Cyrus - Good things come in threes
Defining Cyrus is a delicate task - as delicate as the endeavours of the brand ambassador, extreme tightrope walker Freddy Nock. Cyrus is in fact forging its own path amid a number of different worlds, summed up by the founding cousins Laurent and Julien Lecamp.
In 2010, they jointly launched this contemporary brand that is nonetheless rooted in Antiquity. In doing so, they opted to develop modern timepieces inspired by the traditional principles of Swiss watchmaking. Right from the start of their activities, they boldly took their place alongside venerable watch companies in supporting important charitable causes. They created models bearing a powerful aesthetic signature yet concealing a number of secrets visible only to the eye of their owner. Finally, the brand initially presented its most affordable and most high-end models, before inserting an intermediate collection between these two echelons.
Ancient origins
Most youthful brands insist on their watchmaking origins - often dating back to the period between the 17th or the 19th centuries. Cyrus does things completely differently, since the entire brand is built around Cyrus the Great, the king who conquered Babylon 2,500 years ago.
This daring historical connection is echoed in the aesthetic of the models. Kuros, the first creation, had proved a surprise with its b lines, its generous dimensions and its numerous specific design features such as the crown integrated into the caseband and the seconds counted off by the brand logo. The taut rubber straps and the chronograph thereby laid the foundations of a modern, dynamic and self-confident brand.
The Klepcys shock
Cyrus unveiled its next model a year later: the Klepcys less with its disc-type time display, its retrograde date and its moon phase represented by an authentic 3D sphere. The Lecamp cousins had thus clearly found their "open sesame" for the world of Fine Watchmaking. In making this model, Cyrus called upon the talents of the developer Jean-François Mojon (who has worked with IWC, Harry Winston, HYT, among others).
The three men once again drew inspiration from the history of Babylon, as Laurent Lecamp explains: "Our spherical moon is a reference to the famous battle, known as the Battle of the Eclipse, which changed the course of history and was the scene of an eclipse that was perceived by the opposing forces as an omen indicating that the Gods wanted the fighting to stop. That is why our Moon, which is coloured red like the Sun, is alternately masked during its rotation just as the Sun itself was covered up by the Moon at that time."
The winsome threesome once again made headlines in 2013 by introducing a further fruit of their labours, named Kambys after the son of Cyrus the Great. This timepiece features a number of unusual horological complications and has a remarkable seven-day power-reserve featuring a display that has been totally rethought by its creators. It takes the form of three stacked cylinders on the right-hand side of the case. The first drops along this axis in three days; the second does so in two days, while the last red one also takes two days. The watch thus reaches the end of its power reserve and the movement must be manually wound. This is a fairly rare feature on the market as Laurent Lecamp enjoys pointing out: "Few young brands venture to offer a hand-wound movement right from their early days. While it can indeed be dangerous, we realised that customers were in fact reticent to choose this type of watch because of the power reserve, which rarely amounts to more than two days. Ours actually stretches to eight and a half days thanks to twin barrels, but we prefer to start off by announcing a seven-day period during which we guarantee the perfect precision of our models".
In parallel, Cyrus has developed a secret display system that enables owners of a Kambys to customise their watch. The principle is based on a disc placed on dial moving in one-third increments and thereby successfully revealing three areas that may be engraved with specific inscriptions relating to the watch owner - from a birthday to a logo or even a credit card code!
A trio that will soon be joined by others
Three collections in three years: Cyrus, a name with a history spanning three millennia but which has been on the watchmaking scene for just three years, is moving majestically ahead at a sedate pace worthy of a Babylonian epic. As Laurent Lecamp clearly states, much like the Babylonian empire from which the brand draws its inspiration, the foundations laid for Cyrus are solid, enduring… and truly unique.
The brand has therefore decided not to launch a line of timepieces that would take it past its lucky number, the famous "three". Although critical observers might thus be tempted to jump to the conclusion that the Cyrus theme is all but exhausted, experience has shown that the Lecamp cousins often have plenty of surprises in store for us. Cyrus is for example to be featured in an upcoming Hollywood blockbuster thanks to its partnership with the W Motors supercar manufacturer. And that might well prove to be just the start of a year filled with further intriguing Babylonian developments.
[Rating: 5 / 5 stars]
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