Watches & Wonders, the biggest watch show in the industry, is due to take place in just over two weeks’ time during the first week of April. With it, the vast majority of brands both big and small will be revealing their new 2025 collections. Today, Raymond Weil become the first of the attending brands to unveil the watches that they will be debuting at the event. They’re two very different releases for the Freelancer collection, the Raymond Weil Freelancer Complete Calendar and Freelancer Skeleton Cushion Limited Edition.
Raymond Weil Freelancer Complete Calendar
Following the success of the Millisimé in 2023 with its Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève award winning design, it’s perhaps not surprising that there has been a renewed focus and interest in Raymond Weil’s vintage-style offerings. The Freelancer Complete Calendar is a natural development of that, inspired by some of the great calendar watches throughout history. It’s also Raymond Weil’s first complete calendar, making it something of a landmark moment for the brand.
Structurally, the new watch has a 40mm diameter and is available in two references – one in plain steel and the other also in steel but with a rose gold PVD coating. It has a very classy and traditional design with a circular, polished bezel and long lugs that have a gently facetted edge. On the steel model those lugs lead into a 5-link bracelet while the gold is presented on a brown leather strap, which again feels very traditional for a dress watch.
As I mentioned briefly, it’s apparent that the Freelancer Complete Calendar is inspired by famous calendar watches and nowhere is that more apparent than the dial. The rose gold model has a warm, cream dial with gold plated hour markers and the steel is blue. With its day and month windows below 12 o’clock balanced at 6 o’clock by the moonphase and date subdial, the display has a strong visual similarity to icons like Patek Philippe’s Grand Complications and the Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle.
Of course, the Raymond Weil is available at a much more accessible price point than those haute horological giants at £3,195. Thanks largely to the RW3281 automatic movement being a complete calendar rather than annual or perpetual. What that means is it will simply need regular adjustment at the end of months with less than 31 days, like the vast majority of date complications we come across in day-to-day life. Plus, with a 56-hour power reserve and a variety of functions including moonphase, it offers solid value at that price. Also with Carl F. Bucherer bowing out of the game, Raymond Weil are perfectly positioned to take over the mid-range luxury space.
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Raymond Weil Freelancer Skeleton Cushion Limited Edition
Alongside the refined dress watch vibes of the Freelancer Complete Calendar comes a complete change of pace with the Freelancer Skeleton Cushion Limited Edition. Rather than elegant it feels sporty and urban with its black PVD coated steel case in a much more daring cushion shape with rounded corners. Measuring 40mm x 40mm it’s well-proportioned with a 10.5mm thickness and relatively short lugs leading into a black calfskin leather strap.
Naturally, as a skeleton edition, the dial has been openworked to show as much of the movement as possible. It feels like the first true skeleton watch I’ve seen in a little while, as recently other brands have been somewhat erroneously applying the terms to watches with sapphire dials (such as the BR-05 Arctic Blue) which is not really what skeletonization is. Skeletonization means removing material from the dial and movement to leave only a framework holding the vital components in place, hence the term skeleton. A fast and loose rule you can apply is if you can see your wrist through the dial when you wear it, that’s a skeleton. If not, it’s openworked.
The movement on display here is the RW1212, an automatic movement with a 41-hour power reserve. It looks pretty impressive with the exposed balance wheel at 6 o’clock and power barrel at 12. It’s actually a little uncommon to see the mainspring of the barrel be exposed even in a skeleton display, giving a glimpse of where the power is stored as potential energy when you wind the watch. On a style front, skeleton displays don’t appeal to everyone, often because they can be difficult to read, but I think the Freelancer Skeleton Cushion Limited Edition is actually one of the more legible ones with fairly broad, lumed hands and a peripheral hour and minute track.
As for pricing and availability, it’s priced at £3,195 in a limited edition of 500 pieces. In parallel with the Complete Calendar the two new watches offer very different interpretations of the Freelancer. It showcases the collection’s versatility without even touching on the fact that there are also dive watch and chronograph variants.
Price and Specs:
More details at Raymond Weil.
Great review, well balanced comparing this realistically priced watch against similar complicated movements on offer from other high end makers (but with astronomical prices).
The skeletonized or open worked cushion watch is not for me, I find this type of watch too complex to quickly read the time, something more standard and akin to a traditional dress watch is more to my liking, which brings me to the Freelancer Complete Calendar.
The rose gold (coloured) version is lovely, but IMO the dial colour isn’t right, it would have benefitted from being a champagne or cream colour.
Don’t class me as a watch snob, but if I had to choose watches in the same price range, I would automatically go to a Longines store, only because I do really have a preference for that brand (I already own a few Longines, but there are a couple more that I lust after, along with the C F Bucherer world timer! Ah, to dream of adding those to my collection.