By Wade Forman
Maurice Lacroix has continued creating beautiful and eye-catching timepieces over and over again. They did not drop the ball on their new Masterpiece Gravity limited edition. The Masterpiece Gravity was first launched at Baselworld 2014, being the first timepiece to use a fully silicon escapement, being highly sought–after and quickly selling out.
The new Maurice Lacroix seems to share some characteristics of the Audemars Piquet Millenary. The Gravity was developed by Maurice Lacroix themselves, being the latest example of the company’s progressive thinking approach to watchmaking. The Gravity features many noteworthy attributes associated with Maurice Lacroix including their in-house automatic movement, a silicon escapement, partly skeletonized dial, an off-center hour and minutes dial, and best of all, being very stylish and very eye-catching.
The Gravity is available in a classic model, featuring a stainless steel case as well as an ultramodern model, with a sultry anthracite PVD finish. A 43mm diameter is a favorable sized area to display the distinct components of this timepiece. The case is polished “Box” sapphire crystal that features anti-reflective coating, that magnifies the dial, making it appear to be lifted within the case, which creates a three-dimensional characteristic, a very cool feature.
The offset dial magnified by the “glass box” sapphire, leaves no room for a bezel. The Gravity appears to be very attractive on the wrist due to its 43mm diameter and relative thickness, yet there is no unused space and it doesn’t feel too big on the wrist. It’s a well thought out design and feels like a quality Maurice Lacroix timepiece.
The all new ML230 Automatic Caliber movement is created in-house. It’s an automatic caliber that fills out the entire of the 43mm case. Seen from the back, the movement has a somewhat machine like feel, featuring circular Côtes de Genève decoration on the bridges and rotor. The appearance is simple, yet it creates a look that cannot be achieved in other timepieces.
The Gravity is offered with either a steel or PVD case. Each is limited to just 250 pieces priced around $10,000 each. Considering the in-house components and materials used, the pricing seems to be very accurate. You are paying for the quality you are getting. Overall it is a very nice piece and anyone looking to buy should consider this piece. I would like to see more advanced touches to the Gravity, but overall it’s a watch that is very stylish and not many can say they own a Gravity. It earns a warrant of consideration for your collection.
For more info, please visit mauricelacroix.com
Technical details
Case
Ø 43 mm Anthracite Powerlite alloy case or
Ø 43 mm stainless steel case, satin and polished“Box” sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on both sides
Screwed case back with wide sapphire crystal
Water-resistant to 50 m/5 atm
Dial
White lacquered with black roman numbers printings, blue minutery, black and blue second printings, 4N Logo
Black lacquered with rhodied indexes and logo, rhodied minutery, red and white second printings
Blue lacquered with rhodied indexes and logo, rhodied minutery and external second.
Hands: 4N Gold plated or rhodied hours, minutes and seconds hands
Movement
Automatic calibre ML230
Assortment and oscillator ML10
Vibration: 18 000 alt/h, 2.5 Hz
Power reserve: 50 hours
Jewels: 35
Adjustments: 5 positions when fully wound and 2 positions after 24 hours
Decorations: Classic execution: Rhodium coated bridges, with “Cotes de Geneve“ in“Colimaçon“, sandblasted finishing and diamond cut edges on all bridges.
Modern execution: Black gold coated bridges, with vertical “Cotes de Geneve“, sandblasted finishing and diamond cut edges on all bridges.
Functions
Hours, minutes by off-centered hands at 2 o’clock
Small second by off-centered hand at 4 o’clock
Visible ML assortment and oscillator between 6 and 8 o’clock
Strap/Bracelet
Genuine black or brown crocodile-skin strap
Genuine black soft touch crocodile-skin strap
Buckle
Folding steel clasp with push buttons
Satin and polished finishing
Black PVD Buckle
Versions
Masterpiece Gravity N° 1 Gravity Limited (Ref. MP6118-SS001-112)
Manufacture movement ML230
Ø 43 mm stainless steel case
White lacquered plated dials
4N hands
Genuine black or brown crocodile strap with folding clasp
Limited edition of 250 pieces
N° 2 Gravity”40th Anniversary” Limited (Ref. MP6118-ALB01-430)
Manufacture movement ML230
Ø 43 mm anthracite Powerlite alloy case
Blue lacquered and rhodium dials
Rhodied hands
Black soft touch genuine crocodile strap with black buckle
Limited edition of 40 pieces
N° 3 Gravity Limited (Ref. MP6118-PVB01-330)
Manufacture movement ML230
Ø 43 mm anthracite PVD case
Black lacquered and rhodium plated dials
Rhodied hands
Black genuine crocodile strap with black buckle
Limited edition of 250 pieces
Wade Forman – Contributing Writer
Wade Forman has an enthusiasm for all timepieces, whether it’s vintage or modern luxury. It was at the age of 15 when Wade’s fascination with Horology began. His favorite brands are IWC, Rolex, TAG Heuer, Audemars Piguet and Patek Phillipe. Wade is also a football player, and enjoys hanging out with family and friends. Read his articles here.
