Herbelin Celebrate 75th Anniversary with Newport Slim Skeleton Limited Edition

If you’re a fan of French watchmaking, you may have already noticed that one of the country’s historic brands has recently been undergoing a change of identity. On the occasion of their 75th anniversary, Michel Herbelin has rebranded itself as HERBELIN (although for the sake of easy reading we’ll call them Herbelin). To celebrate this rebrand and the significant milestone they’ve reached, they’ve launched the Newport Slim Skeleton Limited Edition.

The Newport is an important model in Herbelin’s heritage, originally designed in 1988 it was the watch that really established them at the top of the French watchmaking game. In 2021 they revisited the collection to introduce the Newport Slim, a thinner, more refined edition of the watch. Now though, that concept has been expanded upon to a greater degree by the Newport Slim Skeleton.

Its stainless steel case has a 42mm diameter case with a thickness of just 7.15mm and the bezel is wide and flat. Although, as with the 2021 editions there are no decorative screws, which were a key feature of the original Newport. I like the clean look of the naked bezel though. It retains a quasi-sports luxe appearance without being instantly comparable to watches like the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak.

However, where the Herbelin Newport Slim Skeleton differs from the previous editions is the skeletonisation of its movement and dial. Specifically, the calibre is the Sellita SW210-1 manual movement and it’s been skeletonised in such a way that the bridges resemble the spokes of a ship’s wheel, a piece of iconography intrinsically linked to the Newport collection. It’s a very attractive design and provides plenty of rhodium plated surfaces to contrast with the black oxidised hands, improving the legibility of the skeleton display.

A final flourish is the fact that the new Herbelin logo has been printed on the underside of the sapphire glass. It appears to float above the empty spaces of the dial, as if it were ushering in Herbelin’s new age of watchmaking. One that seeks to celebrate their heritage and push the boundaries of their watchmaking ability to the furthest edge – a concept that the Newport Slim Skeleton executes on brilliantly.

It’s a limited edition of 500 numbered pieces at a price of €1,799 (approx. £1,575). It’s a similar price to the Cap Camarat Skeleton reflecting the fact that all Herbelin skeleton watches are good value.