Introducing Eva Leube and the Ari

A few months ago, I came across a watch maker who I thought we'd be hearing in the not-too-distant future.  Well, the future is now!

Courtesy of Eva Leube

Eva Leube currently lives and works in Manly, Australia.  Originally from Berlin,

Germany, Eva earned her Diploma as a Master Watchmaker when she was 23.

Courtesy of Eva Leube

This is the Ari.  Named for her son, the Ari is the culmination of four years of effort.
Effort clearly well-spent!

Here are the details, courtesy of Eva Leube -

“I named this watch after my son, Ari, because soon after he was born, I started my own watchmaking atelier and set about transforming my vision of a seductively arced watch into a reality. Ari heralded the beginning of a new era for me,” explains Eva Leube.

Immediately striking are Ari's strong, clean lines and uninterrupted views of the curvaceous movement, resplendently on display thanks to the adroit use of sapphire crystals on both sides of the case.

The audaciously bowed movement sees the balance placed at the top, its vibrant oscillations providing a mesmerising feast for the eyes. Beneath that is a sub-dial displaying seconds followed by the elegantly simple hours and minutes dial in the centre. All the hands are in traditional heat-blued steel. Further down, "Eva Leube" is hand-engraved on the ratchet wheel. At the bottom of the movement is the small crown wheel, with the crown for winding and time-setting at the bottom of the case.

To allow for a panoramic sapphire window along the entire right side of the case, the crown has been ingeniously moved to the bottom of the movement by creating a new hand-setting mechanism hidden inside the mainplate, travelling from the centre of the watch towards its base.

In most watch movements, the crown wheel, ratchet wheel, click with click spring, escapement and balance all face down towards the back of the watch. For Ari, Eva has turned them all to face up towards the viewer, making the open-face movement even more visually attractive. Not surprisingly, this created considerable challenges and required additional intermediate pinions, a reversed escape wheel and a reworked pallet fork.

Ari features a screw-in locking crown, which is unusual for a manual winding timepiece. With a standard mainspring and barrel, winding the watch turns the ratchet wheel until the spring is fully wound – then you can wind/turn no more. Ari, however, features a mainspring with a sliding bridle more usually seen with automatic winding systems. As a result, the timepiece can be fully wound and then turned further still until "Eva Leube", hand-engraved on the top of the ratchet wheel, is in the right position. The crown can then be screwed in and locked so that the name remains correctly orientated.

While the case is light and bright in design, the watch as a whole retains excellent rigidity and strength. The movement is mounted directly to the case back, ensuring that the seemingly light and fine construction is extremely robust.

'Ari' Technical Specifications

Case and Dials
Case: Available in 18k gold or platinum 950. Crown and buckle in metal to match case
Dials: Both dials in 18k gold
Crystals: Three anti-reflection sapphire crystals (top and both sides)
Crown: Screwed locking crown
Bracelet: Leather bracelet custom-made to client's specifications
Engraving: Case/movement hand-engraved by master engraver John W. Thompson
Dimensions: 52.44mm x 21.6mm x 8.45mm (height)

Movement
Balance: Free sprung balance with regulating screws
Balance frequency: 18,000 vph/2.5 Hz
Balance diameter: 15mm
Power reserve: 40 hrs
Number of jewels: 18
Number of components: 209
Chatons: 18k gold
Gear train: Highly-modified gear train from a Record 302 calibre
Finishing: Main plate and bridges in rhodium-plated brass, ratchet wheel hand-engraved 'Eva Leube'

www.evaleube.com