The Le Rhöne Moön Aventurine Titane 37mm invites the gaze into an immense and eternal milky way, enhanced by a touch of mother-of-pearl and diamonds. Combining contemporary a sport chic style with refined finishes, it is COSC-certified as are all Le Rhöne watches. Beneath its understatedly elegant and easily legible dial, a complication with a moon indication developed in collaboration with the Cercle des Horlogers in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Over the past decade, Le Rhöne has established itself as a Swiss Haute Horlogerie brand, creative and independent, addressing a dynamic and active clientele keen on a style that is both discerning and relaxed.
From Porrentruy to Geneva, 100% of the components of Le Rhöne watches – case, movement, dial, bracelet, sapphire glasses, finishing, setting… – are conceived and designed, manufactured and assembled in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.
10 years. The blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things, the age of a child in full development – in just a decade, Le Rhöne has established itself as a brand appreciated for its original style and signature elegance.
At Geneva Watch Week 2023, to celebrate its first 10 years of existence, Le Rhöne is strengthening its women’s collection with the introduction – as part of a new generation of timepieces and as a first for the brand – of its flagship model, the Moön 37mm in titanium, a material that offers the perfect balance between solidity, lightness, resistance to corrosion and supreme workmanship.
Into the universe of Le Rhöne and its galaxies
It is one of those whose firmament is coveted. The infinitely blue unfolds within it.
If the independent Swiss brand Le Rhöne has never ceased evoking the immensity of the skies, the infinite blue of the night, the poetry of the Milky Way, the moons and their multiple influences, one begins to understand the pull they exert on its CEO Loïc Florentin, who lives in Haute-Provence in the South of France, a magnificent region known for its immense, extraordinarily clear night-time skies.
There, in the heart of this sublimely natural environment, far from urban life and lights, his home is close to the Centre d’Astronomie Saint Michel managed by the CNRS, the French National Center for Scientific Research, renowned for its observatory, its scientific instruments and its planetarium inviting an exploration of the firmament.
From his years of observation, on summer and winter evenings, between the mountain of Lure and the Luberon massif bordered by the region’s world-famous lavender fields, Loïc Florentin nourishes his inspiration for Le Rhöne creations.
Seeing the sky on his wrist, following the Moon and feeling its influence – it inspired the design of the famous Moön, now revisited and rethought for the 10th Anniversary of Le Rhöne.
A poem of a sky with aventurine and diamonds
The night. The sky. In the heart of the immensity, the magic of the stars, like an obsession. An ideal of celestial beauty. Le Rhöne sees this as both a technical and an aesthetic challenge, an achievement that requires both rigor and harmony between the design of the watch and the engineering behind its movement.
A nocturnal window on the infinite, the dial is entirely made of aventurine glass, letting the stars shine through.
A captivating material invented in the 17th century on the island of Murano, the birthplace of Venetian glass, and perhaps even much earlier by the Egyptians, glass specialists in Antiquity, Aventurine glass was born, according to legend, from an accident. One day a craftsman accidentally dropped copper filings into a vat of molten glass, thus creating aventurine glass, or Avventurina, which is derived from all’avventura, meaning ‘by chance’ in Italian.
Defined by its flat surface and inclusions with a metallic and sparkling luster, and characterized by an optical phenomenon called aventurescence, aventurine glass, which is mainly blue, is obtained by heating the glass to a temperature high enough to allow the copper oxide granules that have been added to the molten mixture to dissolve. Then, the mass of molten glass must be cooled slowly to allow the copper ions in the mixture to metamorphose into copper crystals.
From this dark blue aventurine glass, Le Rhöne has made an enlarged dial for the Moön 37mm.
A moon phase like no other
Of a singular and distinctive design, the dial is conceived in two parts: a large aventurine disc adorned with a circle of natural white mother-of-pearl representing the Moon, which rotates counterclockwise under a second disc, this one fixed at the dial’s centre, that is heart-shaped and whose outline has been carefully calculated according to a precise mathematical equation to.
At the centre, dotted with a multitude of minute specks of gold, chrome and white Super-LumiNova™, the Milky Way is revealed in all its poetry, glittering sparkles deposited with great delicateness to evoke the celestial vault in all its eternal vastness and beauty.
Around the periphery, 12 diamonds for the 12 indexes, shimmering planets held in place by gravitational pull, are set on the flange, which also features the minute track. Completing the whole, two hands, one for hours, the other for the minutes – whose shape is exclusive to Le Rhöne – that are polished, with a domed shape that echoes a certain sensuousness. Carefully deposited along their centerline, a vein of white Super-LumiNova™ assures perfect readability in the darkest of nights.
Finally, as a discreet and elegant reminder, the signature “Le Rhöne Genève” is delicately applied in a golden decal at 6 o’clock. The whole look is simply enchanting.
A first: Le Rhöne introduces titanium in its collections
The perfect embodiment of Le Rhöne, the Moön Aventurine 37mm offers a vision of today’s sport chic.
The not-so-classically inspired 37mm diameter case has been revisited, alternating taut and swooping lines with polished edges and satin-brushed surfaces to bring out the shape – between cushion and octagonal – that is the hallmark of Le Rhöne creations.
Composed of 5 elements – case middle, bezel, case back and the two cover plates – made of Grade 5 titanium (the highest quality of titanium used in watchmaking), the lugless case features titanium screws on both sides to allow the particularly ergonomic attachment of a tone-on-tone alligator strap, which – a first – is also interchangeable.
Thanks to an ingenious system of clips hidden under the two generously sized cover plates – another distinctive feature of Le Rhöne watches – the strap can be changed by the wearer in a simple and quick movement. The strap comes with a redesigned pin buckle made of Grade 5 titanium.
The surface of the large bezel is hand-polished to an almost mirror-like finish that perfectly reflects the light. Delicately set with 64 diamonds, it elegantly enhances and illuminates the brilliance and magic of the whole. And because Le Rhöne designs its timepieces for an active clientele, the watch is water-resistant to 5 ATM, which is equivalent to a pressure depth of 50 meters or about 160 feet.
A moon phase of remarkable precision – almost 5 years – developed by the Cercle des Horlogers.
Titanium, aventurine, mother-of-pearl, diamonds – the Moön Aventurine 37mm combines resolutely sporty characteristics (robustness, water-resistance, legibility, ergonomics) with the classic assets of the timepieces created by Le Rhöne since its creation in 2013: design, quality, precision, high level of Swiss craftsmanship and remarkable finishes.
The same applies to its self-winding movement whose moon indication complication was designed, developed and manufactured in French-speaking Switzerland in close concert with the Cercle des Horlogers based in the Jura Mountains between Neuchâtel and La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Simple and playful in appearance, yet technically sophisticated, this moon phase is remarkably accurate. Le Rhöne is one of the only watch brands to offer this display with the precision of 4.75 years!
If the watch is extremely precise, its operation is surprisingly simple: the crown, thanks to a system of notches easily identifiable by feel, allows you to easily adjust the moon yourself by pulling it out to the first stop; as you then turn the crown, each click corresponds to 1 day of the 29.5 days of a complete revolution. You only have to count the days since the previous full moon to set the “moon”.
Mechanical movement with automatic winding, COSC-certified
Perfectly reliable and used since 2017 by Le Rhöne, the calibre, developed and produced by SoProd in the Canton of Bern at Les Reussilles holds the prestigious COSC Chronometer precision certification.
Augmented by the moon phase module developed with the Cercle des Horlogers, the LR03, with a total of 147 components, operates at 28,800 vibrations per hour (4hz) with a comfortable power reserve of about 42 hours. The movement is decorated with Côtes de Genève and is equipped with a bidirectional openworked oscillating mass evoking Le Rhöne’s propeller with its three stylized R’s.
HORÖLOGY “10th Anniversary” Tourbillon QP Retrograde
HORÖLOGY Tourbillon QP Retrograde, platinum and titanium is the creation of the ‘Dream Team’ of three Masters of Swiss watchmaking who answered Le Rhöne’s call
HORÖLOGY Tourbillon QP Retrograde – The reflection of a world where creativity and excellence are the rule.
True to the LE RHÖNE spirit, the quintessence of the values and know-how developed by the Swiss watch brand over 10 years, the Horölogy “10th Anniversary” was designed by Swiss designer Eric Giroud and comes with a QP Tourbillon Retrograde movement conceived and developed in collaboration with two of the most prestigious Swiss watchmaking ateliers, Le Cercle des Horlogers and Agenhor, who are for the first time joining forces on a horological project.
Since 2013, Le Rhöne has defined itself as a creative and independent brand of Haute Horlogerie, accessible to an active and dynamic clientele, with a style, both sporty and contemporary chic, known for its refined finishes.
Le Rhöne distinguishes itself not only by its unique complications and instantly recognizable design, the brand is also known for the supreme quality and reliability of its watches.
From Porrentruy to Geneva, 100% of the components – case, movement, dial, finishes, bracelet – are all designed and entirely manufactured in French-speaking Switzerland.
10 years. The blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things, the age of a child in full development – in just a decade, Le Rhöne has established itself as a brand appreciated by for its original style and signature elegance.
At Geneva Watch Week 2023, to celebrate its first 10 years of existence, Le Rhöne unveils a remarkable Anniversary piece: a perpetual calendar tourbillon timepiece made of platinum and titanium, a special execution within the HORÖLOGY collection, Le Rhöne’s dedicated realm for Complications watches.
Less is more…
New case, new dimensions – the spirit of Le RHÖNE is strong in this Anniversary timepiece, inaugurating a new design developed in collaboration with the famous Swiss designer Eric Giroud.
Understatement was the watchword throughout the conception of the timepiece, with its measured, refined and discreet design contrasting with the imposing diameter of a 45mm case and the complexity of the movement hinted at inside.
Whilst symbolizing the quintessence of Le Rhöne’s design and technical codes, Horölogy “10th Anniversary” modernizes the collection’s aesthetic. For instance, the bezel as such now disappears into the case, becoming an integral part of it along the entire profile line, expressing a continuous harmony, as well as an elegant and refined smoothness.
A larger dial aperture
Proceeding further, though the bezel is gone, its presence subtly persists and can be inferred from the shape of the dial which now benefits from a larger visual space. The whole gains in openness, clarity, amplitude and purity! An aesthetic direction that already foreshadows the work of Le Rhöne’s design team in the future.
From a profile perspective, the construction of five superimposed elements presents a perfectly balanced unit, giving it a fluid line and particularly satisfying ergonomics.
Thus, while its volume – not least due to a 45mm diameter – may seem imposing, the perception is quite different when the watch is on the wrist. Using an upper shell and two complex curved cover plates of platinum sandwiching the titanium case (to make the whole lighter), the designer’s approach reveals a three-dimensional depth of character. Behind the minimalistic appearance, the whole proves particularly complex, with polished and satin finishes playing off each other and subtly bringing out the different materials and textures but also the horological functions.
Titanium makes its debut in Le Rhöne’s collections
If platinum, a noble, precious and eternal metal par excellence, rarer than gold, naturally white, totally stainless and non-allergenic, is a natural choice for this anniversary series, its weight – greater than that of gold – often proves a drawback in terms of comfort for the wearer.
Le Rhöne remedies this by combining platinum on the upper, visible parts, such as the bezel and the two cover plates as well as the case back, with titanium for the case sides, asserting this choice of metal for Le Rhöne collections. Much lighter than platinum, with excellent mechanical properties, solid and resistant, and offering the perfect blend of lightness and resistance to corrosion, titanium considerably reduces the total weight of the watch, whilst adding to its ergonomics and wearability.
Innovative! Creative! Collaborative! A resolutely contemporary kind of watchmaking!
Human Tempö, a motto that perfectly expresses the spirit of Le Rhöne.
It’s putting people at the heart of the design and manufacturing processes. Valuing the knowledge and expertise of everyone on the team. Bringing them together. Thinking, exchanging and creating as a group. Collaborating in harmony to make watches that symbolize great technical mastery, whilst maintaining a simple, pure, accessible, contemporary approach.
From Porrentruy to Geneva, Le Rhöne has often distinguished itself by its collaboration not only with the best partners at the heart of the Swiss watchmaking industry, but also by its ability to coalesce expertise around collaborative and unifying projects.
Thus, for the first time in their history, two of the industry’s most prestigious watch design and manufacturing studios have agreed to collaborate with Le Rhöne to create the brand’s Anniversary timepiece.
While the design and manufacturing expertise of the craftsmen at the Le Cercle des Horlogers, based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, regularly flows into Le Rhöne’s complications, the double tourbillon and the moon phase (as in the Moön Aventurine Titane 37 mm (also presented during Geneva Watch Week 2023), the team at Geneva-based Agenhor contributes its particular expertise in complications such as the bi-retrograde perpetual calendar.
The alliance of these two great names in the service of Le Rhöne’s creative expression translates into a striking, masterful result, both in terms of its high technical complexity and the apparent simplicity of its functions.
Remarkable readability
The dial on the watch is pure, refined in its simplicity, and particularly elegant. The color is a deep, smooth, dark midnight blue with a velvety opaline texture that contrasts with the alternating white and gray silvered decal indications and the Le Rhöne signature in the form of a small, hexagonal, satin-finished gold plate with polished bevels in the center.
Le Rhöne’s signature hour and minute hands, evoking a sword, have been revisited for a thinner and more contemporary look. Faceted and with polished bevels as well, both are satin-finished on their upper surface and feature a central vein of midnight blue Super-LumiNova™. As a result, the whole plays with light and its reflections, offering more contrast for easy legibility.
The indexes give way to twelve tubes, conduits rather, filled at the upper section with Super-LumiNova™; around the edge of the dial, an elegant minute track, complemented by a matte black flangeto accentuate the sense of visual depth.
The whole is well-balanced spatially, and the indications are easy to read. The hands move deliberately across the dial and are adjusted for an accurate reading. The fonts are decidedly contemporary. On the left side, the days of the week are displayed in an arc; this is mirrored on the right side by an arc indicating the date. At noon, a smaller discreet arc indicates the month of the year as well as leap years. At 6 o’clock, the flying tourbillon cage with its three stylized R’s; it rotates in 60 seconds.
The details are subtle and discreet. The dial is easy to read and simple to use. It is perfect for those who seek a classic and timeless look.
Finally, the right-handed crown, which has also been redesigned, features a midnight blue rubber insert to comfortably wind the watch; it elegantly echoes the dial. For the first time, the brand’s propeller-shaped symbol with its three stylized R’s – found on all moving parts (tourbillon, oscillating weight) of Le Rhöne watches – is also emblazoned on its profile.
The strap, which reinforces the sport chic character of the watch, is made of rubber, also tone-on-tone with the dial, and stands out by its skillful workmanship; in harmony with the lines of the case, combining strength and comfort.
A movement whose every angle is patiently finished by hand
While the 303-component movement is finished to the highest standards of Haute Horlogerie, its resolutely contemporary architecture is revealed by a rhodium-plated, stylized Le Rhöne micro-rotor that occupies only one-third of the movement, allowing the beautiful mechanism to be admired in full. The decoration is micro-blasted, while the bridges are patiently bevelled by hand. The colours of the movement are of particular interest, shades of grey anthracite, the dominant shade of ruthenium, accentuating the modernity of its architecture.
And because the Horölogy “10th Anniversary” Tourbillon QP Retrograde is primarily designed to be worn by a modern and active clientele, it comes with a comfortable power reserve of about 72 hours. It is also water resistant to 3 ATM, about 30 meters (close to 100 feet).
Ultimately, the Horölogy Tourbillon QP Retrograde is a celebration of savoir-faire, expertise, human genius, the master’s instinctive hand gesture; an understated and contemporary aesthetic combined with great technical mastery, one that remains both discreet and graspable.
Moön Aventurine Titane 37mm Technical details
Case
- Material: Grade 5 titanium
- Thickness: 10.3mm
- Diameter: 37mm
- Crystals: Sapphire, case back crystal with antireflective coating
- Bezel: Grade 5 titanium, set with 64 diamonds
- Crown: Grade 5 titanium, dark blue aventurine cabochon
- Water resistance: 5 ATM, about 50 meters (160 feet)
LR03 Movement
- Caliber: SOPROD M100, COSC-certified for Le Rhöne
- Functions: Hours and minute, moon phase
- Complication: Moon phase module developed by Cercle des Horlogers
- Components: 147
- Rubies: 25
- Frequency: 4 Hz, 28,800 vph
- Oscillating mass: Exclusive Le Rhöne design, openworked, in the shape of Le Rhöne propeller
- Power reserve: approx. 42 hours
Dial
- Central disc: Midnight blue aventurine, rotating counterclockwise
- Natural white mother-of-pearl circle at 10 o’clock represents the moon.
- Dial: Midnight blue aventurine, fixe, central, heart-shaped
- Hour markers: 12 diamonds set on the flange
- Minute markers Baton-style on the flange
- Hands: Polished, with white Super-LumiNova™ inserts
Strap & Buckle
- Strap: Alligator, dark blue matte, beaded without apparent stitching
- Buckle: Grade 5 titanium.
Price
- Suggested retail price: CHF 24,300 taxes included
HORÖLOGY “10th Anniversary” Tourbillon QP Retrograde Technical Specifications
Case
- Material: PT950 platinum and Grade 5 titanium
- Thickness: 15.2mm
- Diameter: 45mm (56.3mm x 48.4mm including les covers and crown)
- Crystals: Sapphire, antireflective coating on the case back
- Bezel and cover plates: PT950 platinum
- Case back: PT950 platinum
- Crown: PT950 platinum, avec midnight blue rubber insert
- Water resistance: 3 ATM, about 30 meters (100 feet)
Movement
- Caliber: Developed and manufactured in Switzerland jointly by
- Le Cercle des Horlogers (Neuchâtel) and Agenhor (Geneva)
- Functions: Hours and minutes, flying tourbillon
- Retrograde perpetual calendar (date, day, month)
- Components: 303
- Rubies: 45
- Frequency: 3 Hz, 21,600 vph
- Oscillating mass: Exclusive Le Rhöne design, openworked, in the shape of Le Rhöne propeller
- Power reserve: approx. 72 hours
Dial
- Midnight blue opaline
- Retrograde indications of the day, date and month
- Hour markers: ‘Tube’-type, grey-white silver with Super-LumiNova™
- Minute markers Baton-type, grey-white silver
- Hands: Polished and satin-brushed, with midnight blue Super-LumiNova™ centerline
- Signature: Hexagonal, gilt, satin-brushed plaque, centered with Le Rhöne signature
Strap & Buckle
- Material: Alligator, midnight blue
- Buckle: Grade 5 titanium
Price
- Suggested retail price: CHF 148.500 taxes included
Le Rhöne celebrates its 10th Anniversary
When the independent Swiss brand Le Rhöne was born in 2013, its two founders Loïc Florentin and Timo Rajakoski (who met on the school benches in Venezuela) nurtured a vision of creative Haute Horlogerie for a discerning, dynamic and more active clientele.
Known for its timepieces that are 100% manufactured in French-speaking Switzerland (case, movement, bracelet, including sapphire crystals and all components), Le Rhöne holds COSC precision certification for its entire production since 2019 (except for the complications). Moön, launched in 2017, is one of the brand’s five flagship collections, next to Röad Racer, Hedönia, Vöyage and Horölogy. Its design is fully in line with the brand’s range of creations; it speaks to connoisseurs as well as adepts of a lifestyle that is both refined and casual. This atypical titanium model is also poised to appeal to a modern clientele setting out into the exclusive world of fine independent watchmaking.