Wearing the Ninth Art on the Wrist: Raymond Weil Millesime Chronograph Limited Edition Largo Winch

Raymond Weil won a gold medal for his GPHG award-winning vintage-inspired watch, the Millesime. Belgian cartoonist Philippe Frank (1961) also received accolades and awards for his Largo Winch series of cartoons. The title character, whose real name is Largo Vinclav, is a Yugoslav adventurer who first appeared in 1990. Since then, 24 graphic novels have been published in the original French, as well as in many languages ​​around the world, to the delight of millions of readers. The Raymond Weil Millésime Chronograph Limited Edition Largo Winch is presented in the universal horological language to the delight of just 300 watch enthusiasts and comic fans.

What I found most appealing about the vintage-looking Millesime Tricompax chronograph I reviewed earlier this year was the lack of “Fortina” on the black dial. Rather than using tricks to make his watches look vintage, Raymond Weil was able to use strong graphic design elements to create the warm, nostalgic feeling that watch lovers so desperately crave today. If you’ll forgive my exaggeration, the sharpness of a well-crafted sector dial is timeless. Founded in 1976, the Geneva brand achieved great success with its Millesime Tricompax chronograph, available with either a pure black dial or a blue dial with white registers. And now, the white and green “panda” Raymond Weil Millesime Chronograph Limited Edition Largo Winch has arrived.

Feel like an adventurer with the Raymond Weil Millésime Chronograph Limited Edition Largo Winch

The Millesime Chronograph Limited Edition Largo Winch (Ref. 7765-STC-50651) differs from the non-limited models in the “RW” collection in two major ways: the dial and the caseback. The stainless steel case has a diameter of 39.5mm, a lug-to-lug length of 46mm, and a thickness of 12.9mm. It’s also water resistant to 50 meters and fits comfortably on any wrist. Inside the Largo Winch LE is also the Sellita-based caliber RW5030, a 27-jewel automatic movement with a frequency of 4Hz and a power reserve of 65 hours. The bubble caseback and slim caseband also remain the same, but the watch’s namesake Largo winch significantly disrupts the look of the movement.

Largo winch on the bridge

If you turn the clock over, you’ll see the Largo Winch sitting casually on the bridge. No, Fratelli, I don’t mean a moving bridge, I mean an actual bridge. This is a large bridge in the center of Geneva. Largo Winch casually slings a bag over his shoulder and equally subtly displays his eponymous watch, with the Geneva flag prominently displayed and a detail of a boat cruising the lake in the background. It is. Cartoonist Philip Frank was deeply involved in the creation of this watch. He first hand-drawn a sketch of the scene on the case back in pencil on paper, then converted it into a digital blueprint.

The result is a highly accurate image showing the codes of the Largo Winch world, not only on the caseback but also on the dial. For example, the color of the dollar bill (Pantone 4214C) is used for the color of the subdials and tachymeter scale markings.

Want to be like Largo?

As the picture on the case back shows, the protagonist is wearing this very watch. So, when you attach this, you can really become a Largo winch. I know that the person who wears this watch looks like Largo. That’s Raymond Weil CEO Ellie Bernheim. In a press release about the latest Millesime, he said: “As a child, all Philip Frank albums took me on a wonderful journey somewhere in the world, which I still carry with my family and children, who are also fans. ” RW is based in Geneva, so expect Bernheim to walk across the bridge near the lake’s famous fountain with a bag slung over his shoulder and a Largo Winch LE on his wrist. . Can’t blame him. It’s sure to be an empowering experience.

Final words about the Millesime Chronograph Limited Edition Largo Winch

In a previous article, I raved about the box-shaped sapphire crystal on the dial of this watch. This helps achieve the goal of optical thinness and emphasizes the retro feel of the watch. I also admired the vertically brushed flat bezel, classic rounded lugs with a polished finish, traditional pump pushers, and large fluted crown.

The two existing versions of this chronograph look great. It features a sector-style dial, surrounding track, and tri-register layout that doesn’t clash with the central crosshair. Black or blue subdials complement the stick-style Super-LumiNova-treated hour markers and luminescent obelisk-shaped hour and minute hands.

Three green, slightly recessed subdials display the seconds at 9 o’clock, the 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, and the 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock. Blue and white is a great color combination, but in this case white and green seem a little special. The gray leather strap also helps create a look that’s hard for me to resist. To me, this watch feels like a perfect graphic novel hero.

A tribute to these heroes and the Ninth Art itself, the Raymond Weil Millesime Limited Edition Largo Winch is priced at USD 3,775 / EUR 3,895. Seeing as the two non-limited versions are priced at USD 3,625 / EUR 3,725, it’s a small price increase for a more premium watch with a non-gimmicky LE look and a very cool caseback. I know that “cool” is a subjective term, but when you look at the Largo winch, you know what is objectively cool.

Watch specifications