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TWO SWISS HIGH LUXURY BRANDS FORM PARTNERSHIP

Le Mans, June 16 2017. Rebellion Timepieces, the audacious and independent Swiss manufacturer of high luxury watches, and Roland Iten, the pioneering Swiss inventor of haute mechanical luxury for gentlemen, have joined forces in a partnership to strengthen the product range and market presence of both brands.

Within the partnership, Roland Iten will become the principal designer of Rebellion Timepieces and will extend the Rebellion product range with other haute mechanic accessories. Rebellion will become a manufacturing partner for Roland Iten and will help the company to extend its product ranges into affordable luxury for the aspirational client.

The announcement is made today at the  85th edition of Le Mans 24 Hours, at the Circuit des 24 Heures.

According to Calim Bouhadra, Chief Operating Officer at Rebellion: “It has been the intention for quite some time that Rebellion extend its product range into categories beyond watches and we have been seeking a partner who shares our vision of functional performance in a bold and whimsical way to create new ranges for the brand. In Roland Iten we found a like minded soul”.

Roland Iten, Createur and founder of the company Roland Iten Mechanical Luxury had this to add: “I am passionate about mechanics but also about functionality. If a product component exists, it must have a purpose—to perform a certain function in a superior manner, otherwise it shouldn’t be there. Rebellion understands and shares this basic philosophy and I’m excited to see where together we can take the brand. Equally exciting in the partnership is the access that our company receives to Rebellion’s superior manufacturing knowledge and capability. Our own focused facility in St. Imier is fine for incubating new ideas and small series manufacture, however, to scale our production and reach aspirational clients, Rebellion are the perfect manufacturing partner for us”.

A Limited Edition Pilot Racing mechanical belt buckle collection.

To kick-off the partnership. Rebellion and Roland Iten have issued a limited edition mechanical belt buckle collection called “The ROLAND ITEN for REBELLION RR782 PILOT FLYBACK series”. Using the ROLAND ITEN R782 chassis and calibration mechanism as its base, it incorporates strategic Rebellion components such as screws made with red gold, and crowns and levers made with Rebellion proprietary titanium technology. The first 13 pieces have been dedicated to the Vaillante Rebellion Racing Team pilots and racing influencers (full names of pilots at the end of this press release) and the remaining 118 pieces (131 in total) in the collection will be available for sale from June 2017 onwards via the distribution channels of both brands. Estimated retail price for the collection in aluminum and titanium is CHF 9000.

Other collaborative design and manufacture projects between the partners will be announced later this year including the development of the “”Roland Iten for Rebellion Dive and Drive” diving watch based on a new Roland Iten patented case mechanism.

About Rebellion and Roland Iten Mechanical Luxury

Based in Lonay, on the banks of Lake Geneva, Rebellion Timepieces is an exceptional player in the world of fine Swiss watchmaking. Passion, independence and a ‘no-compromise’ attitude sparked the company’s inception in 2008 and continue to guide its development each passing day. Nothing is left out, or left to chance, in this watchmakers’ pursuit for extraordinary quality and performance. Rebellion timepieces, with their bold design and limited-series production, are designed for the asserted individualist—the intense competitor and all those passionate about mechanical perfection.

REBELLION Timepieces is already a name synonymous with motorsport following its partnership with successful motorsport team REBELLION Racing, the dominant private LMP1 team in the FIA World Endurance Championship and at legendary Le Mans 24 Hours.

After winning the Le Mans Series Championship in 2011, REBELLION Racing recorded the overall victory at the prestigious Petit Le Mans race in the USA in 2012 and 2013 and won FIA Endurance LMP1 Trophy for privateer team in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

During the 2017 racing season, REBELLION Racing’s LMP2 cars will carry the ROLAND ITEN logo at Le Mans 24 Hours event and other FIA World Endurance Championship races, and in addition to becoming brand ambassadors for the RR782 Pilot Edition, the racing team drivers will have a ROLAND ITEN mechanical belt buckle printed on the waistline of their racing suits.

Roland Iten Mechanical Luxury is about discovery. The delight, surprise and joy to touch and to own an expertly crafted and unique mechanically performing piece.

All Roland Iten collection pieces are based upon patented mechanisms ensuring and protecting brand value and are 100% made in Switzerland at its production facility in St. Imier dedicated to bespoke and small series manufacture, and with other first in class watch making partners. Only the finest materials and manufacturing processes and practices are utilized to ensure outstanding craftsmanship.

Each piece is released within a limited numbered series,  carries an individual serial number that provides a record of both origin and authenticity and is issued with  a hand-signed certificate by Roland Iten.

Founded in 2007 in Le Mont sur Lausanne, Switzerland, Roland Iten Mechanical Luxury is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Roland Iten, its founder, holds numerous patents for calibration buckle and other calibration mechanisms. A well-respected pioneer in micro mechanics for gentlemen’s accessories, he has been commissioned by other master watchmakers such as François-Paul Journe, Greubel Forsey, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Vacheron Constantin to make watch buckles that follow the same concept of contemplated calibration as his famed belt buckle calibers and other mechanical accessories. He implements his vision of “Seriously Playful” into every single product he designs – be it a unique piece or one of his limited series.

Detailed information and technical specifications for the ROLAND ITEN FOR REBELLION RR782 PILOT FLYBACK mechanical belt buckle series:

The RR782 PILOT mechanical belt buckle caliber is based on a patented semi-automatic deployment mechanism which allows the wearer to effortlessly “charge” the buckle to the active-wear position and with one click, releasing the de-cock trigger lock to send it thrusting back to the relaxed position—an expansion range of 40mm within two positions.

The principal upon which the RR782 PILOT FLYBACK functions is tension. With one smooth movement, the charging lever transports the fixed ardillon vertically “over the axis” from the relaxed position to the active wear position. The buckle caliber can be secured in this position by activating the trigger lock. Once released, however, all that is needed is a simple nudge to kick the charging lever back to a comfortable relaxed position. The rapid speed at which this action is performed has inspired its name “Flyback”.

The RR782 FLYBACK PILOT incorporates 88 purpose-made components, 37 of which are principally different from each other and comprise the unique way that this buckle caliber functions.

Released in a limited edition of 101 pieces in aluminum and titanium, the RR782 PILOT FLYBACK is as comfortable in the board room as on the race track and represents the lightest Roland Iten buckle caliber to date, only 50 grams, thereby boasting a very high performance for active wear.

MECHANICAL FUNCTIONS AND FEATURES of the RR782 PILOT FLYBACK:

  • Patented semi-automatic de-charging mechanism
  • Unique and patented “over the axis” transportation of the leather strap
  • Expansion range of 40mm
  • Lightweight for active sports
  • Issued in aluminum and titanium, with red gold screws, and crowns and levers made with Rebellion proprietary titanium technology
CODENAME` FlyBack Pilot
FINE FINISHING Haute Horlogerie
ORIGIN OF MANUFACTURE Switzerland
PATENT P2701PC00
ISSUE DATE June 2017
EVOLUTION R82 MKI Mechanical belt buckle
CREATEUR Roland Iten
TOTAL COMPONENTS 88
INDIVIDUAL COMPONENTS 37
APPROX TOTAL WEIGHT IN GRAMS 50
MATERIALS Aluminum, titanium, red gold and Rebellion proprietary titanium technology

  Buy the RR782 Pilot FlyBack on the Rebellion shop

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