Maurice Lacroix has been making timepieces with retrograde displays for two decades, and this month they debuted a model with a new combination of retrograde displays: a retrograde day, a retrograde date, and a moon phase indication.
Set inside a 43 mm diameter stainless steel Masterpiece case, the Moonphase Masterpiece Retrograde is available in one of two dials: a snailed blue or a Clou de Paris silver-gray. The case has a fixed, polished bezel, brushed case flanks, and on top of the lugs, with polished chamfers on the lug edges.
Each of the three date indications has its own sector of the dial, separated by an area with a striped finish on the blue dial and a frosted finish on the silver dial. The day and date indicator hands move chronologically across their respective arcs, and the instant they reach the end they fly back and start over again. At the bottom is the moon phase indicator which has a disc that shows the visible moonphase via the aperture at the top of its subdial. The hours, minutes, as well as retrograde day and date, and the small seconds hands, are all lance-shaped and have been faceted and rhodium-plated (blue dial) and blued ( dial).
A separate ring on the perimeter of the dial, which has a circular satin-brushed finished, is affixed with applied, rhodium-plated or blued Roman numerals, except at 12 o’clock where the Maurice Lacroix “M” logo has been applied. Surrounding the hour ring is a printed train minute track chapter ring.
To adjust the day, date, or moonphase, there are two recessed pushers on the left case flank, and one on the right. All three require a small pen, toothpick, or corrector tool in order to operate. The push-in crown controls the hours and minutes and can be used to wind the mainspring manually.
Driving the functions is automatic caliber ML292 with an in-house made module for the complications. The movement beats at 4Hz, there are 36 jewels, and the power reserve is 36-hours. Finishing includes rhodium-plated bridges with Colimaçon and M logo lining. The skeletonized rotor has also been rhodium-plated with vertical Côtes de Genève, sandblasted and Colimaçon finishing.
The Moonphase Masterpiece Retrograde features an embossed M logo on the crown, a slightly curved sapphire crystal protecting the dial, a sapphire caseback, and a water-resistance of 100 meters. Retail is $5,000.
