The Long Island collection’s signature curved rectangular profile sets the stage for dynamic new designs and complications

For affluent holidaymakers, Long Island evokes relaxed strolls down New York’s most picturesque beaches and towns. Yet, in the world of high-end watchmaking, the moniker instantly brings to mind one of Franck Muller’s most esteemed collections, a cornerstone of the brand since 2000.

Though the watch shares its name with the southeastern New York city, its essence and inspirations hark back to a different time and place—to Paris in the 1920s, where the Art Deco movement was flourishing. Characterised by rich colours, bold geometry, and decadent detail work, Art Deco designs informed the original Long Island watches in both form and spirit.

Franck Muller demonstrates its knack for bold innovation with the new Long Island Evolution. Photo by Franck Muller

However, like all of Franck Muller’s watches, nothing is as they seem. The same goes for the Long Island. For instance, its ostensibly rectangular case reveals nuanced contours upon closer inspection. Its name, synonymous with leisurely luxury, masks an inherent progressive dynamism, a hallmark of the new Long Island Evolution series.

The Elements of Change

The Long Island Evolution collection debuts with three models that are exclusive to the Asia Pacific region: Long Island Evolution 7 Days Power Reserve, Long Island Evolution Master Jumper, and Long Island Evolution Giga Tourbillon, with each advancing the conversation on contemporary horology.

The new Long Island Evolution case design incorporates an additional inner case that secures the shaped movements driving the watch. Photo by Franck Muller

The collection’s iconic curved rectangular cases continue to be a focal point. At the same time, they have been reimagined with new materials and perspectives. Forgoing traditional precious metals, Franck Muller adopts titanium with satin-brushed PVD treatment and anodised pine green aluminium on the outer and inner cases, respectively. The innovative layered construction enhances shock resistance and allows seamless sapphire crystal integration, showcasing the enthralling new dials and technical advancements.

Franck Muller develops movements designed to precisely fit each case. Photo by Franck Muller

Where the original Long Island watches were stately and dressy, the Long Island Evolution collection is bold and contemporary with a sportive edge. On the Long Island Evolution 7 Days Power Reserve, for instance, stylish Arabic numerals that glow an ethereal green in the dark replace the ornate Art Deco-style hour markers from before. Powered by ingeniously engineered engines, each movement is also specifically shaped to match the angular profiles and dimensions of the various models. Meantime, the watches’ stylish black and green colourways, framing striking openworked dials that reveal the movements’ innerworkings, provide more than ample clues to their newfound DNA.

Triple Treat

From exceptional mechanical stamina to theatrical complications, each Long Island Evolution demonstrates its forward-thinking ethos. Limited to 300 pieces, the Long Island Evolution 7 Days Power Reserve displays the time and channels inspiration from old-world pocket watches. However, its construction and presentation are anything but archaic.

Long Island Evolution 7 Days Power Reserve. Photo by Franck Muller

As the name implies, the watch stores up to a week’s worth of power reserve—and isn’t shy about showing it off with its skeletonised hand-wound movement featuring two barrels to store the energy. The dial’s classic time-only layout, anchored by a large seconds display at the bottom, marries beautifully with the rest of the watch’s sharp and contemporary presentation.

Above the movement, large luminescent Arabic hour numerals indicate the time clearly. Photo by Franck Muller

Taking the visual drama up a notch, the Long Island Evolution Master Jumper delights with its playful display of the hours, minutes, and date. Limited to 100 pieces, it is powered by an in-house hand-wound movement integrated with a “triple complication” that is a world premiere. The complication makes the indicators literally jump at each change, endowing the watch with a steampunk-esque charm. Though such jumping mechanisms have existed since the 19th century, Franck Muller revitalises them, combining time and date in a novel numerical format that lends a futuristic air to the Master Jumper.

Long Island Evolution Master Jumper. Photo by Franck Muller

Last but not least, Long Island Evolution Giga Tourbillon, which is limited to just eight pieces, shows Franck Muller in its natural element. A pioneer in modernising the tourbillon in the 1980s, Franck Muller has been breaking boundaries with mind-boggling iterations of the mechanism.

Long Island Evolution Giga Tourbillon. Photo by Franck Muller

For the Long Island Evolution Giga Tourbillon, Franck Muller revisits the world’s largest hand-wound tourbillon movement, which it created in 2011. Here, the epochal complication renowned for a quadruple barrel system that propels its ultra-large cage that measures 20mm in diameter is reinterpreted alongside the Long Island Evolution’s stylistic overhaul. The flying tourbillon cage that occupies almost the entire bottom half of the dial looks more dominant and futuristic than ever, framed by raven-hued components and case that espouse the new Long Island identity.

There is no doubt of Franck Muller’s intentions when it decided to tag the ‘Evolution’ suffix to the watches. Evinced by the Long Island Evolution collection, change isn’t the only constant for the forward-thinking marque—it is also unabashedly and relentlessly pursued.