MAURICE LACROIX

Launched in 2000, Maurice Lacroix’s athleisure Pontos has returned to the forefront this year to fittingly celebrate its 20th anniversary in a variety of sizable pieces, including this 41mm Day-Date model in bronze, all of which are imbued with an elegant, contemporary spirit that respects the codes of traditional watchmaking, allowing them to be dressy without being too formal, refined yet effortless. The personality of the Pontos is expressed through its highly detailed round case, featuring a shoulder on either side of the crown, which serves to protect it and to create slight asymmetry. The smooth bezel is slightly angled, polished on the surface and satin-finished on the thin edge. Finally, the crown itself is shaped and finished with spiral notches, one last touch that makes the Pontos thoroughly modern, a signature of Maurice Lacroix design. The double lugs have a pronounced hooked shape with a satin-finished first level and a polished and sunken outer second level. This alternating set of matte and shiny finishes highlights the profile of the case.

The first Pontos model to have been redesigned in 2017, the Day-Date features triangular hour-markers, a sunken minute circle, cut-outs in the dial at 6 and 12 o’clock that highlight the date and the day, respectively, and slightly trapezoidal hands with a rigorous design. The effect produced by these geometric elements and their clever positioning on flatteringly finished dials is the result of pertinent modernity. The tones of the rose gold PVD-treated hands and the bronze case are reflected in the rhodium-plated hour-markers, their facets changing colour with each movement. This mirror effect is further amplified by the bottle green shade of the dial, which bestows a vintage yet contemporary look on the model.