Louis Moinet 1816 Chronograph

Louis Moine is known for making fantastical and luxurious watches. They often feature tour billons, complex complications, exotic materials and open dials. Today, Louis Moinet 1816 flips this script as a retractable modern chronograph with strong cues from the brand’s past. It sounds strange, but it’s a great hybrid that works perfectly.

Louis Moinet makes watches with links to the company’s horrifying history. In 1816, the brand’s watchmaker of the same name completed the world’s first chronograph, Compteur de Tierces. This has an impact on Luimoine 1816 today. This is a watch that seamlessly blends old world characteristics with modern materials and design.

Luimoine 1816

The new 1816 glance shows a very different watch from what Louis Moinet is used to. In particular, this watch is made from grade 5 titanium and comes with a matching integrated brush and polished bracelet. Only the bracelet is a major change. Dimensionally, this piece is 40.6mm in diameter and 14.7mm thick. Both case sides also have sapphire crystal and a water-resistant rating of 30m. Two plunger-style pushers complement that large signed crown.

Original Compteur de Tierces Stopwatch 1816

Dial inspired by the original stopwatch

Louis Moinet’s original 1816 stopwatch is the latest chronograph template. For example, triple registration layouts and color schemes exist in modern watches. Even the dial script, mounting screws, and six-and-thousand units of the outer track are originally carried over – to count 60th of a second. However, the functionality and materials are new.

The Louis Moinet 1816 Chronograph has a blasted Rhodium dial with impressive detailing. First of all, the dial boasts four levels. The outer section contains a printed black 60 seconds/min track. It also features 12 blackened nickel cabochon hour indexes and four blue screws. The dial then steps on the polished inner chamfer to accommodate the brand name and the applied fleur-de-lis logo. Multilevel and multi-faceted subdials then display the associated chronograph measurements with blue hands. This includes a 30-minute totalizer and a 12-hour counter, with a running second counter. Finally, the central hand has a room-filled tip.

LM1816

Inside, the Luimoine 1816 uses the appropriately named LM1816 chronograph movement. Naturally, the brand worked with a long-standing partner concept to create the caliber. The 34-jewel movement, consisting of 330 parts, is displayed via a sapphire window on the caseback. There are many things to look at in terms of finishing touches. The bridge and main plate have a 3N gold coating and machined fishing. Plus, the black polished swan neck regulator is another nice touch. Functionally, expect a 48-hour power reserve and a frequency of 28,800VPH. An interesting detail is not the progressive hand movements, but the jump minute counter. This allows for more accurate readings when using a display.

Thoughts on Louis Moinet 1816

Overall, I like Louis Moinet 1816 and don’t think it would show a major change in the direction of the company, but it’s good to see more straightforward and contemporary designs. Some may express concern about the classic dial design and modern cases and bracelets. I think the dial surface and mostly solid color scheme are well mixed with the remaining components. They look good and need to attract new potential buyers to your brand. Finally, the retail price of the watch is CHF 28,900 (excluding tax). Considering the brand’s height as a great watch maker, this price level is not unexpected. Let us know what you think about this latest Louis Moinet Watch. For more information, please visit the official website.

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