On July 7, 2023, Zurich will experience its blue miracle at the Züri Fäscht — the city festival which takes place only every three years that is also Switzerland’s largest festival. Rising to the occasion, Maurice de Mauriac is launching a new Züri-Date timepiece in 8 colours: green, turquoise, red, orange, black, white, yellow… and blue. One watch, one city, eight colours: the origins of Maurice de Mauriac condensed on a new multichromatic edition.
A blue watch for Zurich makes sense. It’s been represented on the city’s coat of arms since 1389. But green, turquoise, red, orange, black, white and yellow? Watchbro Leonard Dreifuss reveals how these colours came about: “On the way from our studio to the Bahnhofstrasse, I crossed Paradeplatz on a Zischtig (Tuesday in Swiss German) — and suddenly the colours for the new Züri-Date edition were clear. The colors of the trams, omnipresent in Zurich and the backbone of public transport within the city, inspired me.”
Therefore, the new Züri-Date is available in eight dial hues, paired with a high-quality, stylish leather strap or with a robust steel bracelet. Its characteristic dial features a day display at 12 o’clock in Zurich’s very own Swiss German dialect and a magnifying glass on the date at 3 o’clock. The movement, naturally automatic, is a decorated ETA 2834-2 calibre with 25 jewels. The see-through back case provides a clear view of the mechanics, so you can watch how beautifully time flies in the city of Zurich.
Massimo Dreifuss, the elder Watchbro, describes the design process of the new Züri-Date as something special: “We kept getting on different trams at Paradeplatz, letting the colours work on us and changing them slightly again and again. In the end, we had harmonized the aesthetics of the tram colours with our own aesthetics.” He remembers that the colours were fixed at around 10 p.m. on the Tram 8 just before Paradeplatz. It is the tram in which Masha, the sister of the Watchbros, commutes between the MdM Garage store and the iconic studio in Tödistrasse that serves as the brand’s headquarters. The tram squeaked with joy on the last bend. A watch cannot be more Zurich.
From Zurich to the world
The new Züri-Date builds on the success of the now sold-out anniversary timepiece from Maurice de Mauriac — the original Züri-Date, launched last year to celebrate the brand’s 25th anniversary. The first watch with a day display in Swiss German. As a result, Maurice de Mauriac also developed a variation of the watch exclusively for the NZZ, the venerable Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper founded in 1780.
The new Züri-Date timepiece is now available in all its colours and versions at the brand’s studio located in Tödistrasse 48, in the MdM Garage store at Geroldstrasse 5 in Züri West (note the opening times!) and, of course, worldwide in the MDM webshop. For the launch, it will be available also at the Züri Fäscht on Saturday, 8 July, and Sunday, 9 July, from 2 pm to 10 pm. Of course, in the smallest watch boutique in the world — in the yellow APE Piaggio from Maurice de Mauriac.
Maurice de Mauriac Züri Date Technical Specifications
Movement
- ETA 28.34-2
- Top automatic movement
- Custom-refined for Maurice de Mauriac
- Functions: hours, minutes, seconds, day and date
Case
- Satin-finished 316L stainless steel;
- Screwed-in crown; sapphire glass with anti-reflective coating on both sides;
- Back case with see-through sapphire glass;
- Waterproof to 100 m
- Diameter: 39mm or 42mm
- Height: 13,90mm
Dial
- Green, turquoise, red, orange, black, white, yellow and blue;
- Luminous hour and minute hands, indexes
Strap/Bracelet
- Leather strap or 316L steel bracelet
- Buckle (for the leather strap): satin-finished 316L stainless steel
Price: 3200.- CHF (incl. 7.7% VAT)
About the Brand
Maurice de Mauriac was founded in 1997 by the enfant terrible of the watchmaking scene, Daniel Dreifuss. The studio at Tödistrasse 48 in Zurich is both the heart of the brand and an internationally sought-after shop with the highest ratings on Trip Advisor. The store density per square meter is unrivaled and the presence of the Dreifuss family gives every visit a familiarity and closeness that is hardly conceivable for a global brand today. Daniel’s sons, Watchbros Massimo and Leonard, have been running the independent family business since 2020. Since 2023, her sister Masha has been responsible for what is probably the most individual branch of a luxury watch brand — the MdM Garage in Züri West. The Zurich watch manufacturer, which has its cultural and creative inspirations in the depths of the city of Zurich, is known for its exclusive series of mechanical watches showing watchmaking tradition but always interpreted for modern times. The brand is also known for its leather straps of the highest quality or exclusive NATO strap patterns, available in an unmatched large selection. Maurice de Mauriac timepieces are presented worldwide in watch, design, fashion and business media.