Name: SB10 JUMPING HOUR 250TH ANNIVERSARY
Brand: SARTORY-BILLARD
SKU: SB101250A
Price: 5200.00 EUR
Availability: InStock

Three craftsmen from three different countries walk into a bar...

Except they don't.
Instead, they create a watch

An idea born from a watchmaking dream

For its tenth anniversary, Sartory-Billard unveils the SB10.

A watch born from the SB08 project presented in 2024. This concept watch explored an extreme architecture, combining multiple sapphire elements, advanced complications, and a radical vision of time display: a large aperture for the hours, a fluid reading of the minutes, and a central surface entirely freed from the traditional dial.

Its development involved a level of complexity and demands that did not align with the balance we were aiming for.

And yet, its core idea endured: to offer a clear, almost poetic reading of time, grounded in material.

“I couldn’t give up what made the soul of the SB08,” explains Armand Billard. “That large, highly legible hour display, the fluid minute reading, and above all, that open surface, a true blank canvas for creativity.”

The SB10 is that idea made possible, not a simplification but a distillation, true to the Sartory-Billard philosophy. As the brand’s first complication, it marks a significant milestone. A vision once tied to a million-euro project, now made accessible.

250th Anniversary

Created as a limited edition to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States, the SB10 250th Anniversary celebrates the story behind one of the nation's most enduring symbols: the Statue of Liberty. Rather than reproducing the monument itself, this edition draws inspiration from the material that made it possible. American copper, whose surface slowly transforms through exposure to oxygen, moisture and time, gradually develops the distinctive blue-green patina recognised around the world. It is this natural evolution, rather than simply the final colour, that became the starting point of the project.

The same idea guided every stage of its creation. American copper is individually CNC-engraved in the United States by Ron Elkins, creating a bespoke pattern inspired by the American flag moving in the wind and carved in deep relief. The copper is then hand-patinated in Scotland by Chris Alexander, better known as The Dial Artist, using techniques that accelerate the same natural oxidation that would normally take decades. Finally, the watch is assembled in France by Armand Billard, bringing together three craftsmen from three countries connected by a shared chapter of history.

Unlike a traditional dial protected beneath a crystal, the SB10's cabochon remains fully exposed. Every engraved groove and every nuance of the patina can be explored with the fingertips. The guilloché is not simply there to catch the light, but to be felt, while the patina gives the copper a surface that changes not only in appearance, but also in character. This is a watch designed to be touched.

Touch is not only part of the experience. It becomes part of its evolution. Over time, repeated contact gradually wears the protective lacquer, allowing the copper beneath to continue its natural evolution. Like the Statue of Liberty itself, every watch will slowly develop its own character.

No two watches will age in exactly the same way.

Each one leaves our workshop with the same American copper, the same CNC-engraved pattern and the same hand-applied patina. From that moment on, however, every watch begins to tell a different story, shaped by its owner.

A Vision Brought to Life

Every great collaboration begins with the right people.

For the SB10 250th Anniversary, Armand Billard turned to two craftsmen whose expertise perfectly complemented the vision behind the project.

American dial maker Ron Elkins spent more than twenty-five years building and modifying his own watches before deciding to dedicate himself entirely to dial making. Frustrated by the lack of bespoke options available, he set out to master traditional dial-making techniques himself. What began as a personal passion quickly grew into more work than he could handle. Today, Ron is recognised as one of the leading specialists in bespoke dial engraving for independent watchmaking. For the SB10 250th Anniversary, Ron worked closely with Armand to develop a guilloché pattern unlike any he had engraved before, translating the Stars and Stripes into an intricate composition of flowing lines, changing directions and varying depths. It is a project he describes as one of his favourites, saying simply: "It's always different with Sartory Billard."

Scottish artist Chris Alexander, founder of The Dial Artist, graduated from Gray's School of Art with a Master's in Design before founding The Dial Artist in 2017. After years spent experimenting with paints, lacquers and surface finishes, he established a distinctive artistic style that has made him one of the most recognisable names in contemporary watch dial art. For the SB10 250th Anniversary, that same experimental mindset was applied to American copper, developing a process that accelerates its natural oxidation while preserving the depth and detail of Ron's engraving beneath a protective lacquer. As with all of Chris's work, experimentation wasn't simply part of the process, it was the process itself.

French designer Armand Billard, founder of Sartory-Billard, conceived the SB10 250th Anniversary and developed its overall design. Bringing together the work of Ron and Chris, he refined every stage of the project, from the guilloché composition to the interaction between engraving and patina. He personally assembles each watch in France, completing a collaboration that unites three craftsmen from three nations around a single vision.

Together, Ron, Chris and Armand brought three complementary crafts to the SB10 250th Anniversary, each contributing their own expertise while remaining true to their own discipline.

MEET THE CRAFTSMEN
Ron Elkins
@red5watchworks
Chris Alexander / The Dial Artist
@thedialartist
Armand Billard
@sartorybillard

Rethinking the jumping hour

Jumping hour watches offer a unique mechanical spectacle: an instant, precise, almost theatrical change. Yet they are often difficult to read, with small apertures and compressed numerals.

The SB10 takes a different path.

At six o’clock, a wide opening reveals the hour on a sapphire disc. This aperture has been deliberately enlarged to ensure immediate legibility, a conscious and almost personal choice.

“I’m 50 years old, I need to read the time clearly.” says Armand Billard.

The numerals appear in an unusually large format for a jumping hour watch, nearly twice the size of those found on more traditional pieces. Designed specifically for Sartory-Billard by typographer Simon Schmidt, they balance modernity with timeless clarity.

A simple glance at the wrist is enough. Time reveals itself effortlessly.

Without hands

The SB10 features no hands.

Time is entirely displayed through two ultra-thin sapphire discs, approximately 0.2 mm thick, that seem to disappear into the light.

The hour disc jumps 30 degrees every 60 minutes, instantly revealing the next numeral. This creates a striking visual effect, almost cinematic, a precise moment, a shift, a beat, a pulse.

The minute disc, by contrast, moves continuously around the cabochon, creating a dialogue between jumping time and flowing time.

Two rhythms coexist: one discrete and punctual, the other smooth and continuous. This duality defines the character of the SB10.

Minutes in orbit

The minutes are indicated by a sapphire disc completing a full rotation every sixty minutes. Around the cabochon, a peripheral ring coated with Super-LumiNova BGW9 traces the passage of time.

A red marker moves along this luminous ring, indicating the minutes with precision and clarity.

But it is at night that the SB10 reveals another dimension. The ring glows in a vivid turquoise, forming a continuous halo around the cabochon. The light appears to float, suspended around the central material.

Time is no longer simply read, it becomes an atmosphere: a slow, silent, almost hypnotic rotation, a luminous circle in motion, a small celestial phenomenon on the wrist

Between watchmaking and jewelry

The SB10 has no traditional dial. In its place, a cabochon: a polished surface borrowed from the world of jewelry, with no mechanical function.

This element becomes the centerpiece of the watch, mounted from the outside like a precious stone set onto the case, not to display time, but to give it presence.

Its surface captures light, but also invites the eye and the hand. The cabochon is not only meant to be seen, it is designed to be touched. Polished, crafted, sometimes textured, it creates a physical, almost instinctive connection with the watch.

The cabochon is not interchangeable. It is an integral part of the watch, forming a personal bond between the object and its owner, much like a piece of jewelry that evolves with time.

This is a watch to be looked at as much as it is to be touched, where material invites gesture, where the finger follows the surface to feel its relief and temperature.

The watch becomes a meeting point between the rigor of watchmaking and the freedom of material expression.

The mechanism

Beneath its apparent simplicity lies a coherent mechanical construction.

The SB10 is powered by the automatic La Joux-Perret G101A caliber, paired with a patented jumping hour module ensuring a precise and instantaneous change.

Both hour and minute discs are made of sapphire and housed within a 39.5 mm stainless steel case.

Every technical choice serves the same vision: clarity, coherence, and purpose.

Technical Specifications

Name: SB10 250th Anniversary
Reference: SB101250A
Case: Stainless steel, 39.5 mm, alternating polished and brushed surfaces
Thickness: 11,5 mm
Lug to lug: 44 mm
Cabochon: CNC-engraved American copper, individually patinated and sealed with a clear lacquer
Movement: Swiss-made La Joux-Perret G101A automatic movement, 55-hour power reserve coupled with a patented jumping hour movement
Water Resistance: 80 meters
Bracelet:
Supplied with three Sartory-Billard rubber straps in navy blue, red and white. Logo pin buckle.
Price:
5200€ excl VAT

Available to order exclusively from July 4th to July 11th, 2026.
First deliveries: End of 2026

SB10 JUMPING HOUR 250TH ANNIVERSARY

€5,200.00 EUR

SB10 JUMPING HOUR 250TH ANNIVERSARY

€5,200.00 EUR

Shipping & taxes

European Union customers: VAT is included in the price at checkout. No additional charges upon delivery.

United States customers: prices are quoted DAP (Delivered At Place). The customer is responsible for any tariffs and import duties as determined by local authorities at the time of import.

Rest of the world customers: prices are quoted DAP (Delivered At Place). Any applicable VAT / GST and import duties will be collected by DHL or FedEx prior to delivery.