When the three Löbners landed at my desk, I must admit that I was not familiar with the Munich-based brand. But as soon as I pulled the watch out of their pouch, they intrigued me. They look different from many other watches, and some unique features of these watches highlight more than their appearance. The first two models I received for review were black dial Lebner sledges on rubber straps and silver dial versions of stainless steel bracelets. These are the things I will focus on in this article. However, I also had the opportunity to try out the Steelracer chronograph with the Ice-Blue dial. It’s time to learn more before Löbner and The Watches!
Löbner is a German brand originally founded in 1862 by Franz Ludwig Löbner. By the end of the 19th century, 1/100th and 1/1,000th second passed, and for short measurements, it became known as a specialist brand. Since then, Löbner has linked the name to horse racing and has existed on many European racetracks. Additionally, Löbner became the official Olympic timekeeper in the 1920s and 30s. Finally, the brand became the official timekeeper for various motorsport events in the early 30s. Over time, Löbner lost traction before eventually disappearing. But as we know, many once-deprecated watch brands are watching revivals for their incredible stories. Löbner was officially reintroduced in late 2023 with the announcement of Steelracer Chronograph.
Steelracer was the first model of the revived Löbner brand
Löbner’s return in 2023
Given the history of Löbner’s timekeeping, it makes perfect sense to reintroduce the brand with a chronograph. Over a year later I had the opportunity to check out the Löbner Steelracer and Sledge models. I received a new sledge for Steelracer Ice and Black and Silver Colorways for review. I mainly focused on the latter two. Because they are an interesting view of modern sports watches. I had the opportunity to try it out with both a stainless steel bracelet and a rubber strap. This gave us a great opportunity to discover what sleds stand out in the sea of similar clocks. And yes, there are some great tricks in the sled.
As soon as I took it out of the box, the Löbner Sledge model surprised me. They are well-designed watches that feel incredibly well-made. While Sledge Silver was riding on a stainless steel bracelet, I received a sledge black variant on my rubber strap. Both share, of course, a 40.5mm lagreston no-shaped case with a thickness of 9.8mm.
This is a neatly designed case with a small protrusion on the left and a large cap on the right. The brand calls the cap “sledge” and makes it an element with the watch’s name. This Robner designed and patented “bridge” protects the lower crown and crown guards. To operate the crown, you can simply press the sledge up. The cap not only protects the crown, but also adds an interesting visual element to the overall design.
Löbner’s specially developed inner circle lock system
The mostly brushed case has small polished parts and bevels that add visual pizza to your eyes. The model also comes equipped with a unidirectional external bezel that controls the internal 60 minute ring for timing events. To further illustrate that, turn the outer bezel clockwise and rotates the scale for 60 minutes, just like the crystal. After that, if you want to timing something, you can line up zeros in minutes on a minute scale. Of course, by adjusting 0 to 12 o’clock, the ring can function as a normal microscale.
Löbner specially designed this and calls it a rather original mechanism. Still, the case is water resistant to 100 meters, and what’s beautiful is that the engineers can give the watch a total thickness of 10mm. The inner circle lock reminds you of a diving watch with an internal bezel, but these generally use the second crown. At Löbner, they devised a method to link the rotation of the inner and outer bezels without an extra crown (similar to the system found in the Sinn 903 St II). It makes timing easier to events and I love it.
Beautiful dial design
Within the case there is a sunray dial, either black or silver. The black dial has white text, markers and numbers, but these elements are black with silver dials. I immediately liked the Art Deco style of the dial. Combine it with a case design to instantly create a stand out watch. The typography is wonderfully stylish, with a variety of elements having a sophisticated balance between them.
The biggest elements of the dial are the numbers 3, 6, 9, and 12, but the size is still modest. But they set the overall tone with all the remaining elements being small. I also love the font type because it works well with real text. I love the Löbner logo on the top half of the dial. Plus, the words “automatik” and “zeitmesser” are next to each other, giving you an idea of space available on the dial. It’s clear that a lot of ideas have come into the dial configuration and I love the results. Hovering over the dial is a pair of rose-tone pencil-shaped time and momentary hand with Super Luminova. It’s a hand of bright tip slim seconds that completes your phone.
Löbner6717 Movement
Hidden behind the steel case is the Löbner Calibre6717. This 24 Jewel automatic movement is based on a Swiss caliber by La Joux-Perret. It operates at 28,800VPH, offers a 68-hour power reserve and features a tungsten rotor. The brand’s caliber is assembled and regulated with Glashütte, and the cases are produced in Pforzheim. For this reason, they proudly display “Made in Germany” on the dial.
Löbner offers sledges with four dial colours. In addition to the black and silver dials, you can choose between blue or green. These can be paired with stainless steel bracelets or colour-matched rubber straps. The bracelet is very well made and features a butterfly clasp. The flexible elastic strap comes with a folding clasp with a push button released.
I’m wearing a Löbner Sledge
On the wrist, how well these watches are designed is easy and a joy to wear. The slim profile is fantastic and the bracelet is very well made. However, the rubber straps were also quite impressive, and felt very soft and soft when taken out of the box. It also perfectly balances the wrist watch. This is a sign of the overall quality Löbner offers.
When you sit on your wrist, the high quality of the sled is easier to see. Every turn on the bezel, slides on the sledge, and clicks on the clasp will give you the right luxury watch feel. The finish is given much attention to detail and the watch design is well thought out. After wearing the sledge for a few days, I had a few questions. The first one was about the 40.5mm size of the watch. Although it was far from big, I began to question whether it could have been made a little smaller. Firstly, watches with integrated bracelets tend to feel bigger on the wrist, and this is no exception. Sledge’s slim profile reveals this even more.
Ask a question about the sled while wearing it
Looking at the dial design makes me feel stronger. It’s beautiful, but feels spacious. I’ve come to think of this as a 39mm sled. Of course, this is a matter of personal preference. Because I like how these days clocks get a little smaller. However, in general, for a highly visually integrated bracelet sports watch, I prefer a 40mm diameter sub. The threaded crown protector on the right side of this case gives a large footprint on your wrist.
This brings me a second question. I like the Sledge Crown Protector as a playable element. It has the fidget toy-like qualities that I didn’t expect. It’s very satisfying to slide it down. Because it runs smoothly, but it just has the right amount of resistance. To give you an idea of how it works, the top of the sledge connects to the ring under the bezel, which bends counterclockwise until you click on the last position. However, as a result of not being too large the push/pull crown protecting it is rather small and not practical to operate.
Final Thoughts on Löbner Sledge
Aside from some bookings, after wearing two Löbner sledge models for a few days, I found them to be very impressive. This sledge was the perfect follow-up to the first Steelracer, and it was also received and will be featured in another article. What I enjoyed most in Sledge was its Art Deco-inspired dial design, the ingenious concepts of the crown protector and the 60 minute bezel inside, and the incredible execution of those ideas. The quality of the build was impressive and felt like a proper case for German engineering for high-end luxury watches.
In a world where new watch releases and brands are constantly flooded, I think the above stands out from the crowd. Rolex-owned retailer Bucherer also recognized this and became an exclusive retailer for Löbner Watches.
The new Löbner sledge sells for 9,600 euros on bracelets and 8,600 euros on rubber straps. In both sums, you buy an impressive watch based on a wonderfully original concept with great execution. With steel racers and sledges, Löbner created two distinctive products. If the first step continues with anything, then there is a good thing.
