Franck Muller Conquistador Cortez 10000HSC watch, square 18kt rose gold case (41mm height not including lugs x 41mm width), brown alligator leather strap (also available in black), silver-white dial with luminous Arabic numerals, date calendar at 6 o'clock, self-winding mechanical movement, scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, water-resistant to 30 meters.

Also available in 18kt yellow, rose, and white gold. And also available with black, blue, burgundy, green, grey, bronze, sable, pastel blue, pastel green, and pastel pink color dials.

In the 16th century, the Conquistadors sailed in search of El Dorado, the fabled country of gold. With the Cortez line, Franck Muller has sought to pay homage to a highly cultivated and most untypical conquistador. Unlike the violent stereotypes, Hernando Cortez had a different vision of the New World and its indigenous peoples, a vision in which the conquered and the conquerors would work together to build a new society.

The Conquistador Cortez is a watch designed for the bold, for men and women of strong convictions, for those driven by a will to win and overcome, whether the challenge be physical or mental.

The trend towards a case that is both aggressive and ergonomic in design began with the Conquistador line and is taken further this year in the square shape of these latest Cortez models. There seems to be no let-up in the questing ingenuity of Franck Muller. Once again, we are confronted with a renewal, as much of form as of technique. The square case ? double godron for the Model 10000 and single for the 9000 ? is characterised by a slim profile of particularly generous dimensions.

The Conquistador Cortez wrist watches are available in a number of different versions ? steel, 18 carat solid gold (yellow, red or grey) and a jewellery version set with diamonds (either dial insert and case or full dial and case).