Friday, February 2, 2018

MAURICE LACROIX – AIKON Automatic Skeleton



















MAURICE LACROIXAIKON Automatic Skeleton Steel 45 mm

The unique impact of a graphic skeleton

In a freshly restyled AIKON case, Maurice Lacroix has fitted a new manufacture, openworked, automatic caliber of unique design. True to its vocation of manufacturing high quality timepieces at an affordable price, deeply rooted in urban and contemporary culture, Maurice Lacroix introduces AIKON Automatic Skeleton.

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Openwork timepieces are an integral part of Maurice Lacroix's history and watchmaking culture. Several successive generations of its watches have featured this graphic and horological principle. It consists in the hollowing of a movement's parts, in order to retain only its bearing and functional structures. It is inseparable from a graphic frame of mind, one that sets the hollow apart from the void according to a designer's will, and the zeitgeist. Maurice Lacroix is an early explorer of that style as the Calypso Skeleton, its first such creation, goes as far back as 1993. Maurice Lacroix has been openworking for 25 years.

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In the spirit of contemporary creation, Maurice Lacroix has made AIKON Automatic Skeleton the sum of many new features. In a wide AIKON case, reshaped in order to house this new type of movement, Maurice Lacroix gives the manufacture ML234 calibre its maiden voyage. It is openworked according to a whole new pattern, designed purposefully for this timepiece. At the crossroads between two Maurice Lacroix ranges, AIKON Automatic Skeleton blends the AIKON design cues with the watchmaking substance characteristic of the Masterpiece collection. And as its affordable watchmaking brand guidelines command, always offering an outstanding quality/finishings/price ratio, this timepiece delivers a uniquely high perceived value.

Sharp features

Based on the 2016 AIKON Quartz design, the AIKON Automatic case leans towards a more masculine, sharper state of mind, one that is also more polarizing. It is 45 mm wide, yet only 13 mm thick, which provides it with strong and harmonious proportions. Entirely made of steel, both brushed and polished, it stands out thanks to the six arms on its bezel, positioned once every two hours. This is a signature feature of the AIKON collection, as is the one-piece case shape. Without lugs, it bears two prongs that descend on the bracelet and shape its curve.

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AIKON Automatic Skeleton introduces Maurice Lacroix's Easychange system. These fast-swap attachments allow to singlehandedly remove the bracelet, in a few seconds. At case level, the leather is cut out to accommodate two small vertical prongs, which commands the spring bars' opening. And so is detached the long piece of alligator leather with black on black stitching, which features Maurice Lacroix's signature M logo applique. It is coupled with a double deployant buckle, which allows a fine length adjustment.

Ripples

Entirely designed for AIKON Automatic Skeleton, caliber ML234 is a mechanical movement with automatic winding. It is the result of a thorough aesthetic and functional reshuffle of the ML134 caliber, one of the first to have come out of the Maurice Lacroix manufacture. And as is the case with all Maurice Lacroix's skeleton movements, it is born of design, not necessity. It is structured by a series of five concentric circles, that run diagonally through the entire watch. Bridge after bridge, they radiate from the center of the barrel, at one o'clock.

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Said bridges are black due to a DLC surface treatment. Their central canal is lower and sandblasted. Their outline is one level higher and satin-brushed. All of the components are hollowed out. The barrel, which sits at the pattern's core. The balance wheel. The winding mechanism, which is a rare feat. And the oscillating weight too. Visible at the back side, it features a brand new design, with the highest level of open-working possible, and includes the drawing of the brand's logo. One level above this mechanical lattice, a sapphire dial bears rhodium-plated indices and the small seconds hand, at 6 o'clock.

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 Technical Specifications

Model: AIKON Automatic Skeleton 45 mm

Ref: AI6028-SS001-030-1

MOVEMENT
Automatic ML234 movement
Vibrations:    18'000 vph / 2.5 Hz
Power Reserve:    52 hours
Number of jewels:    34
Decorations:  "Colimaçon and sandblasted in black DLC for the main bridge.
Rhodied rotor with vertical brushed, sandblasted and colimaçon finishings."
Rhodied:  Colimaçon for the other bridges.
Functions: Hours, minutes and seconds at 3 o'clock
CASE
- Ø 45 mm, Stainless steel case
Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating
Water-resistant to 10 ATM
DIAL
Sapphire. Skeleton
Indexes:     Rhodium plated
Hands:     Rhodium plated, white SLN
STRAP
Black alligator leather easychange 
BUCKLE
Butterfly in steel


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Press Release - 2018
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Maurice Lacroix S. A.
Thurgauerstrasse 40
CH-8050 Zürich
Phone +41 (0)44 209 11 11
Fax +41 (0)44 209 12 52
info@mauricelacroix.com
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Franck Dubarry – GMT Fileteado Titanium & Gold




















Franck DubarryGMT Fileteado Titanium & Gold






























THE NEW COLLECTION
REVOLUTION: AN INVITATION TO TRAVEL!

GENEVA: Franck Dubarry launches its Revolution collection on the market, which made Baselworld 2016 sit up and take notice when the brand first presented it. An audacious collection of dashing creativity, which affirms the designer’s desire to bring a new perspective to the watchmaking industry


A TRIBUTE TO GLOBETROTTERS

As a great traveler himself, the brand’s eponymous designer, Franck Dubarry, naturally wanted to develop an automatic GMT watch. He imagined his timepieces as true guides, able to satisfy even the most pragmatic traveler’s requirements.

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This Hommes et Femmes collection stamps its personality on the fine lineage of GMT watches, breaking classical conventions of a 12-hour revolution with a 24-hour dial that highlights two time zones.


INSPIRED BY ARGENTINIAN STREET ART

His passion for different cultures draws Franck Dubarry to make regular stops in Argentina, where he feels a strong connection with the country’s art especially Fileteado Porteño, born in the back streets of Buenos Aires in the early 20th century when it was brought over by immigrants from Italy. The whole decorative repertoire and emblematic style of this artistic movement are manifest in the Revolution design. One glance is all it takes to be smitten. First to catch the eye is its novel case, with curved lines and spiraling scrolls engraved like a luminous filigree pattern.

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The Revolution Gold model, with its rose gold case encircled with a diamond-studded bezel, offers sheer delicacy and femininity. Another version plays on more masculine aesthetics - a carbon bezel and an anthracite gray background to the dial. The dial (white or gray) is decorated with colorful arabesques. Flowers, hearts and vanitas symbols intertwine to create an original, hand-painted design. Jaunty colors inject a sense of freshness.

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The Revolution Titanium model boasts a Grade 5 Titanium case. The dial’s background is hammered like a silver coin to produce striking contrasts and reveal unexpected plays of light.

AN ODE TO LIBERTY

Franck Dubarry reinterprets watchmaking design in the light of the philosophical values handed down to him from the French Revolution, to create a contemporary designer object. Every model features different shades in a harmonious composite, so it has a character all its own.

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From the resolutely rock’n’roll attitude of the Revolution Titanium to the radiant softness of the Revolution Gold, the myriad styles are testimony of the brand’s creative talent. The back of the movement bears an engraving of the brand’s motto, “Libertas, Intrepidus, Honor”-an ode to creative freedom, liberty, and the renewal of art.

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The lugs have been carefully worked to ensure ergonomic comfort. Extending from the lugs, an Elastogator strap affords comfort and practicality, while bringing a finishing touch of elegance.

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Technical details

Reference: REV0501
Revolution Gold: Rose Gold 5N case, available in a variation 
with white dial background and diamond-set bezel, or a variation with anthracite gray dial background and anthracite gray carbon bezel.
Reference: REV0401
Revolution Titanium: Grade 5 Titanium case, 
black carbon bezel, dial back-ground hammered in the manner of a metal coin.

Movement
Caliber: 2893-2 Automatic GMT Movement   
Swiss made: High end Swiss watchmaking
Function: Hour Minute Date 24 hr GMT
Dial
Fileteado design, hand-painted 24 hr inner ring
Date window at 3h position
Case
Case measurements: 43x50mm
Material: 18K Rose Gold 5N diamond or Grade 5 Titanium carbon bezel
Fileteado engraving pattern
Bezel: Carbon fiber bezel with black soft touch bezel and crown inserts
Water resistance: 100 m
Strap
Elastogator® Genuine Leather & Rubber

Warranty: 2 years

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