Julien Coudray The 10 keys to Julien Coudray

— The discreet Julien Coudray 1518 brand features a set of highly distinctive characteristics. Here are 10 keys to the door of its workshop in Le Locle.

Julien Coudray


All those acquainted with Julien Coudray 1518, raise their hands! Some may be vaguely aware of the brand name, others of its creations that arrive in sparing quantities on the market, and others may know some of the people behind it. On the whole, however, Julien Coudray 1518 remains somewhat mysterious. WorldTempus raises the veil on ten key elements of the Manufacture.

1. An integrated – and shared – Manufacture

Julien Coudray 1518 is a Manufacture that has just reached its fifth anniversary. So how has this integration been achieved so rapidly? Perhaps because like many others, such as Greubel Forsey and its partnership with Complitime, Julien Coudray 1518 operates in tandem with IMH, the technical source of its production. IMH develops and produces for Julien Coudray 1518, but not exclusively so, since the brand has several external clients.

2. A Swiss-Belgian brand

In January 2015, Julien Coudray 1518 was entirely taken over by an independent family shareholder of Belgian nationality, Joris Ide (along with his son Enzo), who already owned the Lebeau-Couraly watch brand that informed connoisseurs noticed in Hall 1.1 at Baselworld this year. The two brands operate in parallel in two very distinct segments, but they are both served by the shared IMH production facility.

3. Snob-free metals

Julien Coudray 1518 specifically precludes from its production all ‘snob’ metals in the literal sense of the term – meaning those that are sin nobilitas, lacking nobility, or commonplace. That is why the youthful brand uses only four metals: white, yellow and pink gold, as well as platinum.

4. Watchmaking ingot

The Manufacture has a very special attribute: all its components are machined from a single one-kilo block of these metals. From this precious ingot, Julien Coudray 1518 carves out the case, hands, as well as many other components that are not made of traditional brass as is generally done in these modern times. In the case of a platinum model, even the bridges are made of platinum.

Julien Coudray

The case and movement come from the same block of platinum – or gold, as in this instance.
© replica rolex watches

5. Bye bye galvano

Julien Coudray 1518 has proscribed any electroplating surface treatments on its creations. Its range will therefore never comprise any rhodium-plated components. All will instead feature a finish – generally a mirror (or specular) polish – applied to the pure metal surface.

6. Four years, four references

Julien Coudray is fond of figures. The brand whose name includes the number 1518 has so far developed and produced four models: the 1515, 1528, 1548 and 1588. Contrary to appearances, these do not refer to dates, but to a century (the 16th) followed by the number of watches to be produced for each reference concerned. The 1515 is thus issued in a 15-piece edition, the 1528 in a 28-piece series, etc. Since Julien Coudray produces only one or two watches per month, this road map will take the firm until at least 2020!

7. Extremely vertical integration

Julien Coudray regroups 30 people exercising 40 different professions, most of which exist individually in traditional Manufactures. Very few however – or in fact none at all – can lay claim to such a ratio between a very small number of employees and an impressively broad range of skills.

Julien Coudray

Enamel and particularly miniature enamel painting are recurrent features on most creations by Julien Coudray 1518.
© breitling replica

8. Boundless tradition

This is a deliberate policy and is observed to the letter: Julien Coudray 1518 honours watchmaking traditions by refusing to use any modern or high-tech materials. By way of example, despite the incomparable breakthrough technological advantages afforded by silicon, the latter finds no place in a Julien Coudray watch movement – or at any rate not for at least a century… until the material itself becomes part of tradition!

9. Horological oil change

Julien Coudray 1518 watches are currently the only models to feature a service indicator in the form of an oil drop appearing through an aperture at 12 o’clock and gradually disappearing after four years as a reminder that it’s time for a maintenance service.

10. Two of everything

Julien Coudray 1518 produces a kit of spare parts for each watch sold. Each numbered kit is stored in a safe and can be used when components need to be replaced in 20, 50, 100 or more years’ time!

Julien Coudray

Each model, such as this Competentia, may be personalised at the customer’s request.
© Julien Coudray

Testing the Rolex Milgauss

The updated version of the 1950s’ Rolex Milgauss is a hit among Rolex fans. Is this re-engineered classic, with its improved protection against magnetism, worth the wait? Writer Jens Koch and photographer Nik Schölzel find out in this watch test.

Magnetic fields are invisible and do not greatly affect the human body. Maybe that’s why we don’t think about them very much, even though our high-tech world is full of them, generated by all sorts of devices, from motors to loudspeakers. Unlike the people who wear them, however, mechanical discount fake Rolex watches are extremely susceptible to magnetic fields. When parts of a watch’s movement become magnetized, its rate accuracy is disturbed, causing frustration for its owner.

Rolex addressed this problem in the 1950s with the introduction of its Oyster Perpetual Milgauss model. The name comes from the French mille Gauss, referring to the watch’s protection from magnetic fields up to 1,000 gauss (named after physicist Karl Friedrich Gauss, a gauss is a unit for measuring the strength of a magnetic field). This level of magnetism, which corresponds to 0.1 Tesla or 80,000 vph, is 100 times higher than that of a typical horseshoe magnet. It would take levels such as those found in an MRI scanner to affect the watch’s functioning. After devoting considerable time and effort to the development of the recent reissue of the Milgauss, Rolex introduced it at the Baselworld watch fair in 2007. Its inner case, made of ferromagnetic material, shields the movement from magnetic fields and consists of only two parts: a container and another cover tightly screwed to it. The container encloses the movement laterally and on the dial side, while the back seals the movement side. To ensure that the movement would be shielded as much as possible, the designers allowed for only a bare minimum of openings in the dial and case. This is why there is no aperture for a date display, for example. There are only the necessary small openings for the winding stem and for the axles that anchor the hands. There are also two tiny holes for the screws that hold the dial. Most other watches with magnetic protection have an inner case with three parts, with the parts layered on top of one another rather than threaded together.

Rolex Milgauss - front

The bright orange, lightning-bolt seconds hand contrasts nicely with the black dial.

Rolex didn’t stop there; its engineers were determined to make additional modifications to prevent even minute amounts of magnetism from leaking into the movement. The result of this initiative was the blue Parachrom hairspring that appears in the Rolex Milgauss as well as other Rolex models such as the Daytona, the new GMT-Master II and the Yacht-Master II. It is made of a niobium-zirconium alloy with an oxide coating and remains completely unaffected by magnetic fields. It is also supposed to withstand shocks better than conventional hairsprings. (Click here to read WatchTime’s 2010 visit to the Rolex manufacturing facility in Bienne, Switzerland and learn more about how these Rolex-exclusive springs are made.) Additionally, the pallet fork and escape wheel are made of amorphous nickel-phosphorous, which is completely antimagnetic. Opening the solid, screw-down caseback reveals the second caseback made of soft iron. It can be opened with the same special wrench used for the outer caseback. This caseback is marked with a “B” with an arrow above it — the symbol for magnetic flux density — as an indication of its special function. (Interestingly, it is one of Rolex’s main competitors, Omega, that recently upped the ante on magnetism-resistant tag heuer replica watches with the 2013 introduction of its Seamaster >1,500 Gauss, which uses even more antimagnetic materials in its movement; click here for more on that watch.)

Ticking behind that caseback is the automatic Caliber 3131. It differs from its close relative, the 3130, which is used in the Explorer and the no-date version of the Submariner, only by these modified materials. Caliber 3130 is in turn based on the well-known Caliber 3135 that powers the Submariner and Datejust models. Some watchmakers view this Rolex manufacture caliber as the best automatic movement on the market, due to its robust design, which also permits very precise rate adjustment. For example, a stable balance bridge replaces the usual balance cock that features only one point of support. The endshake of the balance can be adjusted with two knurled screws. The Breguet overcoil of the hairspring also ensures precision in every position, as does the free-sprung balance using Microstella nuts. The red anodized reversers in the automatic module minimize friction. The only criticism we could level at the movement is that its rotor axle is set in a jeweled bearing rather than in a more modern ball bearing. Nevertheless, there are no known problems associated with this caliber. There is no caseback viewing window, so you’ll have to remove the caseback to see the nicely designed movement and its decorations. The classic Rolex rotor with cutouts and the automatic bridge are decorated with a sunburst finish. Other bridges have a perlage finish. Every bridge and plate is rhodium-plated and the edges are beveled and polished. The carefully polished screw heads are especially attractive.

Rolex Milgauss - caliber 3131

Rolex’s Caliber 3131 has a balance bridge, free-sprung fine regulator, blue Parachrom hairspring, and escape wheel and pallet fork made of antimagnetic material.

The rate results for the new Rolex Milgauss were good, though they were not as precise as other top swiss Rolex replica watches that have undergone the same tests. They showed an average deviation of only +1.5 seconds per day on the timing machine, and a stable amplitude with no strong deviation between the vertical and horizontal positions. However, the greatest deviation between the positions, at seven seconds, was a rather imperfect result. When worn on the wrist the watch gained three seconds per day. Operating the Milgauss, however, is simplicity itself. The crown is easy to unscrew and has only two positions for winding and setting the hands. A hack mechanism keeps the balance and hands in place, enabling the wearer to set the watch to the second with precision. The logo and markings on the winding crown — a Rolex “crown” emblem with a dash below it —denotes the Twinlock crown, a departure from the Triplock crown of the Submariner, Sea-Dweller, and other Rolex Professional models. At 7 mm this crown is considerably larger and easier to grasp than the crowns on other, similar watches. Download the full review here.