The brainchild of the late Severin Wunderman, the Corum Bubble replica was first introduced in the year 2000 — an oversized watch (44mm) with an a towering bubble-like sapphire crystal that uniquely distorted the dial. It was an unorthodox, though well-received design at the time, but the line eventually lost its luster and was discontinued. The Bubble “Casino”, with a roulette table-motif complete with ball-tipped seconds hand, is a design I recall fondly. Of course stock market “dot-com Bubble” also came in 2000, making the timing of the cwatch interesting in this regard.The oversized case is paired with short, curved lugs, allowing it to hug the wrist snugly.
Now, exactly 15 years later, the Bubble looks to make a triumphant return in three new designs.
While retaining the core design DNA of the original, the 2015 Bubble is not a mere replica of its predecessor. The case has been enlarged to 47mm; it is fitted with a rubber-ringed, spherical crown and stands some 18.8 mm high, crystal included. The crystal itself is a remarkable 8 mm high, making it one of the largest of any Croum Bubble Skeleton replica watch. Because the sapphire crystal is so tall, it acts as a lens, both magnifying and distorting the dial.
Two of the new designs take inspiration from Hungarian-born French artist Victor Vasarely, founder of the op art (“optical art”) movement; the dial is decorated with squares in graduated sizes that grow larger toward the center of the dial. This dial design is presented in a pair of limited edition, PVD-coated versions of the Bubble, each made in an exclusive run of just 350 pieces. The first has a bronze-tone case with brown dial and faux-vintage looking indices and hands:
the second, an “all black” case with matte black dial and charcoal-colored indices and hands:
Part of the regular collection of Black fake Corum Bubble timepieces, the third model in the Bubble collection does away with the dial entirely. A skeletonized movement takes its place, with the domed sapphire crystal providing a magnified view of the exposed wheels of the CO0082 selfwinding movement.
A quirky design no doubt, but I think the Bubble has its appeal and place in a multi-watch collection. Thus I, for one, am glad to see the Bubble back in action, though I have to wonder — does it also presage another asset bubble of some sort? Hmmm….time will tell!
More details at http://corum.ch/en/corums-novelties