There's something oddly satisfying about being able to twist your wrist to see what time it is. You just don't get the same rush looking at your cell phone as you do when looking at a beautiful timepiece. Take the Louis Moinet Memoris chronograph watch. This watch was created to celebrate the bicentenary of the chronograph, which was invented by Moinet in 1816. The Memoris is a 46 mm timepiece, available in pink, gold or white gold, in three limited editions of just 60 pieces each. "Embodying the essence of true commemoration – all the life of the present, rooted in history – it links Louis Moinet’s heritage with the creative vision of the Ateliers that today honour his memory."


It is my dream to one day own a timepiece as intricate as the Memoris.  For some reason I equate owning an exquisite watch as the mark of being an adult. Only a real adult can spend thousands of dollars on a watch, right? And how can you not want to own something so timeless and streamlined?  It took countless hours to perfect each and every element of the watch. CEO Jean-Marie Schaller says they wanted to completely reinvent the concept of the chronograph combined with a watch and go from watch chronographs to chronograph-watches. A small, but very important change.

"We couldn’t draw inspiration from what had gone before; everyone else worked from the premise that the chronograph was an additional complication on top of the time function. Our starting point was the opposite: sweeping away the past and making the chronograph the heart of our design; the central component to which we then added a time function, rather than the other way round."

It is this type of innovation that truly makes Louis Moinet one of the best watch makers. It takes extreme care and devotion to create a true masterpiece that is more than just something pretty to look at. Plenty of companies make beautiful, functional watches. Louis Moinet goes a step further, in my opinion, and their attention to detail is what makes them a prestige watch-making company.

Amongst its countless qualities, Memoris is the first chronograph-watch in history. The inspiration to create this timepiece was thought in an innovative way. The entire chronograph function has been shifted to the dial, becoming the primary function as well as the heart of the design. The chronograph is a central component of the watch to which a time function has been then added. “Energie Plus”, an ingenious, automatic pawl winding system allows the piece to be wound in both directions with a minimum of excess travel and offers a level of precision that is unrivalled in the watch market. Memoris is available in 18K pink gold, 18K white gold rhodium-plated mainplate and 18K white gold-blued mainplate. There are only 3 limited edition and 60 copies by set. Uniqueness is key.

With such as set of incredible features and rarity, no wonder ‘Memoris’ is nominated for the very prestigious Grand Prix d’Horlogerie of Geneva.

*I wrote this post as an entry into a contest. All opinions are my own.