Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Franck Muller Casablanca 'Crazy Hours', c. 2000s
- Maker / attribution
- Franck Muller (maker)
- Date
- c. 2000s
- Historical period
- Mechanical Renaissance (1990 – 2010)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 32 mm
- Stock no.
- 40991282
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Analog/Shift (40991282)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Franck Muller Casablanca 'Crazy Hours' (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by Analog/Shift (dealer), New York (stock number 40991282), this is a wristwatch by Franck Muller, made in Switzerland, dated c. 2000s. The Atlas places it in the Mechanical Renaissance period (1990 – 2010) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 32 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Analog/Shift
Franck Muller is a brand that doesn't get a lot of attention in today's steel sport watch-centric consumer mindset. And we think that's a damn shame. Muller the man and Muller the brand have brought a lot to the world of modern horology, and his colorful, mid-1990s/early-2000s tonneau-shaped dress watch collection perfectly exhibits a design language that walks a fine line between classical and whimsical. This particular piece, a Reference 5850, sure lives up to that reputation... Dating to circa the 2000s, it features a 32mm x 45mm platinum Tonneau case with a curved sapphire crystal, a signed crown, and an absolutely wild, black guilloche dial with stylized shadow indices throughout, luminous stylized-Arabic indices, and a luminous 'feuille' handset. Why have the numerals seemingly been applied by an infant you ask? Well, inside this piece you find Franck Muller's modified Calibre FM2800 automatic winding movement — where time telling is... different. The hour and minute hands do exactly what you would expect from any normal timepiece, just out of order. While the hour hand remains on the current hour, the minute hand completes it's 60-minute trip around the dial, changing over at 12:00... er.. 8:00? Despite their under-the-radar profile, Franck Muller timepieces are still some of the best in the world of dressy complications, and this wildly fun piece is no exception. Give this one a whirl and see what we mean!
Historical context
Mechanical Renaissance (1990 – 2010)
Mechanical watches return as cultural objects; independent watchmaking flourishes.
Mechanical watches returned as cultural and luxury objects. Complications, tourbillons and new materials proliferated; independent watchmakers such as George Daniels, F.P. Journe and Philippe Dufour revived artisanal watchmaking; collecting vintage watches became a major field.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Quartz Revolution
Atlas type guide
Wristwatches
Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.
After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.
What to look for
- The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
- The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
- Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
- Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
- Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
- Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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