The Christophe Claret Poker Timepiece is no ordinary high-end watch, it is a visual display of technical design prowess with a liberal dose of innovation.
The watch garnered a huge amount of attention upon its launch, particularly in the Asian region. To acknowledge the great reception the Poker Watch received from the region, the brand (as promised) ensured that customers in Asia were the first to get their hands on them. The delivered watches were in white gold/grade 5 titanium and red gold/grade 5 titanium.
The Poker watch was launched back in January and is currently available in a number of high-end watch boutiques, you can get the full list via the brands web site. The Christophe Claret Poker is the latest in the series of Gaming Watches from the Swiss-based watchmaker, following on from the brilliant Blackjack and Baccara timepieces. At the heart of this mechanical marvel is a movement capable of orchestrating a complete 52-card game, following all the rules of Poker, specifically its most popular variant: Texas Hold’em. In total, Poker packs in 32,768 different combinations; that’s 98,304 combinations between the three players.
It took more than three years to perfect this intricate complication, with no fewer than 655 components. The principle behind the mechanism is as follows: the cards are dealt by means of pushers which spins the four concentric discs on which the cards are printed to shuffle them. When the spinning stops the cards are dealt on the dial in three windows featuring angled shutters to ensure that each hand is invisible to the other players. In addition, with each press of the pusher, a cathedral gong chimes. And yes, the Poker watch also gives the time! Perfectly legibility is guaranteed thanks to the eye-catching ruby or spinel and black PVD-treated titanium hands. The transparent case-back provides a view of the oscillating winding rotor, which is also a playable roulette wheel.
There are four versions of Poker each of which is limited to just 20 pieces. Black PVD-treated grade 5 titanium and white gold; with orange ruby and black PVD hands. Black PVD-treated grade 5 titanium and red gold; with red ruby and black PVD hands. Black PVD-treated grade 5 titanium, with blue spinel and black PVD hands. Black PVD-treated grade 5 titanium, with red ruby and black PVD hands.