Something tells us Chanel is feeling the need for speed. Recently, the French luxury house unveiled its Monsieur Superleggera Edition watch. The timepiece sports a fresh design that blends the look of Chanel’s J12 Superleggera, launched in 2005, and its Monsieur series introduced in 2016. Powered by Calibre 1, the first manual-winding mechanical movement designed by the house, the watch features two integrated complications: an instant jumping hour and a 240º retrograde minute. The movement achieves a power reserve of 72 hours, and the watch is water-resistant up to 3 ATM—not that a serious collector would take it for a dip.
Those complications make the watch look like a stylish speedometer for the wrist. (Superleggera is the Italian word for super light, and the moniker has been applied to a number of fast-moving cars and motorcycles made in that nation.) The sensibility extends to the guilloche dial, which looks at a glance like the carbon fiber you might see behind the wheel of speed machine. A ceramic and steel case and bezel round out its track-ready looks, and it’s paired with a nylon strap lined with bright red calfskin.
That colour also appears on the Superleggera signature at 12 o’clock, on the small seconds counter and at the base of the jumping hour window. If the dial doesn’t have enough excitement for you, you can watch the movement race away through the watch’s transparent caseback.
The sporty timepiece offers fans of race car-inspired watches a clever and elegant alternative in a category whose products can look like they’re about to race off your wrist and onto the nearest highway. If that appeals to you, you can order a Monsieur Superleggera Edition when it’s released next month for US$39,400 (about RM167,000). Visit their website below for more information.
Previously published on Robb Report.
