Edouard Koehn Tempus III Skeleton Chronograph Review

After we spent a few weeks reviewing the Edouard Koehn World Heritage II I started to really appreciate what the brand was doing with their watches. While the World Heritage II was a great watch that I really enjoyed my time with, there was another watch from Edouard Koehn that really caught my attention.

The World Heritage II is a more classic timepiece with useful alarm and world time complications that are bundled in a handsome titanium case and features a stunning guilloche dial. For the majority of people this watch would tick all the boxes, but I just prefer a more sport oriented watch. Lucky for me Edouard Koehn has a collection that is pretty much designed for my tastes in the Tempus III.



Before I get into the Tempus III, if you'd like a bit of a back story on Edouard Koehn and the re-launched brand please read our review of the World Heritage II where we delve more into the history of the brand.

A quick summary of the brand is basically in 1891 Edouard Koehn established his own manufacture in Geneva after being a part owner of Patek Philippe where he was responsible for expanding the brand throughout the world. Edouard Koehn was known to have the same if not better quality then other brands in Geneva and the manufacture was eventually passed on to his son Edouard Jr who ran the company until the 1930s.



In 2015 Edouard Koehn was acquired by the former CEO of Vulcain, Bernard R Fleury, that along with his family set out to re-launched Edouard Koehn. With Edouard Koehn being such a world traveler, functions like calendars, world timers and alarms were important to the new watches being released by the brand, such as the World Heritage. One other complication that Edouard Koehn was celebrated for was his chronographs. Edouard Koehn released the Tempus series as a tribute to the chronographs produced by the brand in its early years.

The first generation of the Tempus series was the Tempus I which was a three register chronograph housed in a 43 mm black PVD Stainless Steel case. The follow up Tempus II featured a choice of PVD and non-PVD treated stainless steel cases as well as featuring an openheart dial. The newest model and watch we will be looking at today is the Tempus III. For the Tempus III Edouard Koehn crafted the watches out of lightweight titanium and offered both skeleton and guilloche dials. There was also a choice of either titanium or ceramic bezels.



Without even seeing the Tempus III in person, I knew that I would really enjoy the watch. Most everything I like from a watch is present in the Tempus III starting with the titanium case. My personal collection only consists of watches made out of titanium, ceramic or carbon. I like larger watches but do not like heavy watches, so using these high tech materials allows me to wear a light yet larger watch. The Tempus III also has a Genta-esque design almost reminiscent of an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept, with being a huge Offshore and Concept fan this design just sings to me. The work Edouard Koehn put in to skeletonizing the dial is also just beautiful. Finally the watch comes on a deployant clasp which is something I feel should be standard issue on any watch retailing over a few thousand dollars.

The first thing I noticed about the Tempus III upon my initial unboxing of the watch was just how well it was built. I've been around countless sports models from Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe and can honestly say the Tempus III is finished just as nice as any Royal Oak, Overseas or Nautilus. Edouard Koehn uses both brushed and polished finishes on their titanium and ceramic combining for a stunning timepiece. Even little things like the ceramic chronograph pushers and black scalloping around the crown just look amazing.



The next thing I noticed about the watch was the skeletonized dial. Edouard Koehn didn't go over the top with the dial and left enough dial elements in place that allow the watch to still be legible. The hour markers are clearly defined as are the chronograph registers. Sometimes brands go way too far and remove too much from a skeleton dial making the watch unreadable, that's not the case with the Tempus III. Enough is removed to see the action the chronograph pushers cause to the movement and you can even see how the date wheel is laid out and see it move when setting the date.

The final thing I noticed about the Tempus III was the displayed movement in the case back. Just like the World Heritage II, Eduoard Koehn had the movement for the Tempus III created for them from Swiss movement experts Concepto. The movement is finished nicely but what really sets the Tempus III apart from just about every other watch with a display back is that the sapphire on the back of the watch is smoked giving the movement a very unique look. The blacked out look of the movement goes extremely well with the overall aesthetic of the watch as well.



Now that we've gone over my initial thoughts of the Tempus III, let's take a look at the technical specs of the watch. The Tempus III is crafted out of grade 5 titanium that is both brushed and polished. The watch is quoted as having a case diameter of 41 mm but I couldn't find a measurement lower than 43.5 mm. The lug to lug length is a solid 48.5 mm, which is just a tiny bit smaller than I prefer, but close enough. The watch is 14.7 mm thick and weighs in at 131 grams thanks to the use of lightweight titanium and ceramic construction.

The Tempus III uses a flat sapphire crystal with antireflective coating applied to both sides. Since this is a skeleton watch and there is nowhere to place the Edouard Koehn logo, the logo is printed on the sapphire. Under the super clear sapphire is the skeleton dial showing off the top of the Concepto EK-MVTCHR01 automatic movement. The hour markers are covered in a bright Superluminova as are the partially sekeltonized hands. Around the outside of the dial you have a minutes track and the "Swiss Made" text at 6 o'clock. At 3 o'clock you have the 30 minute totalizer for the chronograph, at 6 you have the 12 hour chronograph totalizer and at 9 you have the running seconds hand. The chronograph seconds hand is centrally located as well. The chronograph seconds, minute and hour hands are also coated in red to distinguish them from the time telling hands.



Let's not kid ourselves though, the true draw of this dial is the skeletonization. All non-essential dial material has been removed from the dial of the Tempus III. While Eduoard Koehn did remove most of the dial, what's left still allows you to tell the time and use the chronograph easily. The three subdials are well defined and still have a thick rim where their numerals are placed. The mostly grey and black backing of the top of the movement also adds good contrast to the hands aiding with legibility. The date wheel is completely visible around the outside of the dial as well. At 4:30 you can see an open area of the dial where the current day is clearly displayed. It is a treat to set the day and watch as the date wheel turns and I am guilty of over advancing the date just to watch this little show. One other very nice little dance you get to see on the dial is when you start, stop and reset the chronograph. You get to see some of the chronograph components get triggered on each press of the pushers.

Encasing the dial is a black ceramic bezel that has a slightly rounded octagonal shape to it. The top side of the bezel is brushed while the sides are polished. This look definitely gives the Tempus III the feel of one of the traditional sports watches from the 70s. Between the bezel and the titanium case is a bright red ring that gives the Tempus III a very distinctive look.



The grade 5 titanium case is also very interesting to take in. Along the lug area there are various formed angles that really catch the light differently and make the Tempus III really stand out on the wrist. All flat areas of the case have a brushed finish and the rather large chamfers are polished. The mix of finishes and angles really go well together and give the Tempus III a rather unique case shape and look.

The right hand side of the watch features the two chronograph pushers and the oversized crown. The chronograph pushers are crafted out of brushed and polished ceramic and are nicely sized for easy operation. The crown is made out of titanium and has a thick black scalloped ring going around it that gives superb grip. The top of the crown also features the Edouard Koehn logo engraved on it. Being a true sports watch, the crown is screwed down and aids in the 100 meters of water resistance.



Unscrewing the crown allows for manual winding of the movement in its initial position. Pulling the crown out to position one allows you to set the date while pulling the crown out to position two lets you set the time. Pushing the crown back in causes no jump of the minutes hand and screwing the crown in is simple and requires no extra effort to get the crown to catch and screw in.

The Tempus III uses a standard non-flyback chronograph, so the top pusher starts the chronograph as well as stops it. The bottom pusher is then used to reset the chronograph once it has been stopped. Both pushers operated with a nice firm click and both have a pleasant sound when engaging them.

Flipping the watch over shows off the display case back which is held in position by four screws. The individual number of each watch is also engraved on the lower part of the case back. Like I mentioned earlier, the Concepto Swiss Made automatic movement is displayed underneath a smoked sapphire crystal. This is a very distinctive look that goes well with the overall look of the watch and isn't something I've seen done on a display back in recent memory.



The Concepto EK-MVTCHR01 is manufactured just for Edouard Koehn and beats at 28,000 vph (4Hz) and boasted 48 hours of power reserve. Concepto is probably best known for manufacturing all of the crazy complications for Jacob & Co. I'm surprised that more watch brands don't use calibers from Concepto and tend to go with Sellita or ETA. Maybe cost is prohibitive for using Concepto, but I feel some of that cost would be recouped in using a more boutique manufacture movement over a highly mass produced off the shelf caliber. On our timegrapher that EK-MVTCHR01 showed an accuracy of +1 seconds per day averaged out over various positions. Like with the World Heritage II we just tested, these Concepto movements are just extremely accurate.

The Tempus III has an integrated strap design with a lug width of 28 mm and comes on a black rubber strap. The strap tapers down to 19.5 at the titanium folding clasp. The clasp requires both pushers to be pushed in to release the strap and closes with a re-assuring click. The strap is rather supple and is nice and thick going from just over 4 mm of thickness at the lugs down to 3.4 mm at the end of the strap. The strap also has two quick release pins which makes changing the strap require no tools. With the integrated strap design aftermarket straps will not work on the Tempus III and new straps will need to be ordered from Edouard Koehn.



To be totally honest I'm not always super excited for a watch to arrive, mostly having to do with a watch not really being my preferred style or size. Being pushed out of my comfort zone when reviewing a watch is fun in its own way, but for the Tempus III I didn't have to stray far from what I know and love. I really couldn't wait for the Tempus III to arrive and to spend some time with it.

During my time with the watch, I pretty much wore it exclusively in my watch rotation. The size of the Tempus III makes it wear more like a Royal Oak while having the look of an Offshore. Even though the size is listed as 41 mm, the watch measures more like a 43.5 mm. With the complete lack of lugs the Tempus III wears much smaller than a 42 or 44 mm Offshore. My 44 mm Royal Oak Offshore Montoya and its flared lugs almost overhang my 7.25 inch wrist with a 55 mm flat area, while the Tempus III is easily contained inside my wrist.



While running errands to the grocery store and FedEx the Tempus III was a dream on wrist. The watch and its wide rubber strap kept the watch centered on my wrist and the watch never drifted up or down. The clasp was comfortable and never dug into my skin. Even with the skeleton dial the watch was easy to read when only having a moment to look at the dial like while driving. Going out to dinner and drinks with the watch was great as well, I felt it went perfectly with my typical dress of t-shirts, shorts and sneakers. The watch does extremely well in casual settings, but being such a handsome watch with polished chamfers it would be just as at home in more formal settings. Wrist fatigue was also never an issues with the watch being made out of lightweight titanium and ceramic.

I wasn't sure how much attention the Tempus III would get while wearing it out since the watch isn't super well known outside of watch collector circles. I was very surprised by the amount of looks the watch got and even had a few people ask me about the Tempus III. I think since we are just getting out of the explosion in popularity of the Royal Oak and Nautilus a lot of people are well aware of what those watches are. With the Tempus III having a similar design DNA and just looking so good on wrist, I guess it shouldn't be too surprising that people would take notice of it. The friends and strangers I showed the watch to were very impressed by the build quality and use of materials like I initially was. The skeleton dial was also pointed out as something that most enjoyed as well. When I told people the price of the watch versus what other high end integrated sports models go for most were truly blown away.



Speaking of the price, the Edouard Koehn Tempus III retails for $8,950. For that price you're getting pretty much everything you would find from the top integrated sports watches minus an in-house movement. With the movement being made just for Edouard Koehn and even being made specifically for the Tempus by movement powerhouse Concepto what are you really missing out on? The movements I've tested from some of the top brands rarely achieve an accuracy of +1 seconds per day. Also Concepto is a respected movement maker that also hails from La Chaux-de-Fonds like Edouard Koehn. I do feel that now is a great time to look at a few other integrated sports watches and see how the Tempus III stacks up.

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph comes in a 41 mm stainless steel case and runs on an in-house Calibre 4401 that has 70 hours of power reserve. The watch comes on a stainless steel bracelet and features a solid dial with Grande Tapisserie finishing. The Royal Oak retails for more than four times the price of the Tempus III at $38,500, although they go for well more than that on the secondary market.



Next up we have the Overseas Chronograph from Vacheron Constantin which is crafted out of stainless steel and measures 42.5 mm in case diameter. The Overseas also uses an in-house caliber 5200 with 52 hours of power reserve. Once again we have a solid dial and the Overseas retails for nearly four times more than the Tempus III at $35,600.

Moving on we have the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Chronograph Ti49. This watch is crafted out of titanium like the Tempus III and has a case diameter of 42 mm. Like the Royal Oak and the Overseas the Laureato also comes with an in-house caliber in the GP03300 with 48 hours of power reserve. The Laureato comes in lower than the Royal Oak and Overseas but still costs well over twice the price of the Tempus III at $19,400.



Finally we have the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5990/1A which is crafted out of stainless steel and has a case diameter of 40.5 mm. The 5990/1A features both a flyback chronograph as well as a second time zone. The Nautilus runs on an in-house CH 28-520 C FUS movement with around 50 hours of power reserve. The Nautilus is by far the most expensive at $69,640 and also goes for much more on the secondhand market.

As you can see from the four watches I compared the Edouard Koehn Tempus III to that the watch carries a tremendous value. While the Tempus III doesn't have an in-house caliber like the four above watches, it does offer a skeleton dial which none of the other four watches do. As I've also explained the Concepto manufacture movement really isn't a downgrade in my opinion. Now the above four watches are also manufactured by four of the most respected names in horology which does count for something… but when you're just comparing the watches to each other feature and finishing wise, theTempus III really holds its own.



So is the Edouard Koehn Tempus III for me? I'd say it really is, but I knew that before the watch even arrived. Barring the watch just being super uncomfortable or something going wrong with the movement there was likely little chance that I wouldn't love the watch. The fit and finish of the watch really is top notch and the skeleton dial is just something you don't see often and it is really executed well here on the Tempus III. Having some of the design cues of the Royal Oak Concept is also a massive plus for me. If I could have everything my way, I do wish the case diameter was bumped up a millimeter or two getting to my preferred lug to lug measurement of 50 mm… but honestly it's just fine the way it is and will probably appeal to more buyers who don't want such a large watch.

Naturally then I'd totally recommend the Tempus III for anyone looking for a high end integrated sports watch featuring high tech materials and bold design. Unless you are set on a name like the Royal Oak or Nautilus I feel that the Tempus III really deserves a real hard look. Not only are you getting the integrated sports watch look, but you're also getting a skeleton (or guilloche) dial and titanium and ceramic construction. The movement is no slouch either acing our accuracy tests and coming from a very respected Swiss movement and complication maker in Concepto. If you do end up picking the Tempus III over the other watches mentioned you could end up saving a lot of money and having a watch that is just as good as any other integrated sports watch out there.



Once again I'd really like to thank Edouard Koehn and their distributor Totally Worth It for sending us this Tempus III to review. After my exposure to the World Heritage II and now the Tempus III, I can honestly say that Edouard Koehn is producing timepieces that rival the finest in the industry in terms of build quality and performance. I really can't wait to see what is next for the brand and am eager to see more of their pieces in person.

For more information about the Tempus III please visit : Edouard Koehn

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: EK-CHR09SRBK

Retail Price: $8,950

Case Size: 41 mm (43.5 mm measured)

Lug to Lug: 48.5 mm

Thickness: 14.7 mm

Weight: 131 Grams

Case Material: Grade 5 Titanium

Bezel: Ceramic

Strap: Rubber Strap with Titanium Folding Clasp

Movement: Concepto Manufacture EK-MVTCHR01 Swiss Made Automatic

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Date, Chronograph

Power Reserve: 48 Hours

Water Resistance: 100 Meters