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One of my first and most eagerly anticipated Geneva Watch Days meetings was with Favre Leuba, a brand that I’ve admired for a very long time, even as its modern incarnation felt like a shell of the brand of its vintage heyday. Favre Leuba is a brand with a long history, dating back to the first half of the 18th century, and is perhaps best known for the Bivouac, a watch with an integrated altimeter complication. Ownership of the brand has changed many times over the years, and in recent years the marque was controlled by various holding companies that never did justice to the watches created in Favre Leuba’s best years. This year, however, marks a new start for the brand, under the leadership of watch industry veteran Patrik Hoffmann, who had a long stint at Ulysse Nardin, and later WatchBox. At Geneva Watch Days, they debuted a robust new collection of watches that pays homage to the brand’s history while also looking forward, giving Favre Leuba the best chance they’ve had in years for real success.
There are multiple ways to relaunch a brand. You can start small, even with a single watch, and work your way toward building a collection. Or you can go big with something akin to the kitchen sink approach, with varied collections and price points. The advantage, I suppose, of going big is that a brand will get immediate feedback on what works and what doesn’t, but it also seems risky. What if none of it works? Favre Leuba has gone with the kitchen sink approach, unveiling a total of 22 references ranging in price from 2,250 CHF to 4,375 CHF. It’s an ambitious move, and they plan to make these watches available to the mass market, producing “several thousand” annually within the first three years of Hoffmann’s tenure.
I got a quick look at most of the new watches in the collection but in a half hour meeting, there’s only so much hands-on time you can have with a collection this large. If there’s a flagship line among the new watches, it’s probably the watches in the Chief collection, of which the Chief Date was my favorite. This is a 40mm wide sports measuring 10.8mm tall, and is the brand’s take on a contemporary integrated bracelet style sports piece. The best thing about these watches is certainly the ergonomic case, which wears very thin and hugs the wrist nicely, and is finished rather well to boot. There’s also a chronograph version of the Chief that’s a bit larger and in my opinion not quite as well balanced, but fans of big, commanding sports watches will surely dig it. The Chief Date starts at 2,300 CHF, and the Chief Chronograph comes in at 4,300 CHF.
Another standout, and my personal favorite of the watches I saw, is the Deep Blue Revival. Based on a Favre Leuba dive watch that originated in 1964, the Deep Blue Revival is a near one for one remake of the original, and wears great at a compact 39mm. It runs on a La Joux-Perret G100 automatic movement with a 68 hour power reserve, and has a sober gray dial with a subtle sun-ray finish. This is the watch that Hoffmann came into the meeting wearing, and I mistook it at first for a vintage Favre Leuba. A fidelity to iconic references of the past is a positive thing in my view for a relaunch like this, and something lacking in recent Favre Leuba history.
Favre Leuba will also be releasing watches under the Deep Blue “Renaissance” banner, which share the same case and movement as the Revival but feature more contemporary dials in blue, green, and black, sporting crisp white lume and a sleeker handset. The Deep Blue watches start at 2,250 CHF
The other standout piece is the Sea Sky Chronograph, a new take on a Favre Leuba with 1970s origins. It’s not a one to one remake of any particular reference, but more of a traditional modern reinterpretation, the likes of which we’ve seen many times over from many brands over the past decade or so. This piece kind of sits in the middle and is being pulled in multiple directions. Like all of the watches I saw, it’s nicely made, but wasn’t as immediately appealing to me personally as the Chief or Deep Blue. But if we’ve learned one lesson over the last several years, it’s that there’s a never ending appetite for vintage inspired chronographs, so it’s probably a shrewd move of Favre Leuba to include the Sea Sky in the brand’s big relaunch. The Sea Sky is priced at 3,950 CHF.
What’s missing here? Obviously the answer is the legendary Bivouac and similar niche complications like the Bathy, a classic diver with an integrated depth gauge. I asked Hoffmann about reintroducing watches like this, and he knows collectors expect it and indicated plans are in the works to bring them back, but he was not able to get into specifics. Until then, the first new watches from Favre Leuba under Hoffmann’s leadership showed a lot of promise.
The new Favre Leubas can be pre-ordered now through the brand’s website, with delivery expected to begin early next year. Favre Leuba
