Franck Muller Crazy Hours 15th Anniversary Asia Exclusive: Malaysia Price and Review

Franck Muller’s method to madness.

When one carries a name like the ‘Master of Complications’, it comes as no surprise that its timepieces are extremely unique and innovative in their own right.

The brand’s annual ‘world premieres’ sees Franck Muller release new collections of timepieces featuring special and exclusive creations, never before seen in the watchmaking industry. Examples include the Vanguard, Secret Hours, the Giga Tourbillon, the 7 Days Power Reserve Skeleton and of course, the Crazy Hours.

Launched in 2013, Franck Muller’s Crazy Hours caused a massive sensation among watch enthusiasts with its unique oversized numerals thrown chaotically all over the dial. Chaos aside, the watch manages to display the correct time via an unusual interpretation of the jumping hours complication.

Now celebrating its 15th anniversary, Franck Muller is releasing the Crazy Hours 15 Years of Insanity Asian exclusive. Featuring a Cintrée Curvex white gold case with a width of 32mm and a length of 45mm, the curved design makes the Crazy Hours an easily wearable (not to mention, iconic) piece on the wrist.

Highly polished with the glow of white gold, the case fuses with the lugs ever so harmoniously, giving the watch a slightly utilitarian touch despite its highly fashionable appeal.

Inside the watch beats the automatic calibre FM 2001 movement featuring a jumping hours function comprising 203 parts and 27 jewels. The movement boasts a power reserve of 42 hours and is decorated with Côtes de Genève, circular graining and hand chamfered edges. While these details are hidden under the solid caseback, the plate is engraved with ‘Master of Complications’ in a beautiful calligraphic font.

Sensuous case and radiating glow aside, the main highlight of the Crazy Hours is of course the dial. Disrupting the norm of time-telling where the 12 hour markers are displayed in chronological order, the numerals are jumbled up with in a seemingly random position. However, the numbers are actually all fixed five positions apart—order amidst chaos, if you will.

To read the time on this watch is actually not as crazy as it seems. Driven by an automatic movement with a jumping hours function, the hour hand skips five positions to the next subsequent hour. For example, from one o’clock, the hours hand jumps five positions to two o’clock, positioned at the traditional six o’clock position and so on.

Despite the unconventional numeral arrangements, the dial itself is pretty handsome with a sunburst guilloché pattern made from several layers of translucent white varnished lacquer. The oversized Arabic numerals are hand-painted and the leaf-shaped hands are in a brilliant blue.

The Franck Muller Crazy Hours 15 Years of Insanity is a pretty interesting watch to behold. Challenging the norm in a playful manner, the watch is as fun as it is good looking.