Crazy Hours, in blue.

On a normal watch the hour hand is geared to the minute hand and creeps round the dial. On Crazy Hours the hour hand is driven separately, held still for sixty minutes and then released to jump to the next numeral in numerical order, wherever Franck Muller has put it. One to two is a jump of five positions clockwise; every hour is the same five-position jump, which is why the layout looks random and is not. The minute hand is untouched, so the time reads as a numeral plus minutes, once you find the numeral.

Franck Muller launched the idea on the Cintrée Curvex in 2003. The Vanguard version puts it in the sport case with the flat bezel and the applied numerals, and this one keeps the whole watch in brushed steel so the blue numerals are the only colour, matched by the hands and the stitching on the strap.

The listing is a short one: the title says Vanguard Blue Crazy Hours, the description is Franck Muller’s own paragraph about the brushed steel case and dial and the coloured numerals, and the photograph shows the blue. The model row, though, says V 45 CH BR (OR), which is the orange colour code; either the row is a template value or the dealer lists the colours under one number. Ask which colour is in the box before buying. There are no other spec rows. The dimensions, calibre and reserve here are Franck Muller’s published figures for the Vanguard Crazy Hours, not the dealer’s.

The listing says it usually ships in two to three weeks, which suggests the dealer orders it in. Whether the watch is new with Franck Muller’s warranty is not stated in the rows we read; ask, and ask for the box and papers. Every figure here comes from the listing and from Franck Muller’s published description, not from handling the watch.

This is a regular Amazon listing from an independent dealer, Luxor Watches on the day we read it, with Amazon’s 30-day return window; it is not a Luxury Stores pre-owned unit. The second button opens the live search for Crazy Hours in case this one has sold.

Crazy Hours models have resold for well under new and close to what pre-owned buyers paid, sometimes more, sometimes less; that is a pattern, not a promise, and nothing here is investment advice.