Thirty years ago, when Maurice Lacroix launched its first watch in Austria, it was an unknown entity. Today, the brand’s watches can be found in 4,000 retail outlets in some 60 countries.
Theirs is not an ‘overnight’ success story, it is one of diligent development through an appreciation of the watchmaking tradition, skilled craftsmanship, technical expertise, an eye for detail and a keen sense of design. In short, Maurice Lacroix, from day one, has sought the ultimate … perfection.
The Masterpiece Collection is the summit of the brand’s art: sophisticated mechanical watches with various innovative complications that highlight not only the brand’s understanding and mastery of mechanical watch techniques, but also the capacity for original design. But its competence in the competitive watchmaking arena doesn’t stop with the Masterpiece Collection. Their Pontos, Niros, Calypso, Les Classiques, Selena and Divina all have their own individual character, highlighting everything from mechanical functions to refined elegance.
This year, in particular, Maurice Lacroix has excelled in creativity with its new models, from the purity of the majestic Masterpiece Tourbillon Rétrograde to the sheer beauty of the new Divina ladies’ models, or the originality of the Masterpiece Régulateur to the elegance of the Pontos Chronograph. Each timepiece offers something new, something eye-catching, something appealing.

Mechanical masterpieces
Let’s first of all take a look at the Masterpiece Tourbillon Rétrograde (which we touched upon briefly in Europa Star 2/2005) with its 43.5 mm platinum case and ML 110 movement. The filigree tourbillon cage is in a stylized M similar to the brand’s logo, rotates about its axis once every minute and holds a polished steel pallet and escapement wheel, a coiled balance wheel, a balance spring. The balance frequency is 21,600 semi-oscillations per hour and the usual back of the watch movement was turned to the front so that the small ‘whirlwind’ with its small seconds hand can be seen in the aperture at 6 o’clock as it carries out its precision-stabilizing work. In addition to the tourbillon there is a retrograde date display between 10 and 11 o’clock and a 90-hour power reserve indicator between 1 and 2 o’clock. The dial is in silver with Roman numerals and blue Breguet hands are used as an elegant colour contrast. The timepiece has sapphire crystals front and back in order to admire the hand-decorated movement.
This is a Limited Edition of 30 pieces and the owner will be invited to the Maurice Lacroix workshops to see the manufacture of his own watch.
Before talking about the new Maurice Lacroix Régulateur, here’s a little background information. Regulator clocks first appeared in the late 17th century. Fitted with seconds-pendulums their sole purpose was precision and they were regarded as the most accurate of timekeepers. Used in workshops for comparative purposes of the fastest moving hands, i.e. seconds, watchmakers were disturbed that the less important hour hand often blocked the view of the seconds hand for lengthy periods in the day. To solve this problem, from around 1770 Regulators were re-designed with a separate hour hand in a circle at 12 o’clock thus leaving the minute and seconds hands clearly visible.
The Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Régulateur used this concept as its base and this highly readable model has small seconds at 6 o’clock, a 24-hour indicator at 12 o’clock and a large central minute hand and date indicator hand. The movement is a hand-decorated ML 105 with a skeleton rotor. The 42 mm Régulateur is available in either stainless steel or stainless steel and pink gold, with a silver or black dial, Arabic numerals, luminous hour and minutes hands and sapphire crystals front and back.




The Masterpiece Tourbillon Rétrograde and The Masterpiece Régulateur.


Sophisticated elegance for the ladies
Ladies’ watches have been an important part of the Maurice Lacroix tradition. But when Sandro Reginelli, the Product Manager Classic Collections was commissioned to create a totally innovative product for today’s femme fatale, the task was not an easy one.
Finding a shape that didn’t already exist was a demanding task and meant starting from zero. As was explained, “The watchcase was supposed to be rectangular, but in no way boxy. The dial classic, but not mundane, a watch with style and class that does not appear overpowering. Sensual and visual pleasures are at the origin of its fascinating design. My aim was to give birth to a watch capable of throwing a light on the duality of the modern woman, combining a gentle and asserted personality. Today’s icon, an eternal object.”
The result is sublimely elegant, the watch case has been given an innovative ‘twist’ around its middle which creates a distinctly feminine curve, a tribute, if you like, to the female form. Hence the name Divina – the divine.
In its most simplistic form the watch is a graceful and attractive adornment to any wrist. With the addition of diamonds they underline its unique profile and enhance its distinctive contours, thus offering another more luxurious aspect.
The options are many: the dial can be silver-coloured, black, charcoal, or rhodium-coloured, or made from genuine white, blue, pink, or black mother-of-pearl; Roman numerals have been designed to match the case shape. With the Arabic numeral version utilizing only the 12 and the 6, it appears slightly more elongated and even more intriguing. The 6 and 2 gracefully flow over the dial in a wide curve and appear to liaise with the opposing numeral. Diamonds set into the Roman or Arabic numerals add a further dimension.
Finally, the genuine leather or textile straps come in a colourful palette that will meet the demands of today’s lady about town – they are also interchangeable thanks to a simple mechanism.




Divina Collection and The Divina Limited Edition named Étoile de Mer.


Limited Edition Étoile de Mer
Exploiting the divine Divina case, there is a Limited Edition named Étoile de Mer. Truly unique in concept, it is more than a watch and can only be classified as jewellery art. This audacious design is made up of a stylized starfish with meandering tentacles composed of diamonds, rubies and multi-coloured sapphires, that enlaces not only the dial, but also the case.
As Maurice Lacrox explain, ‘the Divina Étoile de Mer becomes a genuine work of art, a painting that gains in expression and charisma with the different surface treatments of the gems. Under the theme of ‘water and sea’, the designers created a stylized starfish – a spectacular creation reminiscent of the colourful underwater world.’ And who am I to disagree.
The strap also maintains the ‘water and sea’ concept. Made from galuchat (ray leather) and coloured to match the gems of the starfish on the watch. The case is in 18 carat white gold and is set with either white and black diamonds, diamonds and pink sapphires, diamonds and blue sapphires, diamonds and yellow sapphires, or diamonds and red rubies. There is a Swiss quartz movement. Limited to 30 pieces for each of the five models, this watch remains one of this year’s highlights in the ladies’ timepiece category.

Finally …
In addition to two new watches in the Pontos Collection, a Réserve de Marche (Power Reserve) and a Chronograph, plus two in the Miros Collection – a Coussin Chronographe (cushion-shaped) and a Coussin Réveil (alarm), there is a Masterpiece Lune Rétrograde. Unlike most moon phase watches, the moon phase indicator moves through its aperture at 6 o’clock over a period of 29.5 days. It also indicates the date, the weekday and has a power reserve indicator at 2 o’clock.
Available in a Limited Edition of 30 pieces in platinum or white or yellow gold, the dial is in massive silver with straight Côtes de Genève decoration with a guilloché retrograde date display. Roman numerals and blued Breguet hands complete its refined appearance. The movement is a hand-decorated mechanical hand-wound ML 104 with 35 jewels, blued steel screws, swan neck precision adjustment, polished steel pallet and escapement wheel.
As I mentioned earlier, Maurice Lacroix sought perfection from its very beginnings. The models from this year’s collections certainly give the impression that the brand has achieved its goal.




Masterpiece Lune Rétrograde



Source: August - September 2005 Issue

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