Weekly Watch Photo: Marc Jenni Prologue WDT

After presenting you watches from Speake Marin into the nature, after showing you some Gronefeld into the wild or telling all about the Steel Labyrinth by Antti Rönkkö, we continue our summer tour of the independent watchmakers. Today, we want to introduce you a new edition of the Prologue by Marc Jenni, a brand that we already covered but never showed with live photos. Marc Jenni’s watches might look simple but, believe us, they are quite unique. 

If you look briefly to the Marc Jenny Prologue WDT, as well as the rest of its collection, you will certainly not be able to find what makes it unique. So, take break, go to the end of the article without reading it, look at the photos and come back. Ok, we’re going to give you a clue: look at the crown.

Indeed, there is no crown. At least, there is not what we are used to call a crown. Marc Jenni achieve something that no one thought about before: removing the crown. If you think of all the watches you’ve worn or seen previously, we are pretty sure they were all coming with a crown. (in fact, we have one exception, the Ressence Type 3, which not a usual daily beater either). Marc Jenni just broke 2 centuries of traditions by only removing the crown of its watches. Why not? The crown one of the most sensitive element of a watch, as it has to be sealed to protect the movement from dust and water, as it is fragile and on the other hand, it is the most manipulated element of a watch.

How does the Marc Jenni Prologue WTD works? As we explained in our first article, winding and settings are made by turning a notched ring around the entire watch. The function to adjust is selected by the pusher at the 4 o’clock position and indicated in a sub-counter at 4 on the dial – T for time, D for date and W for winding. A video at the end will show you how it works. but we can already applause such an ingenious and simple mechanism. To achieve such a function, Marc Jenni integrated his own selector mechanism, between the main plate and calendar plate, without adding any height to the original movement (an ETA 2897). By pushing the selector mechanism at 4 o’clock, a column wheel is operated and switches between the three different setting positions.

The new Prologue WTD is the sporty evolution of the previous models, with its 44mm satin finished case, it’s dark grey dial with a circular pattern and the use of a perforated strap. It is priced at 13.500 Swiss Francs. More about it on the official website of the brand.