Forewords: please note that the pictured watch is a prototype. It was assembled a few hours before the meeting with Olivier Müller, Karsten Frassdorf and Eric Giroud. At Baselworld, the watch will be available with its fully decorated movement.Leroy. A prestigious name. A difficult one also when we analyse the different projects which took place during the past decades. Is there a kind of curse around this name? I don't know but at the end, I was very excited and proud to be invited by Olivier Müller with a few privileged guests to attend a dinner just before the SIHH in Geneva to discover the new watch which will bear this brand name. It is not difficult to explain why I couldn't miss such opportunity, there were numerous reasons:
- again, the prestige of the name of the brand
- the watch is a chronometer so we were touching the core purpose of watchmaking... accuracy
- the people around the table, friends and an impressive line-up: Olivier Müller, Karsten Frassdorf and Eric Giroud, a lot of good fearies around the cradle!
- Leroy belongs to the Rodriguez group and so can take advantage of its strengths and assets
- and of course, the curiosity to learn the strategy developed by the Leroy team to succeed.
I've known Olivier, Karsten and Eric for many years. I remember very well my first encounter with Karsten at the Train Bleu restaurant in Paris Gare de Lyon a long time ago... I was seduced at that time by his own watchmaking philosophy: the good old chronometers with a large balance wheel and a low frequency... thanks to Karsten I saw balance wheels with diameter over 16mm...
I met Olivier last year at Baselworld and he told: you know, we will work now to better take advantage of the prestigious Leroy history. But be patient.
Patience is not my best virtue... and these 10 months were very long for me!
And we discovered the prototype during the dinner. So let's have a closer look on it.
The Chronometer is a Chronometer Observatoire because like any good chronometer it will get the Chronometry Certificate with the measured rates from a prestigious observatory: the Observatoire of Besançon which as you know tests the watch and not only the movement.
It is powered by a handwind caliber, the L200 which features a double barrel, a small second hand at 6 o'clock and a power reserve indicator very discreetly indicated thanks to a disk visible in a window located at 9 o'clock.
The main technical characteristics of the movement are as follows:
- the two barrels are in parallel
- it has a 15 lines diameter which is a right one to get a balanced dial
- its thickness is 4,5mm
- its power reserve is 98 hours. Actually, the watch would be able to reach a theorical power reserve of 150 hours but it is limited thanks to an instantaneously jumping lever in order to preserve the isochronism and to get the most stable accuracy during the length of the power reserve
- it has 42 stones including 4 diamonds
- the frequency is 2,5hz... not a surprise for me!
- and the balance wheel lift angle is 16°
- it features a stop second
Of course, the regulating organ is not a classic one. It gathers a direct impulse escapement, a tribute to Pierre Le Roy and also a "Brun" cage, an invention by a watchmaker, Mr Brun, around 1900.
The hairspring with double terminal curves is based on Pierre Le Roy's works. The inner and outer curves both favor the isochronism by keeping the concentric behaviour even when in vertical positions. Moreover, thanks to the "Brun" cage, the watchmaker in charge of the positioning of the hairspring can choose the attachment point and the shape of the outer terminal curve with the studs which can be located anywhere on a full 360° circle. It is the "Brun" cage which gives this unusual visual effect over the regulating organ. It is also important to mention that two diamonds are used as pallets of the escapement fork.
Time is also coming to explain you one of the originalities of the watch, visible dial side. If you look at the behaviour of the second hand, you will be surprised to see that it is very unusual. Actually, you have to consider a two seconds period. In this period, it does a small step and then a larger one. It is here again a homage to Pierre Le Roy and this behaviour is called the "duplex jump". My understanding is that the second hand scale will be redesigned to take into account the duplex jump.
The decoration of the movement was far from being completed when I could see and handle the watch. It will be obviously finished with a lot of care. I will wait for the watch available at Baselworld to come back to this topic.
In any case, I'm already able to appreciate the lay-out of the movement which is at the same time very classic and also quite unusual (like the "Brun" cage). Some details are very "Karsten" but at the end the movement is not very similar to what I saw previously at Heritage or FDMN. And I think it is good news. This lay-out shows that there is a true ambition behind the movement and that it was specifically designed in this Leroy context.
The watch itself, and especially its dial, also wears the Eric Giroud's signature. I like the neat and clear applied figures, the central guilloché part and the very discreet window. When I saw the watch, the power reserve disk was working this way: between 0 - 60 hours of working: same colour than the dial. Between 60-80 hours: white. Over 80 hours: red. Time to wind the watch! Actually, the Leroy team is working on this disk to motivate the owner of the watch to wind it everyday which is better for the accuracy.
The "Courteault" hands, which are hollowed, offer a better contrast than expected. They remind me of course the former Osmior watches.
The case is also very successful, without any useless effect. When we saw the watch the crown was a too small, it was since then redesigned and enlarged to get a better winding experience... which is very welcome for a handwind watch!
The case which features polished and brushed parts will be available with 38mm or 40mm diameters, in PG, in WG or in two tones. Olivier Müller insisted on the fact that of course, some personalizations will be offered. If a client wants blued hands to replace the rhodiumed hands, Leroy will of course propose them.
We had a debate during the dinner about the dial design to be fully transparent with you. Some guests were arguing that for a chronometer watch, the purer, the better. I understand this point of view but for me it is also important to bring some spice dial side like it is done with the movement. So I was happy to observe the contrast between the central guilloché part and the bright peripheral part on which are put the applied figures. Moreover, these figures contribute to the perceived quality.
As you can see, I was under the charm of this watch thanks to its special movement and its convincing, at least for my taste, design. It is the reason why I will not miss the unveiling of the fully completed prototype within a few weeks at Basel. The final assessment will come at that time by handling it again, winding it and so on... but my first feelings are positive!
I would like to thank Olivier Müller, Karsten Frassdorf and Eric Giroud for the invitation and the time they dedicated to us.
Fr.Xavier
