In Depth · Corum

Does Corum's skeleton Admiral still look like an Admiral?

Anthracite ceramic and an openworked dial remove the colour cues, leaving the pennants and twelve-sided case to carry Corum's nautical identity.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 4 min read · 23 October 2026

Corum's Admiral has a problem that most skeleton watches do not. Strip away a conventional dial and there is still a round case to tell you what you are looking at; strip away the Admiral's dial and you risk losing the nautical pennants that make it recognisable. The anthracite ceramic Admiral 39, reference A39.232.CG0.5G, puts that problem in plain sight. This is an examination of Corum's current product page and official images, rather than an account of wearing the watch.

The pennants hold their place

Look at the outside of the dial first. Corum retains the twelve-sided case outline and puts monochrome nautical pennants at the hours, although the openworked anthracite brass dial removes the broad, coloured field that usually gives those flags an easy background. The pennants now have to compete with bridges, wheels and the darker spaces between them. In the brand's straight-on photograph they remain identifiable as markers; telling a particular hour at a glance is a more demanding test, and one a photograph cannot settle in changing light.

I expected the open dial to erase too much of the Admiral's personality. Instead, the boundary of the watch does some of the work the dial used to do. A broad, dark bezel frames the mechanics, while the sail-shaped hands cross the centre with enough contrast to stand apart in the supplied images. It is still a busy display, and anyone who values instant reading over movement theatre may find the compromise too severe. But this is a skeleton watch with a legible design argument, rather than a movement dropped into an unrelated case.

There is an interesting restraint in making the ceramic anthracite, too. The finish reads much like a charcoal roof tile beside the brighter edges of the hands and bridges in Corum's pictures. The separate group photograph makes the choice clearer: blue ceramic and a blue and gold interpretation sit alongside this model, and the skeleton version is the one that lets the internal architecture carry the colour story. That judgement comes from the official images; it is not a claim about how the ceramic looks in person.

An 8.90 mm case around an open movement

Corum lists the case at 39 mm across and 8.90 mm thick, with a 50 metre water-resistance rating. Those proportions matter here because the open dial asks for visual space without making the watch physically tall. The case and bracelet are ceramic, and the bracelet's 21.5 mm interhorn width suggests a relatively broad join to the case. Whether that integrated shape sits comfortably on a particular wrist remains unanswered until the watch can be handled. The official photograph gives a useful view of the continuous dark line from bezel to bracelet, not a wear test.

Turn to the movement details and the model becomes less like a decorative cut-out. Corum identifies the automatic calibre as CO232, running at 4 Hz with 30 jewels and a 72-hour power reserve. The brand describes the current Admiral movements as entirely in-house, and this reference gives its mechanics a starring role beneath the openworked dial. Three days of stated reserve gives the owner some room between wears, although it does nothing to resolve the more important question of whether the display reads quickly. Those are different virtues, and this watch chooses to show both.

The bracelet presents its own small contrast. Corum specifies anthracite ceramic links but a stainless-steel triple folding clasp, so the material story changes at the fastening rather than carrying ceramic through every component. I would rather know that plainly than have an all-ceramic impression formed by the front photograph. Corum does not state a bracelet weight on the product page, and the 21.5 mm measurement alone cannot establish how heavy or flexible the watch will feel. That is one of the practical questions still open after the press imagery.

The Admiral identity survives, with a cost

The skeletonised ceramic model sits within a wider Admiral 39 family. Corum's own collection page describes a revised case architecture, dials and pennants across the range, and its product page places this anthracite watch beside the blue ceramic and two-tone versions. In the group image, the blue models make the nautical cues effortless: colour and solid dial surfaces announce the collection immediately. The anthracite model has to earn the connection through shape, markers and hands. I think it does, but only after a closer look. That slower recognition is part of the price paid for the exposed calibre.

The opposite view is easy to understand. If the Admiral is defined by the coloured pennants, making them monochrome while opening the dial can seem like removing the most charming part of the watch. Yet keeping their forms in the hour ring means the model does not abandon the code altogether. The strongest reason to choose this reference is not that skeletonisation improves the Admiral; it is that the Admiral's architecture gives a skeleton movement a more specific home than the usual round display case. That is a narrow distinction, but an honest one.

Corum Admiral 39 ceramic skeleton pricing and availability

Corum lists reference A39.232.CG0.5G at CHF 24,900, excluding taxes, on its official product page and directs visitors to its retailer locator. The page does not show an Australian-dollar price or confirm local stock. No edition size is stated for this reference. Buyers in Australia would need a retailer quote for the local price, taxes and availability.

At this price, the question is whether the open dial reveals something worth giving up the Admiral's easiest read for. The official images suggest that Corum has preserved enough of its nautical language to make the answer plausible. The decision will turn on the moment the pennants, hands and moving parts are seen together on a wrist, where a clean press image can no longer do the sorting for them.