The Trio is the third model in the “Futur Anterieur” collection following on from the Antiqua and the Classic. The Trio now features several innovations which should please fans of the unconventional haute horlogerie conceived and created by Vianney Halter.

The Trio shares the same riveted portholes common to all of the “Futur Anterieur” collection. There are several portholes as with the Antiqua; however, for the first time these are now distributed on a rectangular case.

The latter is curved so as to match with the shape of the wrist. Thus, the watch is very comfortable to wear even for small wrist. The top of the case is brush-finished while the sides are mirror-polished. The angles are round-beveled. All the finishing is done by hand. The main porthole contains the hour and minute hands. These are hand-crafted in blued-steel and rotate over a dial similar to the one found on the Classic. The second-hand is in the smaller porthole located under and to the left of the main dial.

Last, but certainly not least, there is Grande Date. This is viewed through the two smaller portholes at the bottom right. This differs from the original prototype – which had only a simple date mechanism – and required the design of a new movement that was developed and is now produced in-house at La Manufacture Janvier.

Vianney Halter developed the all new VH205 caliber with 40 jewels specifically for the Trio. Any available space inside the case was used to house the base movement and its Grande Date mechanism. As a result, the VH 205 caliber is rectangular as the Trio case is.This caliber also is innovative as Vianney Halter wants it to be also user-friendly: it allows quick setting of the Grande Date utilizing the crown only. This may seem to be a few but it shall be kept in mind that this kind of function usually requires the complementary action on a pushbutton. In addition, it is usually recommended not to attempt to set the time around midnight when the date is changing because there is a serious risk of damaging the movement when turning the crown anti-clockwise. Vianney finds this is not convenient and designed his Grande Date so as to have the date system and the time system mechanically independent during setting operations.

The winding crown has 3 positions:
– Winding.
– Date setting.
– Time setting.

Thanks to this system, passing midnight while setting the time does not affect the date. Moreover, setting the time clockwise or anticlockwise is possible even around midnight without any risk of damaging the movement.This involves more than 50 parts for the Grande Date mechanism only. But this allows for the time or the date to be set easily and safely at any time not only does this sophisticated complication make the Trio Grande Date more convenient to use, but thanks to the elimination of a pushbutton, it also enhances both water and dust resistance.

Last but not least, as the time setting does not affect the date display, one need an indicator that displays whether it is am or pm, otherwise there is one chance on two that the date changes at noon instead of midnight. Therefore, Halter implemented a sight hole on the main dial at two o’clock that becomes darker from noon onwards and lighter from midnight onward so as to show at a glance whether it is am or pm.

The above perfectly summarizes the spirit of Vianney Halter’s creation: it is sophisticated “inside” so as to be reliable and easy-to-use “from outside”. The VH 205 design is based on the Peseux 7001 caliber architecture and uses the anchor, the balance wheel and escapement of the latter. All the rest (main plate, bridges, gear train, power system, automatic winding system and, of course, the Grande Date complication) are designed and produced in-house.The balance wheel frequency is 28’800 beats per hour. Power reserve is approximately 60 hours. To preserve an uninterrupted view of the VH205 caliber through the sapphire display back, the Trio Grande Date is fitted with the so-called “mysterious mass” winding rotor.

The Trio receives the same fastidious attention to detail as all models in the “Futur Anterieur” collection. Each of the 60 rivets – winding crown 24, bezels 30, buckle 6 – are machined, polished and crafted with meticulous care. The blued-steel hands are hand-crafted. The five sapphire crystals are treated with an anti-reflection coating. The dials are composed of seven discrete elements. Those are engraved and hand-finished making each Trio unique.

The Trio is available either with a yellow gold, white gold or rose gold case, all with white rhodium-plated dials and white gold rivets. In total there are three versions of the Trio available. The watch is supplied with a hand-sewn leather strap available in several colors and made of genuine alligator or goat leather. The strap has a tang buckle matching the case metal. The Trio is delivered in its leather box with a certificate of authenticity.