The A-Z of luxury watches: Can we stop time? Yes, says Franck Muller. 

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Continuing the path of unusual complications that began with the Crazy Hours is a timepiece known as Secret Hours. Like the Crazy Hours, this mysterious watch paradoxically does not tell the time—or does it? Well, its hour and minute hands are permanently rested at 12 o’clock; they never move. But the Secret Hours is a fully functioning timepiece, albeit a selfish one, because it gives time only to its wearer, and no one else. In order to read the time, the wearer simply presses and holds the button that’s set into the crown and the spring-loaded hands come to life. What’s most amazing is that no matter how many times they’re engaged and released, they always display the correct time of the day. This is because even though the hands are at rest, they are perpetually synchronised with the going train. Once again, this one-of-a-kind complication showcased Franck Muller’s mechanical ingenuity, as well as his creative spirit and maverick’s approach to watchmaking.