Laventure Watches, a micro-brand from Neuchâtel, Switzerland, continues to impress with its retro-themed repertoire. Its latest model, the Transatlantique GMT has been a runaway success almost selling out most in the first 24 hours after it was unveiled on the brand’s website.
To recap, a microbrand is an independent company that has an annual output of about 300-2000 watches. Mostly run by aficionados with cash to spare or watch industry executives with an entrepreneurial streak, their products often capture the zeitgeist of the collecting community. Clement Gaud, who has designed watches for brands like Audemars Piguet, HYT, Hautlence, Tissot and Hamilton among others, founded Laventure in 2017. By his own admission, he is inspired by tool watches made in the 1950’s and 60’s. Each Laventure model (reference) is presented in a limited editions of 50 to maintain exclusivity.
The Transatlantique GMT looks like it time travelled back from the late 1950’s. The green tone is reminiscent of the colour of vintage green enamelware and the watch is fitted with a highly domed Plexiglas acrylic crystal and bezel insert that was widely used on diving watches made in the 1960’s. The stainless steel case is 40.5 mm wide and has a mix of brushed and polished surfaces, it is slim enough to slip under your shirt cuff at 10.30 mm. There two dial options – a vignette lacquer green or a cream lacquer dial. It features the same sandwich dial construction seen on the previous two models. A sandwich dial, for those who don’t know, is composed of two superimposed plates with the indexes on the upper part cut out to reveal the photo-luminescent coating that covers the bottom plate. The vignette dial, the gilt hour markers and the beige luminescence give the watch a real vintage feel. A GMT hand with a lumed arrow tip indicates the second time zone.
The ETA 2893-2, a self-winding calibre with GMT function favoured by brands like Breitling, Panerai, Hamilton, Ball, Sinn among others, is the beating heart of this watch. The movement is hidden by an engraving caseback, which also has the limited edition number. The watch is paired with an integrated steel bracelet; but there are strap options in leather and rubber too. Both dial options are limited to 50 pieces and priced at 3,350 Swiss Francs (Approx. AED13,000). As mentioned earlier, the watches were spoken for in a matter of hours after orders went live on the website. As of writing this, the green dial version has sold out completely and just a few models with the cream dial option are still up for grabs. Head to the laventure.swiss for more information.
