Corum in Rome: La Dolce Vita Returns to Watchmaking

Corum has listened to collectors and is bringing back Romvlvs, it’s most Italian of creations, in a very limited edition. All the charms of this feisty piece, from its movement to its retrograde calendar, are featured in a new, light and elegant presentation.

May 13, 2018 - Dubai, UAE: It was created by accident. In 1966, when Corum received the dials for its new creation Romvlvs in the run-up to the Baselworld show, the hour markers were missing. The supplier had forgotten to add them. René Bannwart, who had founded the company eleven years earlier, decided to go ahead with the Basel launch anyway. As an emergency measure, he had the hour markers engraved directly on the bezel. Thus the Romvlvs was born, and it would go on to become one of the brand’s greatest successes.

This ode to creativity resonates today more than ever at Corum. Frustrated by life's ups and downs? Does the watch you’re dreaming of not exist? Invent it! Giving life to one’s desires is central to Corum, where the guiding ethos is: “Craft Your Dreams”. This call to creativity can still be heard today in every piece that Corum makes. The new Romvlvs is no exception.

The collection that is being presented in 2018 has one unique characteristic: it's a piece that collectors themselves have demanded. “When I took on this position, I was struck by the detailed knowledge that the major collectors had of our history,” explains Jérôme Biard, CEO of Corum. “After travelling the world several times, I noticed that there was a real desire for the Romvlvs Retrograde Annual Calendar, everywhere from Asia to the Americas. As the original was released in 2008, it seemed that an anniversary edition for 2018 would present a wonderful opportunity. We wanted it to be a very limited edition for these well-informed collectors.”

The Romvlvs 44 Annual Calendar keeps its Italian lightness. Refreshing, it refuses to be boxed into a category, swinging from classical to provocative, from sporty to glamour chic. Playful and imbued with la dolce vita, it seamlessly blends the refinement of pink gold with a lively and feisty green. Of classical allegiance, it can’t resist the charms of a modern rubber bracelet. While its dial appears traditional, it is in fact a smoky quartz sapphire whose transparency, like a mischievous veil, reveals the mechanical caliber.

Preserving the essence of the original Romvlvs, the caliber is still the famous CO502, beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz) and ensuring a power reserve of over two days (55 hours). The date is read in a way that is both intuitive and original. Intuitive in that it reads naturally from left to right, going from day to date to month. Original in that it simultaneously makes use of two apertures and a central hand to provide this information, once again demonstrating Corum’s creativity in technical watchmaking.

The diameter of the piece has been increased to 44 mm, emphasizing more than ever the pink gold and rubber bezel on which the hour markers are directly engraved, the distinctive sign of the Romvlvs. The back of the piece reveals the watchwords of the Romvlvs: “URBS” (city in Latin) and “ROMA”, as well as the profile of a legionnaire. The Romvlvs 44 Annual Calendar is presented in a limited edition of 25 pieces.