Our remarks

FRANK MULLER Curvex Big Ben Ref. 2852AL 18k White Gold Alarm No. 00 Bj-1992 Ultra Rare Prototype

We are exceptionally proud to present a true collector's rarity from the earliest days of Franck Muller's Cintrée Curvex line: the Curvex Big Ben, Ref. 2852AL, bearing the case number „00", identifying this example as the prototype from which the entire Big Ben series was born.

Introduced in 1992, the Big Ben was among Franck Muller's earliest complicated wristwatches and one of the pieces that established the brand's reputation for combining traditional Haute Horlogerie with an unmistakably bold aesthetic. Its name is a playful nod to its principal function: a mechanical alarm, chiming on the wrist much as its namesake clock tower chimes over London. Housed in the brand's signature tonneau-shaped Cintrée Curvex case in 18-carat white gold, this example measures the compact, elegant proportions typical of the earliest series, its gently curved silhouette hugging the wrist in a way that remains a hallmark of the model to this day.

The silvered guilloché dial, hand-engraved in the traditional manner, displays bold painted Arabic numerals alongside a dedicated alarm-time indication, brought to life by blued-steel spade hands and a distinctive serpentine alarm hand tipped with an arrow. Two crowns govern the watch's functions: one at 2 o'clock for setting the alarm hand, the other at 4 o'clock for winding the movement and setting the time — a distinctly vintage, hands-on approach to horology entirely in keeping with the watch's 1992 origins.

At the heart of the watch beats the manual-winding Calibre 7850, a 17-jewel movement decorated with rhodium plating and fausses côtes, fitted with a straight-line lever escapemen and monometallic balance a robust, purpose-built mechanism engineered specifically to drive the mechanical alarm function alongside conventional timekeeping. The screwed case back, secured by four screws, protects the movement while preserving the tonneau case's clean, uninterrupted lines.

As case number "00," this piece holds a unique position in Franck Muller's history: rather than a numbered production example, it represents the very reference point against which the entire Big Ben series that followed was measured a true prototype, and by extension one of the rarest Franck Muller wristwatches to ever surface on the market.

"To own case No. 00 of the Big Ben is to own the watch from which an entire complication was born, not simply an early example, but the archetype itself.“

Comes with a one-year warranty through our in-house watch lab.

The watch experts — Established 1991 — Trusted Watch Buyers & Sellers.

— All timepieces offered are in stock and available for immediate viewing. —