Fratello and Louis Moinet Launch the Memoris Spirit 40 Chronograph Limited Edition

Our friends over at Fratello have an exciting new collaboration available today. It’s with a brand that doesn’t get a ton of press and the watch itself is in that stratospheric look-but-don’t-touch price range that most of us are forced to balk at, but it’s an interesting creation that we thought was worth highlighting. The Fratello x Louis Moinet Memoris Spirit 40 Chronograph Limited Edition is most certainly a watch with a very niche appeal, but it also feels like the kind of thing that people might be absolutely flabbergasted by in 20 or 30 years, wondering how it ever flew so far under the radar. You never know. 

Louis Moinet is an independent brand that specializes in high-end chronographs and limited edition, bespoke watches. Skeletonization is a key design signature for the brand, and what makes the Memoris Spirit special is that the dial has been skeletonized in such a way that the chronograph mechanism itself can be seen from the dial side. You might recall that Czapek released a watch last year with a similar feature that became something of a cult hit among indie lovers right away. Louis Moinet, to this point, hasn’t had the same kind of viral success with a watch release, but the exposure provided by a limited edition collaboration with a publication like Fratello certainly won’t hurt their chances of capturing some of the same energy. Even if they don’t, the watch itself certainly offers something special by moving the chronograph works to the dial side. It’s a different perspective that might not register fully when static, but when the chronograph is engaged it’s sure to provide a very different sort of experience compared to a traditionally skeletonized watch. 

This special Fratello edition of the Memoris Spirit features a blue and black dial with fluorescent orange accents, and replaces the traditional 12:00 indicator on the chronograph with a “00” marker. The real drama of the dial, though, is the skeletonization and use of sapphire. The crystal, of course, is a highly domed sapphire, but it appears that the material is also used in the chronograph subdials, contributing greatly to the dial’s open feeling. 

The movement here is the Louis Moinet LM84 caliber, which is a monopusher chronograph movement controlled by a column wheel (visible from the dial side at 12:00). According to Louis Moinet, the movement is made up of 311 parts, and we bet that between the open dial on the time telling side and the exhibition caseback, you can probably see most of them if you spend enough time staring at it. The case measures 40.7mm in diameter and is made from grade 5 titanium. 

The Fratello x Louis Moinet Memoris Spirit 40 is a limited edition of just 25 pieces, and has a price tag of €29,500. Not cheap, obviously. But also a legitimately rare and unusual watch. It’s a watch that, should you own one, is not only likely to be the only Louis Moinet at the local watch meetup, but you might indeed be the only person to have heard of Louis Moinet. At least for now. Fratello x Louis Moinet