Favre Leuba might be one of the oldest names in watchmaking but it’s seen its fair share of rocky years. Recently though the brand was revived under new management with a suite of new, heritage inspired watches, the Chief, Sea Sky and Deep Raider. With such a dramatic reset, it’s easy to get caught in the hype and wonder if they’ll become an overnight sensation or an overnight bust. The pressure to succeed or fail is immense. However, Favre Leuba are not succumbing to that pressure and are behaving like, well, like a regular watch brand. Case in point, the launch of the new Chief Date Royal Purple.
The introduction of a new colour to an existing collection is one of the most regular occurrences in the watch industry. But for a freshly relaunched brand like Favre Leuba I think it’s good to see a basic fundamental. Because it shows a sense of practicality and a down-to-earth mentality that encourages longevity.
It that will either entice new customers who were on the fence about the other options or make existing collectors revisit the brand. It just makes sense to do. If your favourite colour is purple, now there’s a version of the Chief just for you. Plus, I think the colour really suits the watch as well. With its 40mm cushion case it reminds me a little of the H. Moser Purple Haze, which is a fantastically gorgeous watch.
The vibrant colour and sunray brushing also really emphasises the textured motif of the dial with its hour glass relief pattern, inspired by the brand’s logo. Between the Zenith Defy Skyline, Christopher Ward Twelve and this, we could almost create a full article on watches that take their brand logos and turn them into dial patterns. How long until we see a tessellating crown motif from Rolex?
Mechanically it’s identical to the relaunch models from last year, housing the calibre FLD03 (base La Joux-Perret G100) with 68-hour power reserve. It’s a solid movement with a custom Favre Leuba rotor, viewable through the exhibition caseback.
Considering that we’ve already seen that Favre Leuba are capable of big flashy launches with the introduction of their first tourbillon earlier this year, a standard, run of the mill release is actually very reassuring to see. They’re laying the groundwork that should allow them to be around for a long time to come. Especially at a pretty reasonable £2,375 on bracelet, putting them in the ever-popular mid-range luxury bracket.
Price and Specs:
More details at Favre Leuba.
Good to see the resurrection of this brand with it’s long history and links to JLC, so having a great back catalogue.
I do like a cushion watch, and this new release in this bold colour is very nice, and at a reasonable price.
Do hit the link and look at the bigger range, lots of lovely watches.