The independent brand founded in 2017 by French artist Romaric André is called seconde/seconde/ and specialises in customising vintage wristwatches from the industry's most prestigious brands, including Patek Philippe, Rolex, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Zenith and Omega. What he does, in essence, is to replace the traditional hands that stand out on the dial of models that are 'sacred' to collectors with new, colourful and extravagant hands that transform the timepiece into an authentic work of art, while respecting watchmaking tradition. With a disruptive design, most often inspired by pop art, and ready to tell something more about these watches: just like the small bee on the dial of a Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox, used to evoke the sound transmitted by the timepiece. "Hand swapping - i.e. the principle of changing one or more hands on an existing watch - has become my defining characteristic and is driven by an urge of irreverence," explains Romaric André. "I upset a balance, break a harmony. I bring this dissonance to confuse the product, to deconstruct it and reconstruct it later, to reveal an unknown side or show another perspective. My perspective'. The original hands are, however, delivered separately with the watch. A limited series of second/second hands was also recently sold at the M.A.D.Gallery in Geneva by MB&F, a creative workshop of talented craftsmen, artists and independent professionals who have been collaborating on Horological Machines since 2012. Among the most recent collaborations of seconde/seconde/, alias Romaric André, is one with H. Moser & Cie. and with his Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept X in particular: a watch on which the hour hand is replaced by an anachronistic hand in the shape of a coloured and pixellated eraser which, marking the passing of the hours, winks at the erasing logo, in line with the House's desire to emphasise the minimalism of its models to the point of suppressing the logo on Concept dials. Before embarking on this new adventure, Romaric André was CEO and co-founder for nine years of Celsius X VI II, an innovative brand which, by combining mobile telephony with prestige watchmaking, succeeded in earning the esteem and attention of noble houses, including Richard Mille.
