Indie Brand Guebly Updates Its Initial Concept with the new CH1 Rétrograde

Guebly isn’t an old brand. On the contrary, it’s a recently created independent watchmaking company that released its very first watch, the Prologue or Chapter 1, only a year ago. Guebly is the brainchild of Adnane Kerd, a collector who turned watch entrepreneur. A sober luxury sports watch that showed great attention to detail and craftsmanship, as well as a discreetly modern design, the watch had an undeniable appeal but also showed some minor weaknesses. Kerd listened and decided to deeply rethink the watch’s architecture, from the case and display to proportions and ergonomics and finishing details. And if you think that the new Guebly CH1 Rétrograde looks pretty much identical to the Prologue model, well, look closer. The devil is in the details. 

Only a bit over a year after the release of its first watch, Guebly is already back with its second model. But it’s not entirely new, or at least, it feels rather close to what we’ve seen in 2024. Surprisingly, while some rush into building a collection of multiple watches, Guebly decided to look back at its inaugural model and revamp it drastically… Keep what was good, upgrade everything that can be upgraded. That’s basically the memo here. The basic recipe doesn’t change. The CH1 Rétrograde retains the same base movement, the same overall design and the same display. However, look closely and you’ll see that much has been reengineered, from the case, the dial or even the movement.

The best way to illustrate the changes is to have a closer look at the drawings provided to us by the brand – more brands should do that when they update a watch… In order to bring a more refined construction but also better ergonomics, Guebly has asked designer Éric Giroud to reimagine the proportions and the facets – 23 in total. The case is made of grade 5 titanium – making it light – and while it measures 42mm in diameter, it’s fairly thin at 10.5mm but mostly short, at only 44.3mm in length. The case is made by Voutilainen & Cattin SA.

The Guebly CH1 Rétrograde has been conceived as an everyday sports watch, despite its attention to detail. It’s water-resistant to 100m, the crown is well protected within (reshaped) guards, and a strong effort has been made on the ergonomics, with a curved caseback. Also, the watch is now equipped with a quick-release system, allowing to change the strap without the need for tools. The latter is made of leather but has a sporty construction, and is closed by a velcro system that loops around a titanium buckle.

The dial of this new CH1 Rétrograde has also been drastically reimagined, with far more details to discover. The display remains the same, with central hours and minutes, and a retrograde second counter at 6 o’clock. The overall inspiration remains identical, but all surfaces have been updated. The dial is now made of 925 sterling silver with a hand-made guilloché spiral motif. Also, it now features luminous applied hour markers and grade 5 titanium hands to match. The retrograde 30-second indication, which used to be displayed on a titanium cartouche, is now read on an applied plaque made from white gold with champlevé Grand Feu enamel by Maëlle Constant, a specialist in this age-old technique.

The beating heart of the Guebly CH1 Rétrograde has also been reworked. Still using the ébauche by OM Mechanics (Olivier Mory), the movement has been reengineered by Sylvain Pinault (Horocraft) and Christophe Beuchat. The automatic calibre 21.31 has a 5N gold micro-rotor, and bridges and plates crafted entirely from grade 5 titanium. It beats at 4Hz and stores 70h of power reserve. The decoration of the movement has been improved with eight inward angles, a double-spiralled ratchet wheel, and screws mirror-polished by hand, and custom-designed screws (also on the caseback) with 4 holes.

The new Guebly CH1 Rétrograde is a nice evolution of the inaugural, showing commitment to the initial concept, but also a pleasant evolution, answering to comments. A limited edition of 80 pieces, this modern and sporty vision of fine watchmaking (which is still wearable on a daily basis) is priced at CHF 38,900, which is the same as the Prologue model, despite the far more complex dial and the overall redefinition of the execution. For more details, please visit guebly.com.