Louis Moinet’s Time To Race : Not A Limited Series, A One-Of-A-Kind Creation

With the invention of the Chronograph in 1816, Louis Moinet is the official holder of the title of «World’s First Chronograph», awarded by the Guinness World Records organisation. This name packed with history has most recently introduced the ultimate embodiment of an essential theme in contemporary watchmaking: personalisation. Yes, your very own personalised chronograph by Louis Moinet.

TIME TO RACE propels itself into the world of gentlemen drivers and also embodies the beauty of sport, the unique spirit expressing the merging of man and machine. With a smaller case dimension of 40.7 mm,the chronograph function is on full display through a powerful chevé sapphire dome that occupies almost half of the lateral surface.

This raised chronograph mechanism sits flush with the crystal, giving you a spectacular panoramic view of the column-wheel mechanism and the movement while permitting the second hand to be almost as long as the outer diameter of the case itself, giving rise to a new type of inner bezel ring, dissociated from the crystal. It also makes it possible to combine two different readings of short-time measurements: a tachymeter scale (on the inside) and a classic 60-second track (on the outside). A bright yellow neoralithe segment takes up the first quarter of the tachymeter, emphasizing the strong connection to motorsport.

Now coming to the inner bezel ring. Framing a woven carbon fibre mainplate highlighting the 147 components of the chronograph mechanism, the inner bezel ring provides an extremely legible reading contrast indicated by the large coloured hand and one of the two smoke-coloured counters.

The overall design is quite clean. The hours and minutes that are read off the subdial at 6 o'clock have relatively a high gloss finish. First, the white part is made, then hollowed out before casting the black number. This fusion gives the dial its depth and its brilliance.with the highlight being your "Lucky Number", painted in black on a white background with a glossy polished finish, and surrounded by a metal ring reminiscent of the bores used in racing cars.

What about the legibility? Given the extremely busy layout of the dial certain elements have been given a touch of special lume. Both the scales of the triangular flange, the counters at 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock and the chronograph hands have been treated with a special colourful superluminova, transferred via pad printing that unlike the regular screen printing ensuring that the matte flat appearance of the lume is less than 1/10th of a mm.

How does it wear? An extremely light and seamless fit to any wrist! That polished and satin-brushed 40.7mm case cut from grade 5 titanium weighs merely 18 grams and is further enhanced by a strap that is the perfect extension of the case.

TIME TO RACE is a chronograph that is 100% visual. Powered by calibre LM 96, all it takes is one smooth press on the single pusher enhanced by “Clous de Paris" hobnail pattern, for the levers, clutch, hammers, column wheel, springs and wheels to get into motion and interact with the ultimate goal of activating the chronograph and measuring time.

How does it work?

Personalise your TIME TO RACE by selecting a one or two-digit “lucky number” that will appear on the front of the timepiece, along with a dedicated colour code: Rosso Corsa, Racing Green or French blue. These colours have been specifically selected because they embody the most legendary cars in motorsports at a time when it wasn’t the brands competing but the countries. Hence, a red car brings to mind Italy, a green one England and a blue one France. Which basically means that although the watches are not limited there will never be two of the same!

This visually arresting chronograph has been nominated at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2022 awards this year and is surely making many racing hearts rev !

Approximate price : CHF 30,500