Louis Moinet’s Newest Limited-Edition Watch Is a Colorful Tribute to the Original Chronograph

Double-signed pieces traditionally imply a collaboration between a retailer and a manufacturer, but Louis Moinet is among a handful of makers that have recently partnered with publications that are now doubling as retailers. The Fratello x Louis Moinet Memoris Spirit 40 Chronograph LE is a collaboration between Fratello Watches and Swiss watch company, Louis Moinet (named after the watchmaker who created the first chronograph).

Fratello x Louis Moinet

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The Memoris Spirit chronograph was launched in 2016 to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of Atelier Louis Moinet and the 200^th anniversary of the Compteur de Tierces, the stopwatch Moinet developed between 1815 and 1816. At this year’s Watches & Wonders, Louis Moinet released a limited-edition Memoris Spirit in rose gold or titanium that represented a pared-down version of the 6-year-old original (40.7 mm, compared to 46 mm).

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The Fratello x Louis Moinet LE is also 40.7 mm, and has the same dramatic domed sapphire crystal, double-reading flange (an inner flange records minutes, while the outer flange is a seconds index) and a single pump-style pusher. It’s powered by the same automatic caliber LM84, a proprietary movement developed with Concepto that shows the chronograph mechanism on the dial side. The difference in this new special edition is the deep blue background, ringed by a black chapter ring and hour and minutes subdial, with highlights in a color called “luminous orange RAL 2005.” (RAL is the European version of Pantone, which sets color tones.) The orange is applied to the chronograph index on the flange, the central chronograph seconds hand, the index on the offset hour dial at 6 o’clock and the 30-minute totalizer at 3 o’clock. The Fratello edition is also distinctive for its orange double zero on the index at 12 o’clock, rather than the 60 on previous models. “We used a 00 for symmetry,” says Rob Nudds, contributor at Fratello. “Also, it’s a nod to the beginning of the chronograph’s story.” The tip of the small seconds at 9 o’clock is silver, tying it to the hour and minute hands on the time dial.

Fratello x Louis Moinet

Fratello has previously done collaborations with Nomos, Czapek, Oris and Omega. The Fratello signature on the Louis Moinet Memoris Spirit 40 Chronograph LE is engraved peripherally on the caseback, alongside the edition number. There are 25 pieces, priced at €29,500, excluding VAT (about $30,000) and outfitted with a crocodile-effect calf leather strap.

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