It’d come as a shock to be taught that Favre Leuba is the world’s second-oldest watch firm. Based in 1737 by Abraham Favre in Le Locle, the model reached a excessive level within the mid-Sixties with its rugged purpose-designed software watches. Now within the palms of trade veteran Patrik Hoffmann, his “revival and renaissance” technique is mixed with comparatively inexpensive costs. Headquartered in Grenchen, Hoffmann’s roadmap for the model is bold, foreseeing the manufacturing of 80,000 to 100,000 items within the subsequent decade. Relaunched throughout Geneva Watch Days 2024, Favre Leuba staged its grand return with 22 references throughout three collections. A kind of references is the Sea Sky Revival, a mannequin impressed by a classic Favre Leuba chronograph for divers and pilots with an inverted panda dial and tachymeter and telemeter scales.
The Sixties and Seventies have been notably prolific chapters in Favre Leuba’s historical past, because it consolidated its popularity for sturdy software watches that went effectively past the decision of responsibility. The 1962 Bivouac, for instance, was the world’s first watch with an aneroid barometer to measure atmospheric stress and altitude. Designed to fathom the depths, the 1968 Bathy was the primary wristwatch with a mechanical depth gauge. You possibly can learn all about Favre Leuba’s early, pre-Hoffmann historical past right here.
Under: a circa Sixties Reference 33033 Sea Sky Chronograph from Favre-Leuba (picture by watchesofswitzerland.com) subsequent to the 2024 Sea Sky Revival, right here with a brown dial
The brand new Favre Leuba Sea Sky Revival feeds into the present pattern for unique retro-inspired watches with trendy specs. Unique within the sense that they aren’t simply dreamed-up retro fantasies however descendants of prestigious, real-life timepieces from the previous. Taking a look at classic examples of Sixties and Seventies Sea Sky ref. 33033 fashions – as you’ll be able to see right here – it’s a enjoyable train to check the previous and new and spot the variations. What turns into instantly obvious is that the brand new mannequin is remarkably devoted to its ancestor, from the general look of the case to the format of the capabilities on the dial.
Sharing an analogous diameter to the unique, the 40mm chrome steel case with a 100m depth score has a pronounced top of 15.23mm – which is commonly the case with trendy automated chronographs. Adorned with sporty satin-brushed surfaces, the sharp angles, pushers and bezel are polished for distinction. Equivalent to its forebear, the case has piston-style pushers, a big, easy-to-grip crown, a notched bezel and bevelled lugs. Whereas the inspiration is unquestionable, the supplies are modern. The unidirectional rotating bezel now has a shiny ceramic inlay matching the color of the dial with engraved 60-minute countdown markers, and the acrylic glass of yesteryear fashions is substituted with a double-domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating.
Impressed by the format of the unique, the dial has a tachymetre scale to calculate the velocity of a shifting object travelling at a set distance and a telemeter scale to calculate the gap separating an observer from a phenomenon that’s first seen (lightning/fireworks) after which audible (thunder/explosion).
The reverse panda dial, with a sunray-brushed black or brown background and three silver-beige snailed sub-dials, provides to the appeal of this watch. Arrow-shaped palms point out the 30-minute elapsed time counter at 3 o’clock and the 12-hour totaliser at 6 o’clock, which differentiate themselves from the working seconds sub-dial at 9 o’clock.
The double utilized index at midday, the broad arrow minutes hand and the hour hand, the elongated printed indices and the inverted triangle on the bezel are handled with previous radium Tremendous-LumiNova to evoke the radium or tritium luminescent materials of the previous (the black dial makes use of inexperienced emission SLN however the brown has blue SLN). Even the model’s hourglass brand and cursive Sea Sky respect the unique, though the hyphen has been faraway from Favre Leuba and the Genève point out changed with the muse date 1737.
Whereas many may want that the Sea Sky Revival have been powered by the legendary manual-winding Valjoux 72, it’s outfitted with the automated La Joux-Perret L112 calibre, itself a derivation of the well-known Valjoux 7750 chronograph. This built-in column-wheel chronograph has a 4Hz frequency and a 60-hour energy reserve. Seen by means of the exhibition caseback, the heat-blued column wheel and screws, the personalized openworked rose gold PVD rotor, and the Côtes de Genève and perlage decorations mark this as a top-grade variant of the L112.
Partly owing to the 7.9mm top of the La Joux-Perret chronograph motion, the case is admittedly on the thick facet. Nevertheless, followers of unique classic revivals with trendy specs will little question succumb to the charms of the Sea Sky Revival. The Favre Leuba Sea Sky Revival retails for CHF 3,950 or EUR 4,600.
For extra data, please seek the advice of favreleuba.com.
