L.Leroy has penned some of the finest pages in the history of French watchmaking and chronometry.
On October 24, it was with great pride the L.Leroy watchmaking team saw its research and efforts richly rewarded by receiving First Prize for Chronometry in the Tourbillon category in the Third International Chronometry Competition.
Vying for first place included 17 watchmaking houses – 14 Swiss, one German and two French, where a total of 38 chronometers were presented (double that of the previous competition in 2011).
The award was presented at the Time Museum at the Palais Granvelle in Besançon.
This prize demonstrates the tradition of excellence that reigns at L.Leroy, who has amassed the magnificent total of 384 Gold Medals in chronometry competitions over the course of its history.
The Leroy 01, a legendary timepiece equipped with 26 complications, won the Jury’s Special Grand Prix at the 1900 World’s Fair and remained the world’s most complicated watch for nearly a century.
The self-winding Tourbillon Régulateur in pink gold from the Osmior range is an exclusive new creation by the House’s watchmakers inspired by the extraordinary timepieces displayed in the brand’s private museum. It offers a contemporary reinterpretation of the tourbillon system with an escapement train (pallet and wheel) machined from pure diamond, which makes the mechanism much lighter and harder.
The movement that drives this timepiece is produced by the Manufacture Horlogère de la Vallée de Joux (MHVJ), part of the Swiss Festina Group, as is the Manufacture des Spiraux et Echappements SA, which produces the entire escapement, including the balance spring.
Thanks to this major asset, the brand is able to equip the vast majority of its models with exclusive Manufacture calibres.
“This prize is not merely something for our technicians and watchmakers to be proud of,” said group chairman Miguel Rodríguez. “It is also proof that we command expertise worthy of the greatest names in fine watchmaking.”