Lemania is a vintage watch brand that is remembered fondly for the important work they did in the mid-20th century in the fields of military, tool watches and chronographs. In fact, they’re the topic of our ‘vintage hero’ article in the September edition of Oracle Time, which you can read online later this week. Why is this relevant? Italian brand Venezianico have just announced the launch of the new Bucintoro 1976 chronograph housing New Old Stock (NOS) Lemania chronograph movements.
NOS movements are vintage calibres that were never used in watches when they were made. Often sitting in warehouses or private collections for years until they are rediscovered and given a fresh lease of life in a modern watch. Venezianico managed to source 100 Lemania 1873 NOS movements from across multiple sources that they spent a full year restoring. This process involved recreating missing components on models that had been damaged and reproducing period accurate 1970s finishing.
The result though is lovely. The manual winding movement looks spectacular through the exhibition caseback. Its specs are a little lower than modern equivalents, for example its power reserve of 40-hours, but that’s because this is a vintage movement and as such it has that vintage mechanical authenticity. It also invites you to form a relationship to the watch through the daily rituals of wearing and winding the watch.
Zooming out from the movement to the watch more broadly, it’s dedicated to the Concorde plane, which flew from 1976 to 2003. That’s because this is a follow up to the Bucintoro 1969, which was dedicated to the Apollo space missions – each celebrating a historic moment in aviation history. On the side of the 42mm steel case you’ll see a titanium plate bearing the watch’s limited-edition number out of 100, that plate is made from an authentic piece of Concorde’s engine blade, having flown thousands of hours at supersonic speeds across the Atlantic.
The dial is inspired by the instrument panels found on Concorde, presented in an ivory and blue colour scheme. The 30-minute counter features markings for lift off, Mach 1 and Mach 2 while the 12-hour counter is styled after a fuel gauge. The peripheral tachymeter scale then also has inscriptions for V1-VR-V2, the three take off stages. The sort of details that tie a special edition like this to its subject matter while being subtle enough that you don’t have to explain it to everyone you meet. Though if you are a Concorde mega fan like our photographer happens to be, they take the watch to the next level.
Overall, the watch perfectly captures that vintage period of luxury travel exemplified by Concorde. Aesthetically it matches the retro-modern vibe of the plane while mechanically the Lemania NOS movement means it shares an engine from the same period. It’s priced at €4,750 (approx. £4,140), reflecting its vintage components.
Price and Specs:
More details at Venezianico.
