Horological Meandering

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The Story of the Creation of the Maurice Lacroix Memoire 1

MÉMOIRE 1 –

AN INGENIOUS IDEA AND ITS REALIZATION

No Witchcraft! An intensive and creative Process!

It all began one day in January 2006 with the question: Which development potential is there for new manufacture movements as well as for the Maurice Lacroix brand? The goal was to further pursue the vision of the brand and to have Maurice Lacroix take its rightful place in the ranks of the recognized and renowned Swiss watch manufacturers. What means were available to achieve this ambitious objective?

Soon it was absolutely clear: The path of innovation should be taken and through this, new milestones in the history of watchmaking should be established. For this, a team of internal and external specialists – engineers, constructors, watchmakers, designers –were pulled together. All these specialists gain its drive from one and the same dream: Break through the limits in order to make the impossible possible. The “Atelier de Maurice Lacroix” was born.

«L’Atelier de Maurice Lacroix» (from left to right): Nicolas Barth Nussbaumer and Manuel Romero, White SA; Sandro Reginelli, Product Director, Maurice Lacroix; Manuel Spöde, Les Artisans Horlogers; Damien Sourice, Head Atelier, Maurice Lacroix; Laurent Besse, Les Artisans Horlogers.

Two external partners were integrated into this new team right from the beginning with whom Maurice Lacroix had already worked successfully for many years: Les Artisans Horlogers, specializing in the creation and development of movements and complications, and White SA, known for its outstanding watch designs.

Creative brainstorming sessions on current Grandes Complications in the watchmaker’s art followed. The result was that watchmaking innovations are always more expressive and are often combining several complications in one model, which means that different indications are necessary. The members of the Atelier, however, wanted to take a different approach. Several indications or complications should be combined with each other in a way that the desired clear appearance of the watch is not lost in the process. This principle was omnipresent throughout the entire subsequent creative processes. Until that day, when one team member formulated the underlying idea for the Mémoire 1: “Chronographs are a specialty of Maurice Lacroix. Therefore, we should concentrate on creating a stopwatch with only three hands.” In other words, to achieve mechanically that had only previously been possible with a quartz watch. This idea fell completely outside what the members of the Atelier knew about traditional watchmaking and what they had acquired in the way of experience and expertise over many years in the watch industry.

It took them several days for this idea to mature and for them to understand the impact such a development would have on the watch industry. An innovation like this would establish Maurice Lacroix as a reference within the watchmaking industry. The idea for an exceptional, previously unknown manufacture movement was born.

Before everyone got down to work, they agreed on the central guiding themes of the project: personality, purity and clarity. The philosophy that accompanied the entire development process was the perfect melding of technology and aesthetics. In the minds of those in charge, this watch had a strong and yet elegant and purist presence. Each individual part should be conceived in a technical – while respecting its role in the ensemble – as well as aesthetic regard. Not least, they wanted to achieve the highest objective: The complication should simplify the live of the wearer and provide him with new pleasure every day. Because the Atelier wanted to offer watch connoisseurs not only a watch that meets their high technical expectations but moreover also provides playful enjoyment at the highest level.

Live photos of the Memoire 1 courtesy of Dr Thomas Mao

This is how the Mémoire 1 came about. A brand does not become a reference in the watch industry with one sweep of a magic wand, and an exceptional watch does not just appear on the table one morning. Maurice Lacroix had to overcome many hurdles during the development of the Mémoire 1. Without a doubt, the most important point was bringing together specialists from different backgrounds who shared the same values and dreams. By founding the Atelier, Maurice Lacroix has achieved something outstanding. The Mémoire 1 is the first Grande Complication to emerge from this creative and innovative cell.