Corum Golden Bridge

The Golden Bridge collection is built around a movement stretched into a single line and left open to view. The baguette calibre with an in-line gear train was devised by the Neapolitan watchmaker Vincent Calabrese. In 1977 he showed a prototype at the Geneva inventions exhibition, where he met René Bannwart, one of the founders of the Swiss brand Corum. Bannwart bought the patent, and the first Corum Golden Bridge watches came out in 1980.

The gear-train wheels, barrel and escapement sit one after another along a narrow mainplate, and the plate and bridges are made of gold and hand-engraved. There is no conventional dial: the movement is covered by sapphire crystal at the front and a transparent caseback at the back, so it can be seen from every side.

Within the collection, watches differ in winding and case shape. There are hand-wound and automatic versions — the latter are called Golden Bridge Automatic — and cases are rectangular, tonneau or round.

Each product page lists the condition, box and papers, reference, calibre, case size, power reserve and strap.