Watch fans worldwide were excited when Favre Leuba’s return was announced in August last year. The world’s second-oldest watch brand is a favorite among vintage collectors and has created some absolute classics. Upon the unveiling of the new collection, we quickly learned that Favre Leuba would honor the past with modern versions of these watches. This article will look closely at the current catalog and its individual models.
If you are unfamiliar with Favre Leuba, I suggest you read Mike’s article on the company’s history. In it, he explains the relevance of some of its most important watches, which inspired the current ones. With an illustrious name like Favre Leuba, the modern releases needed to reflect their maker’s rich past to win fans over, and it seems they’ll do just that. Some people have already even gone as far as calling them perfect recreations. Now, let’s take a closer look at the various models in the lineup.
The Favre Leuba Deep Raider Collection
Let’s kick off this overview with the Deep Raider, a two-watch collection based on Favre Leuba’s most popular vintage model, the Deep Blue. The first variant here is the Deep Raider Revival, which brings back the looks of the Deep Blue from 1964. That watch has become a widely beloved classic, but if you want to combine its vintage looks with modern-day reliability, the Deep Raider Revival is the one to go for.
This watch’s stainless steel case faithfully replicates the original. It has a 39mm diameter and 13.24mm thickness, along with nicely tapering brushed lugs with beveled edges for extra visual impact. Whereas the original watch was water resistant to 200 meters, for the new 60th-anniversary reinterpretation, the brand increased the water resistance rating to 300 meters. However, the instantly recognizable style of the dial has remained. It has a distinctive layout, showing the old hyphenated “Favre-Leuba” signature above 9 o’clock and the logo between 10 and 11. Additionally, the extra-long quarter-hour indexes give the dial plenty of character.
A modern movement powering the Deep Raider Revival
Inside the Deep Raider Revival’s case lies the La Joux-Perret G100-based FLD01 caliber. It operates at 28,800vph and offers a 68-hour power reserve, suiting the preferences of many watch enthusiasts today. In addition to displaying the time, the FLD01 offers a date complication, which we see through a circular aperture between 4 and 5 o’clock on the dial.
Finishing off the watch is a remarkable five-row stainless steel bracelet with triangular links (as seen from the side) and a butterfly clasp. At €2,600, the Deep Raider Revival is a finely executed modern version of the classic 1960s Deep Blue.
The Deep Raider Renaissance
If you prefer a truly modern version of the Deep Blue, Favre Leuba offers the Deep Raider Renaissance. This watch comes in green, blue, and gray on either a stainless steel bracelet or a rubber strap.
For this modern version, Favre Leuba chose a slightly larger 40mm diameter but kept the 13.24mm thickness and 300m depth rating. Also, rather than the Revival’s sapphire bezel insert, the Renaissance models each have a dial-matching ceramic one. Pleasingly, though, the case features the same modern finishing.
In addition, the brand updated the dial design. The Favre Leuba name (now unhypenated) sits below the index at 12 o’clock, while the logo is cleverly placed above 6 o’clock to create a nice visual balance. Another noteworthy detail is the dial’s sandwich construction. It consists of a top layer with cut-out indexes over a base layer coated with Super-LumiNova.
Additionally, the dials all feature a nice gradient, almost fading to black on the edges. Underneath these dials beats Favre Leuba’s FLD02 caliber, which is visible through the sapphire display.
This movement uses the same La Joux-Perret G100 base as the Deep Raider Revival. However, this one features a custom rotor and more intricate finishing, including Côtes de Genève decorations on the top plate, soleillage on the rotor, and a thermally blued column wheel and screws. The watch comes on either a three-row bracelet with brushed and polished links for €2,675 or a rubber strap matching the dial color for €2,575.
The Favre Leuba Sea Sky Collection
The Sea Sky is the second line that brings back a great vintage design. As Mike explained, the 1960s models combined aspects of diving and aviation watches. They had an impressive 100m water resistance rating, a rotating 60-minute bezel, and tachymeter and telemeter scales. For the modern version, the Favre Leuba team decided to stay close to the original classic.
The new Sea Sky Revival lineup consists of four takes on the vintage Sea Sky. The first is a black model, the closest modern rendition of the 1960s classic. Additionally, you can choose from brown or blue models, and the brand recently added a version with a green dial and a black bezel insert.
All four variants share a 40mm case with a 15.23mm total thickness and a 100m water resistance rating. These watches all come with a unidirectional bezel with a 60-minute countdown scale, just like the originals. While the black, brown, and blue models combine darker main dials with three lighter sub-dials, the green-dial variant features black sub-dials for a slightly different look.
The FLC01 movement inside
The legendary manual-winding Valjoux 72 caliber powered the original Sea Sky models. For the modern versions, Favre Leuba turned to La Joux-Perret for its L112, which is rebranded as the FLC01. This automatic chronograph movement is based on the popular Valjoux 7750.
This integrated column-wheel chronograph caliber operates at 28,800vph and offers 60 hours of power reserve. It is visible through the case back’s sapphire display with its customized rose gold PVD rotor. Additionally, this top-grade variant of the L112 features blued screws, Côtes de Genève, and perlage decorations to leave a lasting visual impression.
All four Sea Sky Revival watches come on bezel-insert-matching leather straps with contrasting stitching. For €4,600, Favre Leuba offers an excellent chronograph that maintains the calling-card features of dive and aviation watches. Still, this combination of features is not typical, which keeps the Sea Sky as relevant as ever, even six decades after its debut.
The Favre Leuba Chief Collection
The third and last model range is also the most extensive. The Chief collection currently consists of four models, each in various color configurations. The standard one is the Chief Date, followed by the Chief Skeleton, Chief Chronograph, and Chief Tourbillon.
The collection is based on the brand’s Chronograph model from the 1970s. However, as you can see, the design was updated to show inspiration from that watch without becoming a contemporary recreation of it.
The Chief Date features a 40mm case with a 10.81mm thickness, a 22mm lug spacing, and a 100m water resistance rating. The relatively wide gap between the lugs nicely suits the rounded-square shape, keeping the visual balance on point.
The Chief Date is available with a black, blue, green, or purple dial that features a pattern created from the brand’s logo. It’s a clever visual trick that works and adds detail and character. All four models have a stainless steel bracelet or a rubber strap to complete the look.
The FLD03 movement
Inside the case ticks the Favre Leuba’s FLD03 caliber, which, again, is essentially the La Joux-Perret G100. It ticks 28,800vph and offers 68 hours of power reserve. It’s also visible through the sapphire display in the case back and comes with a customized rotor, blued screws, and Côtes de Genève and perlage finishing. The Chief watch costs €2,675 on a rubber strap and €2,775 on a bracelet.
The Favre Leuba Chief Skeleton
The Favre Leuba Chief Skeleton features the same 40mm case as the Chief Date, although it has a slightly thicker 11.76mm profile. The watches are water resistant to 100 meters and come in different colorways and finishes. You can choose between a regular stainless steel case or one with a black PVD coating. Unlike the Chief Date, the Skeleton models only come on a rubber strap for a sporty look.
Favre Leuba turned to AMT Manufacture to skeletonize the FLD03 caliber. As a result of the open-worked architecture, you can see the semi-exposed barrel at the 12 o’clock position and a visible balance wheel at 6 o’clock. AMT also made the movement predominantly black for the black PVD models, giving them a nice and stealthy look.
Additionally, all the models feature a colored ring on the dial’s periphery that holds the minute track and the applied rhodium-plated indexes. The regular stainless steel models come in blue, black, and green, while the blacked-out ones are available with a black, green, blue, or ice-blue ring. As mentioned, all the models come on a rubber strap that matches the ring, except for the ice-blue pictured above, which has a black rubber strap. The regular stainless steel models come in at €4,000, whereas the black PVD models are €4,100.
The Favre Leuba Chief Chronograph
Next up is the Chief Chronograph, which features a slightly bigger 41mm case with a 14mm thickness. This watch is available in five versions, each with a distinct presence.
Favre Leuba offers the regular model with a black, blue, or ice-blue dial. The black dial is all black (except for its white markings), the blue dial has black scales for the regular and elapsed minutes and seconds, and the ice-blue dial features all these scales in dark blue. Besides the color variation, the sunray dials also have a lot of detail thanks to the intricate mix of finishes.
Recently, Favre Leuba added two more variants to the lineup with slightly different aesthetics. The first has a dial in British racing green with contrasting off-white scales for a nice retro feel. The color combination takes us back to the time when the original Favre-Leuba Chronograph came out, and it shows the great versatility of the current design.
The second recent release has a beautiful Dune dial that takes 100 meticulous steps to produce. It features a stunning mix of brown tones and intricate finishes accompanied by rose-gold-colored hands, indexes, and a matching logo on the lower half of the dial. This colorway gives the Chief Chronograph a completely different feel, finishing with a matching light brown rubber strap or a stainless steel bracelet.
The FLC02 chronograph movement
Favre Leuba uses its FLC02 caliber for the Chief Chronograph. It is a rebranded version of the La Joux-Perret L113 and features two sub-dials at 3 and 9 o’clock. This movement also comes equipped with a column wheel, beats at 28,800vph, and offers a 60-hour power reserve. Once again, the caliber is visible through the case back’s sapphire display and looks beautiful. It features a customized rotor with soleillage, Côtes de Genève on the uppermost plate, perlage below it, and a thermally blued finish on the column wheel and screws.
All the Chief Chronograph models cost €5,000 on a rubber strap and €5,100 on the stainless steel H-link bracelet. I particularly adore the special Dune version. The same aesthetic works nicely for the Sea Sky model, creating an impressive desert-inspired version of the classic chronograph.
The Favre Leuba Chief Tourbillon
We have saved the best for last in terms of impressive horology. The Favre Leuba Chief Tourbillon shows that the brand is pulling out all the stops to impress watch fans. This watch features the 41mm cushion-shaped case from the Chief Chronograph. Here, though, it lacks the pushers, of course, and has a significantly slimmer 11.45mm profile. The 22mm lug spacing and 100m water resistance remain. Inside the case lies a special Sablier dial with an intricate pattern based on the Favre Leuba logo.
It consists of triangles that spread across three distinct tiers, from the surface down to 0.30mm below. In addition, the different triangles feature a mix of finishes, resulting in an ever-changing presence depending on how the light hits them. This is a wonderfully executed dial that shows great detail and dedication befitting this limited edition.
The FLT01 Tourbillon movement
Located at 6 o’clock, the integrated tourbillon construction features a small seconds hand. Favre Leuba turned to Chronode for this FLT01 tourbillon caliber, which is really the Chronode C502 developed by Jean-François Mojon. The manual-winding movement operates at 21,600vph, has 23 jewels, and offers 60 hours of power reserve.
It also features an anthracite finish, Côtes de Genève, blued screws, the brand’s hourglass emblem on the ratchet wheel, and gold engravings. It is a wonderful caliber that perfectly fits the overall style of the modern Chief Tourbillon. The watch is delivered on a stainless steel bracelet. Favre Leuba also adds a black rubber strap to change things up. This exceptional Chief Tourbillon costs €28,900 and is limited to 25 pieces. Considering the high-level watchmaking here, this timepiece is the perfect one to wrap up this Favre Leuba catalog overview.
Final thoughts on Favre Leuba’s current lineup
It’s impressive to see how quickly Favre Leuba built an extensive collection. With a team led by industry veteran Patrik Hoffmann, the former CEO of Ulysse Nardin, this is not a big surprise. Still, it’s quite remarkable what Favre Leuba has achieved in a little over a year. It makes us curious to find out what is next for the brand. If the latest models are anything to go by, we will see more worthy releases. We will keep a keen eye out for Favre Leuba’s future additions to the lineup.
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