In a few weeks, Angelus will officially reveal their newest super complication timepiece which combines a tourbillon, fly-back and split-seconds (rattrapante) chronograph.

The U30 Tourbillon Rattrapante is presented in a 47 mm x 15 mm grade 5 titanium case with hollowed case flanks that have been coated black. In addition to the blackened caseband, the case has been finished with a mixture of polished and matte surfaces to enhance the contrast.

Inside the case, is automatic caliber A-150 which beats at 4Hz (28,800 vph), and has 38 jewels, with a power reserve of 45-hours. Details of the movement include a black gold-treated copper-beryllium balance wheel, wheels with exclusive Angelus six-spoke design to maximize rigidity, grey NAC-treated main plate and automatic bridge, hand-chamfered and hand-polished tourbillon cage with black ADLC-treated second pointer, black ADLC-treated – upper bridges, chamfered and polished edges with flat surfaces either satin-finished or sand-blasted, screws with Angelus three-point design torque-optimizing heads, black ADLC-treated with solid 22-karat white gold segment rotor, and black ADLC-treated and mirror-polished column wheels (both the split-seconds’ column wheel on the dial side and chronograph column wheel on the back are visible).

On the dial, the flange acts as the hour and minute ring, as well as marking off the precise chronograph seconds. The oversized hour and minute hands are skeletonized and there are two baton shaped chronograph seconds hands.

At 10 to 11 o’clock is the tourbillon cage which houses the regulating assortment for the one-minute tourbillon. Located between 7 and 8 o’clock is a green and red lacquered power reserve display with a dedicated hand. And at 3 o’clock, is a 30-minute chronograph counter.

Interestingly, the skeleton bridges allow the display of 15 different wheels dial side.

Box sapphire crystals protect the front and back, and offer clear views of both sides of this contemporary movement.

Technically, the rattrapante (or split-seconds) function allows the timing of different events that begin but do not end together, for example, the times of two race cars. At the start of the race, both hands move together, but once the pusher in the crown is press, it splits the time with the with the top hand continuing and the bottom split-seconds hand stopping to allow an intermediate time to be noted. By again pressing the pusher, the split-seconds hand will instantly catch up to the main chronograph hand, ready again to record a new intermediate time.

Additionally, the U30 has a flyback chronograph function which allows te chronograph seconds hand to be reset with restarting the stopping the hand, resetting it, and then hitting start again. Instead, it does all of that with one push of the button.

According to Angelus, “The fly-back function is especially complicated to achieve when combined with the split-seconds complication as the fly-back mechanism has not only one but two, central chronograph hands to reset and restart. In addition, the forces generated by the split-seconds mechanism during the instantaneous reset and restart are significant. Therefore, all of the different chronograph functions have to be painstakingly set and optimized by the master watchmaker during assembly in order to guarantee smooth operation of all functions.”

Visually, the watch is surely going to be a crowd pleaser as the column-wheel for the split-seconds function, located at 4 o’clock, just below the 30-minute counter – is fully visible as it operates. The flyback column wheel is on the back side of the movement.

The U30 Tourbillon Rattrapante is presented on a black matte alligator leather strap (22/20 mm) with titanium folding buckle engraved with the Angelus logo. Water-resistance is 30 meters. Limited to 25 pieces. (Ref. 0CRAC.B01A.C003U)

Stay tuned for more on this watch, and all the most important releases via our Baselworld section.