DESIGN DNA INSPIRATION

The Bivouac, presented in 1962, was the world’s first mechanical wristwatch with aneroid barometer for altimetry and air pressure measurement.

1963, three years after the presentation of the first divers’ watch from the in-house atelier, Favre-Leuba launched the Deep Blue, waterproof up to 200 m.

In 1968, Favre-Leuba introduced the Bathy, which – for the first time in watchmaking history – not only displayed dive time, but also the current diving depth.

With its distinctive pillow-shaped case design, the Sea Sky celebrated perfectly the transition into the 1970s.

The inner bezel isn’t just round. Instead, it’s a finely wrought tetradecagon. It might be a small detail, but it contributes a lot to the technical character of the Favre-Leuba watches.

Whether round or in an unmistakable pillow shape – the cases are characterized by clean lines. Like their famous role models from the 1960s and 1970s. Not overdesigned, but expressive. A bow is drawn from lug to lug on the side of the case, like a bridge.

They are very distinctive. With excellent readability in any situation. Even in the dark. Just what you’d expect from a Favre-Leuba watch.

The index marks also aren’t at all conservative. They set the tone for the dial, which is otherwise minimalist in design. Making a clear statement. They are generously sized. Rectangular. Elaborately appliquéd. Simultaneously a distinguishing feature and a functional element. 

The red central hand indicates the altitude on the bidirectional rotating bezel, which carries a scale divided into 50-meter steps, up to 3,000 meters. One full clockwise rotation of the red central hand thus indicates a climb in altitude of 3,000 meters. During a climb, the small red hand of the subdial located at 3 o’clock continues to turn too, until, after three full rotations of the central hand, it arrives at its final destination of 9,000 meters above sea level.

The Bivouac 9000 is also capable of displaying any changes in air pressure at the same altitude. The hectopascal (hPa) scale on the subdial located at 3 o’clock displays the current air pressure on a scale ranging from 1,013 to 300 hPa.

Together with the altimeter and air-pressure display, the dial also features a power-reserve indicator at 12 o’clock. This gives the wearer plenty of warning when the watch needs to be wound after the movement has been running for around 65 hours. The mechanism that drives this power-reserve indicator is designed in such a way that it carries out its complex task with as few components as possible, which makes it much more reliable.

The 200m water resistant Raider Bathy 120 MemoDepth can indicate a diving depth of up to 120 meters. It performs this measurement with a simple but unconventional technique, wherein the water is allowed to enter the watch through a special chamber that houses a copper membrane. The perforation provided on the case back allows the water to enter this chamber, which is hermetically sealed from the one containing the watch movement, thereby protecting the watch while measuring vital information necessary during a dive.

The copper membrane temporarily deforms as a result of the increasing water pressure entering the chamber, and this information is registered by a mechanical contact sensor and relayed to the blue depth hands visible on the dial. The current depth of up to 120 m is read off using the central blue hand on a linear scale marked on the outer edge of the dial. A fine scale allows a detailed reading for the first 30 meters of depth. Two red markings between 3 and 6, and between 9 and 12 visible on the outer edge of the dial also indicate to the diver the most important decompression stops that should be undertaken during ascent.

The Raider Bathy 120 MemoDepth also has a memory function. The sub-dial at 3H shows the maximum depth you have reached during your dive. As the diver descends and the depth increases, the central as well as a the small blue hands rotate clockwise to indicate the current depth. A gear mechanism designed ensures that the pointer on the subdial stops at the maximum diving depth so that this maximum diving depth can be reliably read off on a graduated scale. Meanwhile, during an ascent, the central blue hand rotates anti-clockwise to indicate the current depth during the ascent.