Twenty years after the launch of the first Maurice Lacroix model featuring a retrograde display, the new Moonphase Retrograde is announced. Here are the details.
Press Release
Inside its steel case, a new combination of complications are united together: a retrograde day, a retrograde date and a moon phase indication. For the first time, these three indications have been combined with a snailed blue or silver-grey Clou de Paris dial.
Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Moonphase Retrograde
This new addition to the Masterpiece collection marks the return of one of Maurice Lacroix’s specialities. Indeed, retrograde displays have been part of the company’s DNA since 1999. At this time, the Masterpiece collection was already part of the company’s catalogue. The rationale for the collection was to showcase the brand’s know-how. It called upon traditional skills such as skeletonization and knowledge of complications that were uncommon at the time. Maurice Lacroix used retrograde displays to reinforce its brand personality. From the outset, the brand developed specific display modules for functions.This gave rise to the Maurice Lacroix Calendrier Rétrograde at the turn of the 21st century.
Twenty years later, the Masterpiece Moonphase Retrograde continues the brand’s tradition of using non-circular displays. The day, at 2 o’clock, and the date, at 10 o’clock, are both indicated by hands which arc through 150°. At the end of their journey, they instantly and simultaneously return to their point of origin, using a system of springs and cams, to start the following week and month. The small seconds at 6 o’clock also serves as a backdrop for the moon phase display.
Beneath these functions, the ML 190 calibre ensures the smooth operation of the Moonphase Retrograde. The exclusive automatic movement is large and tried-and-tested, delivering proven reliability. Maurice Lacroix has incorporated a complication module, designed in-house, that encompasses a retrograde day, a retrograde date and a moon phase. The calibre also incorporates impressive finishing, consistent with Maurice Lacroix’s quality standards and matching the high standards of the dial and case.
This latest Masterpiece reinterprets traditional aesthetics, embracing a contemporary perspective and encompassing Maurice Lacroix’s unique design language. The 43mm case is formed of polished and chamfered surfaces and features recessed sections to produce a slimmer profile. It incorporates the collection’s distinctive knurled crown. The dial reintroduces the small Roman numerals used by Maurice Lacroix in the 1990s, which in this instance sit atop a circular satin-brushed hour track.
The day and date sectors feature different patterns, depending on the dial colour selected. The silver-grey dial features a Clou de Paris finish, which is repeated on the small seconds display. The remaining surfaces are bead-blasted, creating a matt effect beneath the blued hands. The blue dial version is endowed with snailed retrograde sectors, paired with Côtes de Genève motif on the remaining areas of the dial. Rhodium-finished indexes, markings and hands punctuate the rest of the dial. The purity, attention to detail and multiple patterns and textures bestow the Masterpiece Moonphase Retrograde with a sumptuous and noble appearance.
Details on the official Maurice Lactoix website:
Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Moonphase Retrograde Blue
Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Moonphase Retrograde White
Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Moonphase Retrograde Specifications
Case
CASE DIAMETER
43mm
CASE MATERIAL
Stainless Steel
WATER RESISTANCE
Water resistance to 50m
Dial
Blue with sandblasted, snailed and Côtes de Genêve finishings OR Silver with Clous de Paris, sandblasted.
Silver powder and black printings
Rhodium plated indexes
Rhodium plated hands
Strap
STRAP MATERIAL
Black crocodile
EASY STRAP EXCHANGE
No
BUCKLE
Folding clasp in stainless steel
Movement
MOVEMENT
Automatic Manufacture ML192
FUNCTIONS
Functions:
Hours and minutes.
Power reserve indicator at 2 o’clock.
Day and Moonphase at 6 o’clock.
Retrograde calendar at 10 o’clock.
Vibrations: 18’000 vph / 2.5 Hz
Power reserve: 52 hours
Number of jewels: 52
Decorations
Rhodium plated bridges with Côtes de Genève in “Colimaçon” with polished edges on all bridges.
Rhodium plated skeleton rotor with “Côtes de Genève” in “Colimaçon” finishing
