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Maurice Lacroix is a brand not mentioned very often, perhaps because it isn’t an established old name but also because it has never really had a “hook”, like IWC with its masculine image or Jaeger-LeCoultre with its stellar movements. Back in the 1990s, Maurice Lacroix produced a special edition timepiece for one of its ambassadors, a little-known tennis player from Bern named Roger Federer. Since those days (and since Roger hit the big time and bolted for Rolex), they’ve turned out a series of nice — but fairly anonymous — watches that never merited more than a glance from watch aficionados. Oh, and they’ve managed to produce no less than 12 in-house movements, including a bewitching, lovely skeletonized chronograph calibre.
Despite these understated accomplishments (and a rather aristocratic-sounding name), Maurice Lacroix still managed to largely escape notice. Then last year’s BaselWorld came around, and the introduction of the diver’s chronograph Pontos S ($4,440) made dive watch fans and industry observers sit up and pay attention.
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The diver’s chronograph is one of those oddities, like a Porsche SUV or barefoot running shoes, that don’t make sense on paper but suddenly seem natural in reality. Putting more holes in a dive watch case never seems like a good idea; the notion of timing things underwater using tiny subdials seems counterintuitive at best and dangerous at worst. But then you see a dive chronograph and suddenly those good looks have made you forget your misgivings. That chunky case and beefy bezel combined with the instrument-like aesthetic of subdials and pushers conspire to be the epitome of a sporty, masculine timepiece. Looks aside, you not only get a bezel to ratchet around but also a chronograph to play with. Call us smitten.
It’s hard to imagine an ugly dive chronograph, but it’s also hard to imagine one we’d call elegant. Yet the Pontos S balances sport and elegance about as well as that former ML ambassador Monsieur Federer does. Its case, at 43 millimeters, is nearly the perfect dimension for a sports watch, and through the use of an internal timing ring exudes an expansive appearance without appearing too large on the wrist. The lugs are stubbier and more downward sloping than one might expect and don’t hang awkwardly off the wrist like other big chronographs do, making the Pontos S wearable on a variety of arms.
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