Whether out at sea or on dry land, the stridently athletic sports collection by Franck Muller guarantees plenty of flex appeal
One of Franck Muller‘s greatest virtues is its unwavering commitment to authenticity. Whether pushing the limits with increasingly outlandish takes on the tourbillon complication, injecting colour and technical opulence into its watches for women, or, as the Skafander collection shows, imbuing its sports watches with unabashed showiness, Franck Muller never shies away from creating modern timepieces the way it wants—with plenty of fun and flamboyance.
Introduced in 2018, the Skafander is the only dive watch collection in the brand’s repertoire. Even so, the watches look and perform like Franck Muller thoroughbreds. One can easily trace the design lineage of the Skafander to Franck Muller’s most iconic creations, such as the Cintrée Curvex and Vanguard, thanks to its distinctive tonneau-shaped case.
Although the curved rectangular profile has been a part of watchmaking since the early 20th century, it was Franck Muller who redefined and popularised the shape in the late 1990s by giving it a more pronounced and sculptural form, creating a bolder and more modern silhouette that remains instantly recognisable.
The unmistakable shape once again anchors the Skafander collection, making it one of the rare tonneau-shaped dive watches available on the market today. The signature design is reinterpreted on a multi-part case that features a highly engineered bezel engraved with hour markers, and a middle case section flanked by a pair of pushers on the left side of the case.
Designed to operate the watch’s dive counter, which displays the remaining time underwater, the pusher at 8 o’clock advances an inner bezel on the dial in one-minute increments, while the pusher at 10 o’clock moves it in five-minute increments. Additionally, a ‘Lock’ button positioned between both pushers secures them in place, preventing any accidental adjustments, ensuring that the dive timer remains accurate during underwater activity.
Additionally, the Skafander’s partially openworked dial, adorned with a myriad of indicators, exudes mechanical sophistication. The dive counter, typically located on the bezel of traditional dive watches, has been repositioned onto the dial itself. The readouts remain intuitive, marked by a triangle at 12 o’clock to signify the dive’s start, with the first 20 minutes clearly highlighted in a contrasting colour. With a water resistance of up to 100m, the Skafander is more than equipped to handle underwater tasks, offering reliability and confidence when needed.
That said, the Skafander is not only built for underwater performance but is also designed to turn heads on land. Measuring 43.1mm wide, 52.35mm long, and 14.1mm in height, this is a sports watch that exudes presence and demands attention. And the designers at Franck Muller pretty much made their intentions clear by lavishing the Skafander models with shades of electric blue, canary yellow, and red gold.
This is also true with the latest Skafander 43 Black Blackened Titanium. The boutique exclusive models come sized sheathed in monochromatic black hue, and are undeniably edgy and cool—not unlike the earlier Skafander models. Like its predecessors, the new model is a veritable workhorse, powered by Franck Muller’s FM 2800-SK automatic movement with 42 hours of power reserve.
Although the name Skafander is derived from the word “scaphander”, an old term for diving suit, there is nothing antiquated about these watches. On the contrary, the Skafander exudes a bold, no-holds-barred machismo, blending contemporary aesthetics with rugged performance that is perfect for today’s sports watch aficionados.
Discover the sporty Franck Muller Skafander collection at our Franck Muller boutiques at ION and Marina Bay Sands today.
