The Christophe Claret Maestro Mamba slithers on to the scene

Over the past few years, we’ve seen watches that commemorate nature in some form or fashion.  This could be from artistic interpretations (say, engravings, or interpretations like Frederic Jouvenot or Dietrich), or could even take simpler paths to this, by including materials from nature, like we saw with Khamama.  Or, you know, you could do something like putting the leather from an exotic animal on the strap of your watch (we’ve seen this on a few brands, and the real deal blows the embossed-leather stuff away).  Or, you know, if you’re a luxury Swiss brand, you can do all of that, and that’s what we’ve got with the Christophe Claret Maestro Mamba.

Now, the Christophe Claret Maestro Mamba is a new watch, but it’s really a new one in the collection – the Maestro has been around for awhile.  My personal favorite in the line has a titanium case and features blue accents in the movement, but these new iterations are certainly quite intriguing.  Regardless of which watch in the Maestro collection you might run across, the focus is very much on the movement.

I mean, just take a look – the dial is mostly non-existent (to my non-watchmaker eyes, the bits that are there seem to be more movement holder than anything), with the numerical indices showing up just on the slender chapter ring at the outer edge.  But, at the end of the day, I am totally ok with that.  It’s not being done solely to show off technical prowess, though it certainly is there.  No, it’s also done for aesthetic purposes.  Things on this movement are packaged quite beautifully, showing off much of the movement, all while still keeping things quite legible.

Then, when you get to an iteration like the Christophe Claret Maestro Mamba, you see the brand having some fun with the open spaces in the movement. Here, of course, you’ve got a snake (made of 4N Pink gold) wrapping it’s way around things, in either green (my favorite) or orange.  This theme then carries on to the strap, which is made from the green mamba or the orange Pantherophis skin – quite the touch, and it fits so well.

Then again, when you realize that the Christophe Claret Maestro Mamba commands a price tag of 96,000 CHF (approximately $104,000), you expect all the pieces to fit together perfectly.  Fortunately for the 28 pieces being made of each color, it does seem that the Christophe Claret Maestro Mamba has everything in order.  Which means, if you ever see one of these in the wild, do try to meet that owner and have a close up look at the watch.  christopheclaret.com

• Case: Black PVD-treated grade 5 titanium
• Hands: Black chrome-plated, orange-lacquered sapphire with Super-LumiNova®
• Snake: 4N pink gold, hand-painted (orange)
• Crown: Black PVD-treated stainless steel, with cabochon-cut orange sapphire
• Strap: Orange Pantherophis snakeskin
• Limited series: 28
• Price excluding tax in Swiss francs: CHF 96,000.-