Entering a competitive industry is never easy, but sometimes it’s a vital step for growth. Renowned watchmaker Raymond Weil embraced this challenge with the launch of its all-new millesime (French for ‘vintage’) collection in 2023. Since then, the collection has resonated with a new generation of watch enthusiasts, gaining significant traction. Now, Raymond Weil is building on this momentum by introducing several striking new editions. Let’s take a closer look at what’s next for the millesime line.
An independent watchmaker from Geneva, Raymond Weil was founded in 1976 amidst the quartz crisis. Offering quartz and mechanical watches alike, it soon gained popularity amongst consumers looking to make a purchase in the lower-middle luxury watch segment. Culture and music have been particularly prevalent motifs in its watches, with the brand paying homage to iconic bands such as The Beatles. One particularly successful campaign in the 1990s saw the watchmaker team up with revered American photographer Lois Greenfield.
Similar to Frederique Constant, the brand recently resolved to move away from department stores and airport boutiques in order to set its sights on new target audiences: watch collectors and affluent young consumers. As a result, the brand, which already produces around 80,000 timepieces per year according to The New York Times, is targeting new clients by utilising complications such as moonphases, increasing production of mechanical models, and employing vintage designs and smaller case sizes. All of these features come together in the new millesime collection. Indeed, as James Lamdin, Vice President of Vintage and Used Timepieces for the Watches of Switzerland Group told the The New York Times, ‘adopting a throwback design for millesime is a clever way to give a relatively young brand an aura of heritage and capture the attention of knowledgeable collectors.’
With that in mind, let’s cast our eye back to last year, when the millesime was first introduced in the form as six smart models that you could rightly put in the ‘dress watch’ category. While aimed at the younger percentile of consumers, the line aligns itself with the ‘Neo-vintage’ trend, picking up on hallmarks such as a sector dial, geometric lines, and refined finishes. Within its first year, the fledgling collection promptly championed the ‘Challenge’ category at the 2023 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG).
In April of this year, Raymond Weil made its debut at the international Watches & Wonders trade fair, marking the milestone with a full eleven new millesime references. Amongst them: the GPHG award-winning Petite Seconde model featuring several new coloured dials, a chic 35 mm diameter case option, and two complicated models in the form of a tri-compax chronograph and a moonphase.
Millesime represents a new chapter for Raymond Weil, connecting with a clientele that values timeless elegance. These watch enthusiasts are looking for superior quality, expert craftsmanship, and a design that harmonises classic and modern aesthetics, with refined finishes – all at an accessible price point. This is a great opportunity, and we fully embrace it.
– Elie Bernheim, CEO and third-generation leader of the Raymond Weil family firm
Now, half a year later, Raymond Weil is already keen to treat its followers to a further handful of new editions. The novelties consist of five new creations, all of which stick to a 35 mm diameter. Of these pieces, three feature hours, minutes, and a central second hand on a sector dial, while the remaining pair integrate a distinctive moonphase. Despite their shared design code, the models vary vastly in terms of their overall aesthetic.
Let’s start with what I’d argue is the showstopper, and most likely to draw new followers to the brand. This new Reference 2125 millesime features a trendy burgundy dial, matching rather beautifully to a rose-gold PVD steel case. The watch dial keeps things clean and traditional, and exudes a warm, vintage feel.
The 35mm watch case with its 9.18mm height is perfectly round, subtly integrating a bezel decorated with a vertical satin-brush that contrasts nicely with the highly polished bevel nearby. In addition, the well-proportioned crown is fluted with the brand’s ‘RW’ monogram.
As well as offering Super-LumiNova on the hour markers and hands to ensure good visibility in all lighting conditions, the watch offers water resistance up to 50 metres. Overall, it’s a well-designed piece that combines aesthetic appeal with solid functionality – although purists might well argue that Super-LumiNova is misplaced on what is essentially a dress watch. I would argue that if the ultimate dress watch, Patek Philippe’s Calatrava, dares to add luminescence to its 6007G editions, I daresay Raymond Weil can give it a go on their millesime watches too.
What stands beyond debate is the dial’s impressive attention to detail. The distinctive sector dial, which is protected by a vintage-style glassbox sapphire crystal, presents the hours, minutes and seconds. A closer inspection reveals thoughtfully executed contrasting finishes: the hour track is smooth, the minute track is snailed, and the central area of the dial is adorned with a delicate vertical brush. The sector dial is also a smart way to entice not only new younger clients, but also seasoned collectors who may have a soft spot for the charismatic sector dial that evokes famed models such as the vintage Jaeger-LeCoultre Geophysic watches, Chopard’s green L.U.C XPS, or the more contemporary Longines Heritage Classic Sector.
Notably, the new watch still bears the words ‘Automatic’ at 6 o’clock, despite this being a feature that seems to deter some collectors for whom the millesime has awakened an interest in the brand. While some find it disruptive to the overall design, the fact that ‘Automatic’ is proudly printed on the dial may well be an attractive quality for first-time young buyers looking to elevate their watch game from a quartz model to a self-winding timepiece. On that note, thanks to the use of a rose-gold PVD steel case, the model is also able to maintain an accessible price of 1,995 euros while still exuding a sumptuous ‘full gold’ aesthetic.
The automatic movement is not only evident thanks to the dial: Raymond Weil also treat its millesime models to an open caseback. Powering this simple yet highly attractive edition is the mechanical self-winding movement RW4200, which uses a Sellita base and features the brand’s signature ‘W-shaped’ oscillating weight. The self-winding calibre offers a decent 41-hour power reserve and beats at a frequency of 4 Hz.
The watch goes all out by matching the watch to a rose-gold PVD-covered steel link bracelet, allowing the timepiece to glow on the wrist and giving it a very charming feel. While, not least with the growing trend for smaller watches, this watch could be worn by men or women, the enticingly warm tones do make this an excellent watch for female watch wearers.
Should the glowing gold and deep burgundy aesthetic not quite be your style, Raymond Weil have also introduced two additional models that fly a little more below the radar. This includes a tone-on-tone edition with a stainless-steel case around a silver dial, creating a mesmerising play of metallic reflections while keeping the design. This edition also really allows the wearer to appreciate the attention to detail and finishing displayed across the dial. Accompanied by a suave grey calf leather strap, the watch has a price of 1,695 euros.
Meanwhile, if you paid close attention to watches from high-end, spearheading brands such as Patek Philippe in the past year, you may well have noticed that denim has become an unexpected motif in the luxury Swiss watch world. The new ‘denim’ dial edition has a laidback feel, although a touch of glamour is added to the lugs through the addition of lab-grown diamonds. Thanks to their sustainable and ethical qualities compared to traditional mined diamonds, the decision to opt for lab-grown diamonds should also prove popular amongst younger clients. Again, the watch comes on a comfortable calf leather strap that secures to the wrist via a steel buckle. This millesime watch is available for 2,075 euros.
Last but not least, one for the romantics: Raymond Weil are introducing two new millesime moonphase editions in steel or rose-gold PVD. The steel version is once again paired with a so-called denim dial and diamond-clad lugs, while the rose-gold PVD edition features the subtle silver sector dial – an interesting, almost bicolour choice in combination with its warmer case. The moonphase may, for some watch aficionados, echo the design of Blancpain’s moonphase Villeret watches, which also feature serene faces on the moonphase set against a backdrop of stars. In any case, it’s certainly a charming and charismatic touch.
Instead of baton indices seen on other editions, these models use curved Arabic numerals to display the time. However, the obelisk hour and minute hands still feature Super-LumiNova for round-the-clock legibility – a choice that, in my opinion, doesn’t quite suit the more classically elegant moonphase complication. That said, the matching of the hands to the rose-gold PVD case looks undeniably elegant.
Powering these two complicated millesime pieces is the calibre RW4280, again offering a 41-hour power reserve and frequency of 4 Hz. The wearer can once again admire the automatic movement through a sapphire crystal caseback. Available with either a calf leather strap or metal bracelet, the price of the millesime moonphase watches starts at 2,650 euros.
