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WATCHES & STYLE
Maurice Lacroix expands the Masterpiece, Aikon and Eliros collections
by Katherine Arteche
22 May 2020
22 May 2020
We speak with Stéphane Waser, Managing Director of Maurice Lacroix, who presents the brand's novelties for 2020.
For Maurice Lacroix, it’s the Masterpiece collection that’s heralded as the collection where all the good things are classified. At our last exchange, Stéphane Waser demonstrated the “free-hand” mechanics of the Aikon Mercury when it debuted last year.
It was a frivolous take on reading time, per se. While free hand movements automatically wind up the watch, the main hour hands would swing around the main axis, only locking arms at the correct time display when the watch is held up to the wearer.
While one would easily narrow it down to loose pins and a gear-locked snail cam, the technical creation took the team three years to develop. “The Mercury is doing really well,” shared Stéphane, Managing Director of Maurice Lacroix. “The watch is in the midst of its deliveries and the reception is that it’s really beautiful; everyone really just likes playing with it.”
- MASTERPIECE EMBRACE
- AIKON VENTURER
- ELIROS
This year, the latest Masterpiece gears its attention towards a ladies’ piece. The Masterpiece Embrace displays the main hours and the day of the week, including a curious mechanism display that spins off-centre. This particular whimsical installment is a pair of heart-shaped gears that make a complete cycle in 60 seconds.
“We asked ourselves – how do you create a Masterpiece for ladies that meets the demand with function? It’s not about creating a small piece anymore, putting diamonds on mother-of-pearl and it's done,” says Stéphane.
“The concept we wanted for the Embrace addresses the two hearts. And the calendar retrograde, being a serious complication, is now something to have for everyday.”
At 40mm, the case is a sizeable fit for ladies’ wrist. Long gone are the days where dainty and feminine watches equate to small and simple ones. Created in two versions, the dials are fashioned in white mother-of-pearl and aventurine, with matching leather straps.
- MASTERPIECE EMBRACE
- AIKON VENTURER
- ELIROS
Aikon Venturer
The Aikon collection gets major additions with a skeleton chronograph, new sizes for the Automatic Date, the expansion of the Venturer GMT, and the introduction of a model in a new material.
In a limited range of 500 pieces, the Aikon Venturer Bronze is presented in a new case that’s subject to a nice patina if the wearer knows how to treat it well. A brown ceramic bezel frames the green dial and is paired with interchangeable straps between a brown calf leather or green rubber, via the EasyChange system.
It’s ironically refreshing to see a GMT model, only because it is perhaps long overdue. With its blocky silhouette and fuss-free color palette of black and steel, the Venturer GMT does the job.
“Having the GMT hours on the bezel keeps the dial open and legible. With the bright red GMT hand, it only takes one look at your watch to easily read the hours. On the case back, there's a map to indicate the time zones.”
- MASTERPIECE EMBRACE
- AIKON VENTURER
- ELIROS
Eliros
“You’ll notice that green is very popular this year,” says Stéphane. “On the whole, the new Eliros watches are fresher, being part of the entry level collection.”
The contemporary look of the Eliros Date in 40mm is splashed with a shade of emerald, adding to the effect a gradated, smoked dial with a sun brushed finish. It’s a stylish addition that’s encompassed with the color itself, and the dial is made legible with thin, gold-plated main hands and indices.
Among the watch rotations that Stéphane very strategically maneuvered throughout our conversation, he pulled out this colorful, gleaming entity on the last stop. “It seems more commonplace that everyone is starting to have a rainbow watch,” he says. “So this is ours.”
The watch is simple, glaringly colorful, but the addition of the holographic overlay adds a fun emphasis. The watch is limited to 1,000 pieces.
Explore the full range of Maurice Lacroix's new novelties on the website.
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