Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Watches

Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Review

The expression "masterpiece" is so widespread in watchmaking jargon that we end up forgetting that it is also ... a collection. It is made by the amazing Maurice Lacroix. The collection is celebrating its 25th birthday today. History could end there, but history buffs have already raised the paradox: 25 years ago, watchmaking was just rising from the ashes, swept by quartz. Creating a "Masterpiece" collection in 1992 was an act of faith, unbearable and arrogant confidence in a mechanical future. A quarter of a century later, it must be said that the recipe was the right one. Why do you ask? It was unique for four reasons. For over 40 years, Maurice Lacroix watches have been produced in Maison's ultra-modern workshops, in Saignelégier. Maurice Lacroix was created in 1975 by the commercial firm Desco von Schulthess AG of Zurich. For a discerning amateur, a watch is never as beautiful as when it has advanced mechanical attributes while being coherent with its value. Then it is also about authenticity, satisfaction, luxury, and passion.

The History of the Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Collection

The “Les Mécaniques / Masterpiece” line includes limited series models operating with “historic” or “heritage” movements, purchased at the time of the peak of the “quartz crisis”, then perfected. We note in this collection alarm watch bracelets and chronographs with technical innovations derived from traditional movements. Some watches in the collection are obtained from drafts previously developed by the firm's ETA, Unitas, and others, and then modified by incorporating several complications, such as retrograde movements, power reserve indicators, and calendar modules.

It is obviously by thinking of lovers of beautiful mechanics who are also attentive to the right value of the watch that the management of Maurice Lacroix has chosen to work the timepieces of the Masterpiece family. They made them references indisputable in terms of the balance between mechanical and pricing.

In 2006, Maurice Lacroix created the first fully developed movement within the company, the ML106 which equips the Masterpiece chronograph. Other original movements followed, including an automatic movement in 2011. The transition to the manufacture of movements was accompanied by an increase in the size of the watches and a shift towards more modern or industrial-looking models.

For over 30 years, Maurice Lacroix mechanical timepieces have been produced with exceptional precision and perfection in its workshops by experienced watchmakers. For the finishing work and the assembly of moving parts that are sometimes microscopic, the main experience of the watchmaker and the know-how transmitted from generation to generation are always in high demand.

Well Identified Collectors

If the Masterpieces are still present today, it is because these four pillars are still in each of the models: works from an independent house, manufacture, developing creative timepieces, and at fair prices. Any watchmaking enthusiast knows the Square Wheel, for example. The same goes for the Second Mysterious. These complications do not shine by their technicality, their creativity, their originality ... but by the three at the same time!

The Retrograde (Moon or Double) are two models that play on common complications (second-time zone, moon phase, date, etc.) but whose oversized display draws a timepiece with a unique profile. It’s the same recipe that was deployed for one of Maurice Lacroix’s latest Masterpieces, Gravity. Its components are only the hours, the minutes, and a small second, but the total composition of the dial offers a unique face, alternating between solid, perforated surfaces and skeleton components.

Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Double Retrograde Watch

In steel, this 43 mm watch returns to the history of the Masterpiece range by taking up the mechanics of the 2003 model, while knowing how to reinterpret the graphic codes of this family of products to register with modernity in the continuity of this line. From this reference, we immediately retain the sober graphics and the highly elaborate ordering of the dial with its two retrograde displays which give it a very specific look and density.

It must be said, fanatics of fine mechanics know that with a piece presenting the time, but also the date at 6 o'clock at the tip of a retrograde hand, the time of a second-time zone also at using a retrograde hand and the indication of the power reserve in a semi-circular sector at 3 o'clock, they will have every chance of catching the eye of other amateurs and, thanks to the rare functionalities observable on the dial, be considered experts. And I don't care which ones because of the price of this creation, USD 4631,49 incl. affordable, given its complexity of implementation.

Undoubtedly, this watch with a refined design by the adoption of a smooth bezel and the removal of the pusher initially placed at 2 o'clock (2003 version) will perfectly meet the expectations of collectors looking for a timeless product with complicated functionalities offering the best compromise on the market today in terms of return on investment.

Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Moon Retrograde Watch

This 43 mm diameter steel watch, to be worn soberly on an alligator strap, is one of the time measurement instruments that, when they were released in 2005, caused a lot of ink to flow. The use of a retrograde hand for the calendar, the presence of a moon phase indicator, and the arrangement of all the different information all increased the perceived quality. This emblematic model which has seduced an audience very sensitive to watchmaking technique returns to offer fanatics of fine mechanics to be able to take advantage of a masterpiece of watchmaking at an unbeatable price. From this wonder also displaying the date at the periphery of the moon window, we retain its harmonious design which catches the eye, not so much because it is explosive, but rather because the balance of each detail makes it a model of lasting classicism.

Served by a mechanical caliber with automatic winding from manufacture referenced ML192, this timepiece of astronomical quality due to the care taken to its settings (18,000 vibrations per hour and adjustment in 5 positions), present, to complete and energize its dial available in black or blue, a power reserve indicator at 2 o'clock. Without taking inaccessible flights in terms of price since it can be approached at USD 5,043.

Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Skeleton Watch

Impressive sobriety and sophistication at the same time, this 43 mm diameter steel watch impresses with its very modern skeleton. It must be said, it is very specifically this type of treatment that has changed within the profession itself the way it was possible to open up movements. Contemporary, this breakdown allowed us to take a fresh look at the exposed mechanics. Here, the hand-wound ML 134 caliber is magnified and each component revealed in the light of this transformation having asked the craftsmen of the manufacture to precisely calculate the different pressures and constraints that the watchmaking heart was likely to withstand.

In the end, this simple timepiece with sobriety remains one of those that invariably attracts the eye as the pattern on the dial is out of the ordinary. It will be noted in particular and even if it is a detail, which the constituent parts of the crown zipper, have been particularly neat so that these too often raw elements among Maurice Lacroix's competitors, do not catch the eye and merge into the spider complex formed by this metal mesh.

This sobriety is reflected in that of the blue dials which, whatever the model, efficiently organize the data of time. If one features a retrograde calendar at 10 a.m., the other displays a double retrograde calendar - GMT and date - at 12 and 6 o'clock.

When slightly off-hook, the displays are underlined by the sun-satin finish of the deep blue dial. The power reserve is indicated at 2 or 3 o'clock, depending on the model. Punctuated by a crescent of rose gold applied indexes that stretch gradually, it gives a real impression of movement. As for the small seconds, it progresses continuously in a regular round.

This beautiful blue dial - a real trend in watchmaking for two years - is flown over by fine rose gold hands whose diamond finish is further enhanced by a slight curve. The absence of an axis hole confirms a traditional achievement whose attention to the smallest detail is taken to the extreme.

Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece: Still lots of unexplored tracks

What about tomorrow? There are still many watchmaking fields that Maurice Lacroix has not yet explored. The crafts, for example, are all, always, valued under the sign of tradition. It’s time to dust off the enamel, for example, to play with, and to put it in an ultra-modern room.

Engraving, in the same way, is done only on gold or steel. Titanium requires more effort but offers an exhilarating finish. What about carbon? And we will not even talk about shapes: all Masterpieces have been round so far. Why? Finally, there remains the time display which, until today, has always been done by hands, central or off-center.