liner Gérard Depardieu

Automatic Grey Titanium

Jet-Liner Gérard Depardieu

Automatic Blue Steel PVD

CHALLENGE case Tonneau-shaped, 53.70mm x 41mm x 13,35mm

or

CHALLENGE GT case Tonneau-shaped, 59mm x 45mm x 15,45

Case Materials: Grey Titanium, Black Steel PVD, Blue Steel PVD or Bicolor 5N Pink Gold; polished and satin-finished; diamond versionsCaseback: See-through with sapphire glass; Gérard Depardieu signatureCrystal: Sapphire, scratch-proof and with anti-reflective treatment on both sidesWater-resistance: 100 metersScrews: Polished titanium grade 5 or pink gold; CVSTOS TECHNOLOGY profileCrown: Screw-down, polished titanium grade 5 or red gold with Nitril insertDial: skeletonized, 3-dimensional eagle representing the Russian coat of armsIndexes: Super-LumiNova© treatedHands: Pierced, chromed or gold-plated and Super-LumiNova© treated

Calibre: Skeletonized. Automatic-winding movement CVSTOS CVS350. Black Plasma treatment, rhodiated treatment or black rhodium treatment for grey titaniumFunctions: Hour, minute, seconds; date (skeletonized disc)Power-reserve: 42 hoursJewels: 25Frequency: 28,800 vibrations per hour

or

Calibre: CVSTOS CVS 2600 hand-wound openwork tourbillon movementFunctions: Hour, minute and 3x20 seconds indicator; flying tourbillonPower-reserve: 60 hoursJewels: 21Frequency: 18,800 vibrations per hour

or

Calibre: CVSTOS 7650 hand-wound openwork minute repeater and tourbillon movementFunctions: Hour, minute, 3x20 seconds indicator; flying tourbillon on a 12mm cage; minute repeater mechanism that chimes the hours, quarters and minutes on demand; chime mechanism function indicatorPower-reserve: 60 hoursJewels: 32Frequency: 18,800 vibrations per hour

Bracelet or Strap: Rubber (Nitril-NBR©) or alligator skinBuckle: Folding clasp or buckle

Swiss made

CHALLENGE JET-LINER GERARD DEPARDIEU

TECHNICAL DATA SHEETS

‘PROUD TO BE RUSSIAN’ COLLECTION - LIMITED EDITION GERARD DEPARDIEU Automatic watch, Tourbillon watch & Minute Repeater Tourbillon watch