Most of our cousins ??in China know Leica probably because of Huawei’s flagship mobile phone camera. Leica has always been the camera brand that loves limited editions and peripheral products the most. No, the new self-produced watch released in 2018 has finally been launched recently.
In the understanding of the general public, the Leica brand only has cameras. But in fact, the Leica brand is currently used jointly by four independent companies. They are Leica Camera, which makes cameras and telescopes, Leica Biosystems, which makes biological detection equipment, Leica Geosystems, which makes industrial geographical surveying, and Leica Microsystems, which makes microscopy equipment. The company that started selling watches this time is Leica Camera, which mainly targets the consumer market.
The self-produced watch launched by Leica this time is a high-end luxury product from the newly established company Leica Camera to generate and authorize the Leica brand. Ernst Leitz Werkst?tten department for various products.
Leica’s first watch series launched this time includes L1 and L2. Although early Leica watches, such as the Valbray shutter watch, were products produced by authorized external companies, the L1 and L2 are truly self-produced watches. Both use a steel case with a diameter of 41 mm and a thickness of 14 mm, but the L2 will also be available in 18k rose gold. The L1 and L2 are only available with black dials, but a pair of special editions with red dials to commemorate the creation of Ernst Leitz Werkst?tten will also be available soon.
These two watches are the work of the famous German industrial designer Achim Heine. His works include several Leica products, as well as Vitra, etc. Brand furniture. Mr. Heine incorporated only subtle design cues from Leica cameras into the watch, including a ruby ??cabochon on the crown, reminiscent of the famous Leica red dot, and a domed sapphire crystal shaped like a lens. The visual beauty of Leica cameras is very subtle, and it is also a very typical German aesthetic design, including the previous Nomos.
Functionally, this is the most interesting thing about L1 and L2. Both feature a patented “push-button” crown and reset-to-zero seconds hand. Pressing the crown puts the movement into time-setting mode and simultaneously resets the seconds hand to the 12 o'clock position. A circular aperture at three o'clock indicates the position of the crown: white for neutral, red for time-setting mode.
The date is displayed via a pusher at two o'clock, while the L2 has an additional crown at four o'clock that rotates the inner 12-hour bezel for a second time zone. Both models feature a power reserve indicator at nine o'clock.
In fact, Leica developed this watch with the help of Lehmann Pr?zision GmbH, a company based in the Black Forest Manufacturer of machine tools and components, the Black Forest region is a region in Germany historically famous for its jewelry and watchmaking, and is also the birthplace of watch brands such as Junghans. Lehmann Pr?zision GmbH's main business is the production of equipment and precision parts for industries such as aerospace and watchmaking, but in 2011 it started producing watches as well as movements.
Therefore, the company Lehmann Pr?zision GmbH is responsible for most of the work on Leica watches, including the movements, although these watches were manufactured by Ernst Leitz at Leica Assembled by Werkst?tten. The movement of the L1 watch includes time, date and power reserve, while the L2 adds a second time zone and day and night display functions.
Although the two watches have different functions, both watches use the same basic movement, manual winding, and a power reserve of 60 hours. It has a hollow wheel train and fixed splints, which reveal the beauty of the mechanical movement. It is worth mentioning that this movement is manufactured exclusively for Leica and is completely different from the movement used by Lehmann Pr?zision GmbH itself.
The following are the specific parameters of Leica L1&L2:
It is not surprising that Leica is now pursuing diversified development, because Its incredible brand soft power is more like a luxury brand than an electronics company. In fact, Leica is high-end enough that Hermès has collaborated with it on several occasions, wrapping cameras and binoculars in its expensive leathers. If it were you, would you buy it?