Scottish Watches Podcast #364 : Retrograde Mercurial Movements, Mono Pusher Chronographs and More with Stephane from Maurice Lacroix

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Click here to read along and see the photos in our show notes as you listen – http://www.scottishwatches.co.uk/2022/05/26/scottish-watches-podcast-364-retrograde-mercurial-movements-mono-pusher-chronographs-and-more-with-stephane-from-maurice-lacroix/

Welcome to the Scottish Watches Podcast – Episode 364! Today we are joined by Stéphane Waser, the CEO of Maurice Lacroix a brand that we have mentioned many times due to the quality and material diversity they offer at a great price point. Maurice Lacroix hasn’t just been gaining respect and appreciation just from us, but from the entire watch community. Here is how they’ve done it.

Stephane first lent his voice to our review of the Aikon Venturer Bronze – Maurice Lacroix AIKON Venturer Bronze Limited Edition Watch Review Wristwatch check: Stephane is wearing the Maurice Lacroix Aikon Tide AI2008-50050-300-0. Part of their #Tide collection made from ocean material. The resultant composite material is twice as hard as standard plastic, five times more resistant and has a carbon footprint significant less than the production of virgin PET. The bezel, case, case back, crown, end-piece and buckle on this new model are all made from this composite material. Aikon Tide Launch Rikki is wearing his Aikon Venturer 43mm ai6058-brz01-630-1 Brand History: In the early 1960s, the parent company of Maurice Lacroix purchased a watch assembly factory in Saignelégier where high-quality timepieces were produced for several name brands of watches, which carried their private label signatures on dial, case, and movement. With the know-how gained from decades of building high-quality watches, Desco von Schulthess created his own brand in 1975, Maurice Lacroix.

Maurice Lacroix launched the Calypso in 1990, which became the model to be redesigned into the modern Aikon collection launched in 2016. The high sales of these pieces allowed the brand to invest further in the brand. Part of the investments generated by the Calypso allowed for the creation of the Masterpiece collection in 2006, containing retrograde, split-second, column wheel, and skeletonized watches: Retrograde Calendrer MP7068 MP7128-SS001-320 Le Chronographe Squelette In 2004 the brand signed a sponsorship contract with Roger Federer. In 2006 Maurice Lacroix launched its first in house movement, ML 106, with a Unitas base. A few of the current production pieces with in-house movements: Masterpiece Chronograph Skeleton-45mm-mp6028-ss001-001-1 Masterpiece Skeleton-43mm-mp7228-ss001-000-1 Masterpiece Triple Retrograde-43mm-mp6538-ss001-310-1 Masterpiece Gravity-43mm-mp6118-ss001-115-1Aikon Master Grand Date-ai6118-ss00e-430-c In 2016 they released the Aikon collection in quartz with the objective of it becoming the backbone of the brands sales. Aikon-quartz Aikon Automatic Aikon Automatic Chronograph Sprint-ai6038-dlb01-330-4 Maurice Lacroix Aikon Label Noir Limited Edition. A hand finished limited edition where they provided the raw materials and allowed the craftsman at Label Noir to run free with their own ideas. Maurice Lacroix Aikon Urban Tribe was a collaboration with a goldsmith customer. Aikon Automatic Mercury-44mm-ai6088-ss002-030-1 Discovering the Maurice Lacroix Aikon Mercury and Its Patented “Free-Hand” Display-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsl11t GrXGU Last year we had the chance to get hands on with the Aikon Venturer-38mm-ai6057-ss00f-150-f and the Aikon Venturer GMT-43mm-ai6158-ss002-130-1 Recent releases to check out: Aikon Automatic 39mm-ai6007-ss00f-630-d Aikon Automatic Skeleton 39mm-ai6007-ss002-030-1 To celebrate the 20 years of the Pontos collection, the Maurice Lacroix Pontos Chronograph Monopusher was released.