A Close Look At Krayon And Its Sunrise And Sunset Complications

Krayon is a watch brand that has been around for less than a decade. I say “brand,” but I should probably say “independent watchmaker” instead. Krayon founder and owner Rémi Maillat debuted with his Everywhere watch in 2017. Today, he produces around 40 watches annually with 12 collaborators in their Neuchâtel atelier.

Maillat’s signature is finding the crossover between mathematics and watchmaking. This is clearly expressed in his complications, indicating sunset and sunrise. It is those complications that I would like to examine in this article.

Krayon

We haven’t previously written about Krayon at length at Fratello, so it was long overdue. As mentioned, Krayon’s first watch came out in 2017. Master watchmaker Rémi Maillat named the brand after the French word for “pencil” (crayon) as he considers the sketch the starting point of his creations.

His first watch was called Everywhere, and we will get into it in more detail later. The watch won the Innovation Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2018. Interestingly, Maillat decided to follow up on his debut model with a simplified version rather than going ever more complicated. The resulting Anywhere, introduced in 2021, also won at GPHG in 2022.

Krayon has since expanded into metiers d’art, with complicated champlevé enamel dial work. The company is also producing bespoke pieces for clients now. In short, I reckon it is safe to say we have a serious new player in town when it comes to Haute Horlogerie. With that introduction out of the way, let’s have a closer look at the complications that characterize Krayon.

The Krayon Everywhere

The core concept of Krayon’s Everywhere is to display the exact times of sunrise and sunset. This is plenty complicated in any guise, but Krayon’s version is particularly complex. For starters, the watch displays the time with a central minute hand and an hour hand on the dial’s perimeter on a 24-hour scale. Just inside of the hour track sits the daytime/nighttime indication. And this is where it gets complex. Representing daytime is a bright, pale yellow, with a midnight-blue starry sky representing the night. The meeting points of both sections indicate sunrise and sunset.

Of course, sunrise and sunset aren’t fixed times. For starters, they depend on time zone, longitude, and latitude. In short, you need to compensate for where you are on the globe. But then, you also need to compensate for the date because these times shift daily as a result of the seasons.

Thus, the Krayon Everywhere allows you to set the time and date via the crown. Next, there is a pusher at 8 o’clock, which switches the crown’s function. You go through date, latitude, longitude, and time zone all via the crown. A pointer at 3 o’clock indicates the currently selected function. Once you have set all of them, the watch will indicate the precise sunrise and sunset for your location. All in all, Krayon packs 595 components into a 42 × 11.7mm case to make this happen.

The Krayon Anywhere

As mentioned, Krayon opted to simplify the complication for its second model, which I think is an interesting and admirable move. I can only imagine it must be tempting to go even more complicated. I could see how the engineers at Krayon would be tempted to turn the calendar into a perpetual calendar, for instance. Instead, they opted to strip away much of the complication, leaving its core concept.

The Anywhere model features a deceptively simple mechanism to indicate accurate sunrise and sunset times in a single location. You simply request the watch to be set to your location of choice, and Krayon sets it up accordingly. If you wish to change the location later, Krayon will change it for you. In short, it is no longer possible for the user to adjust it.

The mechanism uses a pair of cams, an annual wheel, a worm gear, and a set of feeler spindles. Three screws are responsible for adjusting the mechanism. One is for latitude, setting sunrise and sunset simultaneously, while the second adjusts longitude and time zones, affecting only sunrise. The third adjusts longitude and time zones, affecting only sunset. Contrary to other such mechanisms, different locations do not require different parts. Three patents protect the entire mechanism.

More than engineering

In the end, we wear watches, not complications. Luckily, the exterior of Anywhere is almost as impressive as its “intestines.” The watch measures a subtle 39mm wide and 9.5mm thick, and it comes in your choice of white or rose gold.

The dial features different engine-turned patterns, multifaceted triangular applied markers, and a rotating sun on the 24-hour track. The day and night discs are finished in different textures and colors depending on the chosen case material. Alternatively, there is a version with a champlevé enamel dial displaying tiny cells filled with multiple shades of blue.

The sapphire window in the case back puts the caliber on display. It looks the part with its curved Geneva striping and anglage, including the notoriously difficult-to-execute inner corners. The sunrise/sunset mechanism is also on display between two plates.

Closing thoughts on Krayon

As you can see, Krayon implements some seriously interesting horological innovations. Prices start around the €130,000 mark and reach into the infinite with bespoke work. Now, this is well outside of reach for most of us mere mortals, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth exploring the brand’s creations. I, for one, enjoy these in much the same way that I would art or architecture — not as a consumer but as an enthusiast.

I am curious to see what’s next for the young Neuchâtel independent. Will the company continue on the path of sunrise/sunset time complications or bring something new entirely? Only time will tell!

What do you think of Krayon? Let us know in the comments below!