Tag

Maurice Lacroix

Browsing
The Watches

Maurice Lacroix Shines Up Aikon with PVD 

Maurice Lacroix adds a distinctive metallic sheen to its best-selling Aikon collection with two new models, each dressed with a glossy PVD hue.

The new Aikon PVD entries add a 39mm dark blue model and a 42mm gunmetal grey edition to the wide-ranging collection. Maurice Lacroix will make each new model as a limited edition series of 888 watches.

One of two new Maurice Lacroix Aikon PVD models.

Since the Swiss watchmaker debuted Aikon in 2016 we’ve seen it expand to include quartz-powered and automatic models, with a many boasting eye-catching skeletonized designs.

Each of the new watches displays the time from an impressive fumé dial finished using a Clous de Paris motif. As a fumé design, the color (which matches the case) is lighter at the center and darker toward the edges.

From the back of the watch wearers can see the automatic Sellita-based ML115 movement, which Maurice Lacroix finishes with perlage and colimaçon.

As with all Aikon watches, these debuts are equipped with the Maurice Lacroix Easy Strap Exchange system, which means the wearer can quickly change the included rubber strap as desired without the need for tools.

Price: $2,450. 

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

2023 Favorites, Part III 

At the end of the year it’s time to note our favorite 2023 debut watches. We continue our look at a few of our favorite timekeepers of the year. 

Maurice Lacroix: Pontos S Diver 

Maurice Lacroix revisited its Pontos S Diver earlier this year,  revamping the dive watch with a sharp-looking new dial sporting bolder indexes and minute markings, improved luminosity and a raised date frame.

With the updated 42mm watch, Maurice Lacroix enhances dial visibility with newly facetted  hour and minute hands, both of which glow with SuperlumiNova. On the minute hand you’ll now see a border colored to contrast with the dial. The hour indexes retain their generous luminescent treatment. 

Maurice Lacroix also retains the watch’s useful internal rotating bezel to indicate elapsed time, adjusted using the crown at the 2 o’clock position. The second crown at the 3 o’clock position is used to adjust the time, date and to wind the automatic ML115 movement. All models are water resistant to 300 meters. Prices: $2,050 (steel) and $2,600 (bronze). 

 

Bell & Ross: BR05 Chrono Green Steel 

Bell & Ross mixes nature and architecture with the new BR 05 Chrono Green Steel, one of its newest in the BR 05 series of ‘rounded square’ designs.  The watch is even more approachable as a steel model, when compared to the gold-cased, three-hand model (BR 05 Green Gold) from earlier in the year. Bell & Ross fits an eye-catching automotive-inspired 360-degree rotor to the movement, which is visible through a sapphire caseback. 

Price: $6,200 (rubber strap) and $6,700 (steel bracelet). 

 

 

Citizen: Washi Paper Limited Edition 

This limited-edition model features a Tosa ‘washi’ dial enhanced with powdered platinum leaf using a traditional Japanese decorative technique called S unago-maki that echoes the look of freshly fallen snow.

The 38.3mm case and the bracelet are made of Super Titanium treated with Duratect Platinum, making the watch scratch resistant and giving the metal a gleaming, almost transparent, silver hue. And of course the watch is equipped with a high-accuracy light-powered Eco-Drive movement with an annual accuracy of ±5 seconds. Price: $4,300. 

 

Pro Tek: Field Watch 

This quite affordable 3000 Field watch is crafted in a slim (11mm) and lightweight titanium case in either a natural or black IP version. All are capped with a flat sapphire crystal over a dial and hands enhanced with 3 colors of T-100 self-illuminating tubes. 

Rated and tested to a legitimate 100 meters of water resistance, the ProTek Series 3000 field watch can also be a casual-use water watch and is delivered with a waterproof Italian leather strap. With a light weight of just over 48 grams (head-only), the watches are very comfortable on the wrist for extended use. The threaded (screw-down) back is also crafted in titanium with a stylized “P” presented in deep relief, as it is on the double-gasket crown. Inside the case is a Citizen/Miyota quartz movement with a four-year battery accurate to +/- 20 seconds per month. Retail price is $475 at www.watchgauge.com. 

 

Custos: Challenge Sealiner PS 

At 59mm by 45mm, this watch’s impressive sapphire case is endowed with a non-reflective coating on both sides and is affixed with specialized Cvstos polished titanium screws. Its sharp-looking teak dial really sets it apart from other nautically themed models. Just below the stylized luminous hands (including a very cool propeller-shaped small-seconds hand) lies a teak-wood plate, echoing the woodwork found on many an ocean-cruising yacht.

Cvstos will make twenty-five examples of the Challenge Sealiner PS with orange or turquoise dial and crown accents and matching rubber strap.  Price: $49,500.

Zenith: Pilot Big Date Flyback

Powered by the new El Primero 3652 automatic high-frequency chronograph (a new version of the Zenith El Primero 3600), this hero debut from Watches and Wonders 2023 displays its namesake functions with panache. The steel model is especially notable for its vintage ‘Rainbow Flyback’  references with its chronograph’s minutes totalizer finished in alternating colors, which will make it easier to distinguish between the five-minute marks. 

In addition, the steel model’s central chronograph seconds and its chronograph minutes hands are bright orange. This is another nod to the Zenith El Primero Rainbow from 1997. Also very cool, the model’s black ceramic version (above) is more utilitarian look with luminescent white markers and hands that contrast nicely against a black corrugated dial. On both models, the oversized date display features a new, patented mechanism that advances and stabilizes both of the big date’s wheels in less than 0.03 seconds.

Prices:

Pilot Big Date Flyback – Black Microblasted Ceramic: $13,500 and Pilot Big Date Flyback – Steel: $11,500.

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

Maurice Lacroix Engraves a Skeletonized Aikon 

Maurice Lacroix adds to its hot Aikon series with the new Aikon Skeleton Urban Tribe, a 39mm steel-cased watch characterized by an intricately engraved case and bracelet displaying a detailed architecture-themed pattern.

The new Maurice Lacroix Aikon Skeleton Urban Tribe.

Framing a skeletonized Automatic ML135 automatic movement made in cooperation with Sellita, the case here is rife with lines, triangles, rays and other shapes frequently seen during a walk in any modern metropolis.

The new watch echoes the now-sold-out 2021 Aikon Urban Tribe model, but with added open-work that creates new avenues for light to reflect and refract through the watch.

Similar shapes and textures also line the entire top of the steel bracelet, enhancing the unusual nature of the Urban Tribe design.

Maurice Lacroix has even customized the oscillating weight with sandblasted and sun-brushed decor and has finished the movement itself with circular graining and snailed finishes.

To mimic street lights and building flourishes, Maurice Lacroix facets the watch’s SuperLuminova-coated hands to better reflect light. All this is framed with luminescent indexes and a dark grey flange.

As with all Aikon models, this new Aikon Skeleton Urban Tribe style features Maurice Lacroix’s own Easy Strap Exchange System, which means the wearer can quickly swap the bracelet for a strap if desired. 

With this model’s specially designed bracelet, however, I suspect the quick-change system will be very infrequently used.  

Price: $4,250. 

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

Maurice Lacroix Celebrates Summer with Colorful Aikon Trio

Maurice Lacroix revisits its Aikon Automatic collection to celebrate summer, adding three colorful limited edition models in a selection of case sizes.

The watches all exhibit summery hues on their matte Clous de Paris dials, which Maurice Lacroix matches to an equally colorful rubber strap.

And as the watches are made for summertime outdoor wearing, Maurice Lacroix uses FKM rubber straps which are said to be more flexible and more weather resistant than standard rubber straps.

Maurice Lacroix also includes a five-row stainless steel bracelet with each watch and makes it simple to swap for the bracelet without the need for tools. 

For smaller wrists, Maurice Lacroix adds a 35mm case option (pictured below) available with a pink dial or a turquoise dial and matching strap. Each model in this smaller size also features a combination of baton markers and diamond-set hour indexes.

The two 35mm Aikon Automatic Limited Edition watches feature diamond markers.

The slightly larger 39mm Aikon Limited Summer Edition is also available with a pink or turquoise dials and strap, but without the gem set markers. Here, rhodium-finished markers indicate the hours.

Three 42mm models also include dials and straps in pink and turquoise, but add a third option with a bright orange dial (called Orange soda).

Unlike the others in the new collection, the 42mm orange model features a dial with black outlined markers rather than all-silver markers, and extend the contrasting hues with a black date field with white numerals.

Inside each of the Aikon Limited Summer Edition models Maurice Lacroix fits its Sellita-based ML-115 automatic movement. The movement’s decorated rotor is visible through the clear sapphire caseback on each watch. Each reference is limited to 888 pieces.

Prices: $2,500 (42mm and 39mm) and $2,550 (35mm with diamond markers). 

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

Maurice Lacroix Updates Pontos S Diver 

Maurice Lacroix revisits its Pontos S Diver, revamping the dive watch with a sharp-looking new dial sporting bolder indexes and minute markings, improved luminosity and a raised date frame. In addition, Maurice Lacroix offers a bronze-cased edition, a first for the collection.

One of three new Maurice Lacroix Pontos S Divers.

The Swiss watchmaker released its first-generation Pontos S Diver in 2013 but halted it a few years later as it increased production of its hot Aikon collection to meet demand.

With the updated 42mm watch, Maurice Lacroix enhances dial visibility with newly facetted hour and minute hands, both of which glow with SuperlumiNova. On the minute hand you’ll now see a border colored to contrast with the dial. The hour indexes retain their generous luminescent treatment.

Maurice Lacroix also retains the watch’s useful internal rotating bezel to indicate elapsed time, adjusted using the crown at the 2 o’clock position. The second crown at the 3 o’clock position is used to adjust the time, date and to wind the automatic ML115 movement. All models are water resistant to 300 meters.

Maurice Lacroix debuts its first bronze-cased Pontos S Diver.

Bronze too 

As noted, Maurice Lacroix is offering a bronze edition of the watch in addition to the steel models. 

While the regular production steel models are available with black grained or white lacquered dial options, the bronze model is limited to 500 pieces and is paired with a blue grained dial.

The bronze version comes supplied with two straps, one in dark blue leather and the other in dark blue rubber. Maurice Lacroix supplies the steel models with three matching straps: an M-branded fabric strap and two rubber straps.

Finally, Maurice Lacroix equips the new Pontos S Diver with the company’s Easy Strap Exchange System that allows the wearer to quickly swap straps without the need for tools. 

Prices: $2,050 (steel) and $2,600 (bronze). 

by
Keep Reading