BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Louis Moinet today primarily makes chronograph watches. We’ve already shown you one of their new pieces, the 1816 Chronograph with a champagne dial, and here are a few more novelties they’ve been cooking up since we visited them last year.
Time to Race
The first pieces today aren’t brand new, but they are additions to a pretty intriguing part of Louis Moinet’s collection. The Time to Race watches feature the classic Louis Moinet look, which places most of the chronograph mechanism on the dial side, but they add rubber straps and racing-inspired touches for a sportier look. Called the Time to Race “Flash” models, the new watches feature black and gold colours inspired by JPS Lotus racing teams from the past. Grade 5 titanium is the traditional material for the Time to Race collection, and it’s present here, but there’s also an 18k red gold version, which is a first for this collection.
The cases of the watches measure 40.7mm x 17.92mm with 50m of water resistance. The calibre LM96 is on view on the front and back of both watches, and nothing has changed there, so you get a monopusher chronograph with the levers and column wheel visible on the dial side. The LM96 is self-winding, with a 48-hour power reserve and a 4Hz beat rate.
One of the best parts of these watches is that each one is unique. Buyers will be able to specify a one or two-digit number on the time dial at 6 O’clock, and Louis Moinet will only make that watch with that specific number on it. Just tell them what you want, and they’ll print it. I don’t have exact pricing for these models, but based on other reviews of older Time to Race watches, I would expect the titanium model to cost around $35,000 and the gold model to cost around $55,000.
Skydance
The next piece is the Skydance, which was Louis Moinet’s first women’s watch collection, updated for 2026. It features a 36.6mm x 12.1mm case made of titanium, with a white ceramic bezel. The buyer can choose between 6 diamonds (0.159 carats) or 60 diamonds (0.6 carats). White ceramic is also present on the winding crown and in little cabochons over the lugs, which you don’t usually see ceramic applied to. Both watches are 50m water-resistant.
The dials of the new watches are eye-catching indeed. White mother-of-pearl forms the dial base, with large luminescent hands atop it. At 12 O’clock is a lunar meteorite disk representing the moon; meanwhile, a golden sun set on a black aventurine base at 6 O’clock represents the seconds hand with a clever little animation.
The calibre LM58, which isn’t made in-house, is visible through the caseback under a sun disk and has a 4Hz beat rate with a 42-hour power reserve. Pricing for these two models is available: CHF15,000 for the regular version and CHF18,500 for the version with the extra diamonds on the bezel.
1816 Tourbillon Chronograph
The last piece is an intriguing new addition to the 1816 range. It’s been 220 years since Louis Moinet set up his own workshop, and 210 years since he made the world’s first chronograph piece, so to mark the occasion, Louis Moinet launches the 1816 Tourbillon Chronograph. It features a flying tourbillon visible on the dial side at 6 O’clock, with the subdials arranged above, one on the running seconds hand and the other a 30-minute counter for the monopusher chronograph.
The watch features a bead-blasted dial with a rhodium finish with blued steel hands; luminescent tips of the hands provide some legibility in the dark. On display through the tourbillon mechanism on the front and the sapphire crystal on the caseback is the calibre LM114, which is made in-house by Louis Moinet’s artisans in Les Breusleux. It’s a hand-wound movement with a column-wheel chronograph, and its escapement beats at 4Hz for about 96 hours unless you’re running the chronograph constantly. It’s set inside a round titanium case measuring 40.6mm x 15.1mm with 50m of water resistance, and on Louis Moinet’s classy wide link titanium bracelet. Price upon request.
Tell us which is your favourite in the comments!
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