This Underrated Affordable Swiss Watch Brand Has a New Grail

Maurice Lacroix has to be one of the most underrated brands in Swiss luxury watchmaking today.

A relative upstart at the ripe old age of 51, the under-the-radar brand quietly makes some of the best bang-for-buck watches in the industry, with its Aikon line — a Royal Oak-inspired sports watch with top-tier finishing for the price — being a particular standout.

Maurice Lacroix is rarely discussed outside of the Aikon, but the brand’s best watchmaking is actually found outside of its flagship line in its Masterpiece collection, such as in the brand’s impressive new grail: the 1975 Master Grand Date Retrograde.

Maurice Lacroix

Going retro

Maurice Lacroix produces some impressive movements in its manufacture, and the new Masterpiece ML302 calibre — the brand’s 26th manufacture Masterpiece calibre — is one of its best.

At first glance, the movement may not seem all that impressive. Its only complications are a day and date; a simple calendar that can be had on bargain-priced Orients. But it’s the way in which the day and date are displayed that is impressive.

The date is a grand date, sometimes called a big date, which uses two separate discs to display the date in an oversized display. It’s a lot more complex than a single date window and is typically found on high-end watches.

Maurice Lacroix

The day display is even more complex, as it uses a retrograde indicator — another haute horlogerie hallmark — that shows the current day of the week on an arc with a hand that instantly snaps back to Monday at the beginning of every new week.

The combination of these two high-end complications is impressive enough, but ML ups the ante by completely skeletonizing the rhodium-plated ML302 movement with custom-designed bridges, giving an unobstructed and gorgeous view of the complex machinations within.

The movement is housed inside a 42mm stainless steel case with sapphire crystals front and back, and is paired with a black calf leather strap equipped with Maurice Lacroix’s Easy Strap Exchange system and a steel deployant clasp.

Maurice Lacroix

Pricing and availability

I would classify Maurice Lacroix as an affordable brand. It sits firmly in the category of “entry-level luxury.” The 1975 Master Grand Date Retrograde, however, is not an affordable watch.

At $8,600, you’re getting into entry-level territory for brands like Rolex, Omega and IWC. Though these complications can’t often be had for this amount, it’s still a lot to pay for a Maurice Lacroix. But, if you can get past that, this is an impressive and interesting watch at its admittedly aspirational price point.

Maurice Lacroix

Maurice Lacroix 1975 Master Grand Date Retrograde

Specs

Case Size	42mm
Movement	Maurice Lacroix Cal. ML302 automatic grand date retrograde day
Water Resistance	50m

• $8,600 at Maurice Lacroix

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