The Maurice Lacroix AIKONIC Automatic Chronograph Skeleton lands with the confidence of a modern sports chronograph and the theatricality of an openworked dial that reveals its beating heart. It is a watch built around contrast: steel and ceramic, satin and gloss, translucency and depth, dynamics and legibility. Two references form the launch duo for 2025, both sized at 43 mm with 14 mm height, water-resistance to 10 ATM and driven by the automatic ML212 chronograph calibre with 62 hours of autonomy. One leans into a vivid blue treatment, the other opts for a stealthier dark grey and rhodium palette, yet both share the same structural grammar: a sapphire dial with layered graphics, a sculptural case with black ceramic bezel and sandblasted ceramic “claws”, and a movement finished to a high decorative standard with perlage, Côtes de Genève and a signature skeletonised rotor with colimaçon and sunray textures.
AIKON, with roots in the Calypso line, has always been about architecture and texture. The AIKONIC Chronograph Skeleton iteration sharpens that identity. There is an immediate sense of engineered precision in the way the case planes catch the light and how the transparent dial works as both an interface and a window. The watch feels purpose-built: 10 ATM of water resistance, robust steel and ceramic construction, DLC-coated pushers ready for action, and a bi-rubber strap designed for wearability and instant personality. The two variants, the Ref. AC8018-SSL20-030-4 with blue highlights and the Ref. AC8018-SSL20-030-2 in dark grey/rhodium, tell the same story in different tones, but they read as definitively AIKONIC with their external flange typography and crisp signage.
Open, Revealing, Stunning
The dial is the theatre. It is made from sapphire, which provides a crystalline stage on which layered information sits, all while allowing the bridges and gear train to animate the scene. On the blue model, the 12 o’clock 30-minute totaliser and the 6 o’clock small seconds are framed by blue counter rings with white print, and the external flange is blue with white MAURICE LACROIX and SWISS MADE markings. A blue translucent varnish follows the geometry of the underlying bridges, creating a ghosted silhouette of the movement that unifies the display without obscuring it. Rhodium-finished, faceted hour and minute hands carry white SLN and a sandblasted central line that echoes the indices, which are rhodium with the same sandblasted stripe through the centre. The central chronograph seconds hand is rhodium, with clear contrast against the blue field.
The dark model change the effect. The counter rings at 12 and 6 are black with white print, the external flange is also black wi the same white print, and the main translucent layer is a revealing a strong contrast. The look is more instrument-like, nearly monochrome, with the same faceted rhodium handset, white SLN, and sandblasted texture line that ties hands and indices into a single visual language. In both references, the choice to render the dial in sapphire and then “ink” it with colour and graphics produces a legible chronograph that does not sacrifice the skeletonised view. The visual hierarchy is crisp: time first, running seconds and elapsed minutes next, movement theatrics behind.
Vertical Alignament
Inside is the automatic Maurice Lacroix Calibre ML212, beating at 28,800 vph (4 Hz) with a 62-hour power reserve and 29 jewels. The chronograph architecture provides central seconds for the stopwatch, a 30-minute counter at 12 o’clock, and a small seconds at 6. Winding is bi-directional via a skeletonised rotor that has been treated as a visual anchor in its own right, sculpted to keep the view open and then decorated with colimaçon spirals and sunbrushed rays that radiate as the rotor moves. Bridges are dressed with Côtes de Genève and polished anglage, while the mainplate shows neat perlage. The finishing is consistent across planes, and the choice of a polished chamfer on bridges adds sparkle that rewards close inspection through the open back and the see-through dial.
Functionally, the Calibre ML212 is calibrated for daily reliability and extended autonomy. The 4 Hz frequency gives a smooth chronograph sweep and stable timing, while 62 hours of reserve ensures the watch can be set down for a weekend without stopping. The chronograph layout speaks to practicality: the most referenced totaliser at 12 is framed clearly; the running seconds at 6 keeps the mechanical life visible; and the central seconds hand remains the focal pointer. The finishing choices are not decorative afterthoughts, they give depth to the skeleton concept, preventing a technical watch from reading cold. Perlage softens the base with granular shimmer; Geneva stripes guide the eye along bridge edges; the polished chamfers separate forms and catch light as the balance pulses.
AikonIc – Iconic
The case is a study in tactility and contrast. At 43 mm across and 14 mm in height, it wears athletic rather than bulky, aided by a dynamic mix of brushing and polishing on the stainless-steel mid-case and the open caseback. The AIKONIC bezel is black ceramic, alternately brushed and polished, fitted with sandblasted black ceramic “claws” that lend the AIKON its unmistakable stance. The crown is steel with a black ceramic cap, giving a cool, silky grip; the pushers are finished in black DLC, each accented by a stainless-steel key with a Clous-de-Paris motif, a refined flourish that both differentiates the control surfaces and reinforces the tactile coding between start/stop and reset. Water resistance is rated to 10 ATM, appropriate for a sports chronograph that will see daily wear and occasional aquatic excursions. The transparent caseback completes the architecture, framing the Calibre ML212 and its skeleton rotor for an unbroken dialogue between exterior and interior.
Cool specifications extend to the wrist system. The strap is bi-rubber, designed for comfort and durability. On the blue version, a blue rubber base supports a black, textured, nylon-imitation rubber insert, stitched in black and signed with a blue rubber M logo. On the dark version, the base is black rubber with a matching black insert, black stitching and a black rubber M logo. Both employ the latest EasyChange mechanism, enabling rapid swaps without tools, immediately altering the character from graphic sport to pared-back stealth and back again. The strap’s relief and mixed materials mirror the case’s contrasts, ensuring the watch reads as a cohesive object, not a dial with a case added around it.
Presence and Wearability
The Maurice Lacroix AIKONIC Automatic Chronograph Skeleton proves that contemporary sports chronographs need not choose between presence and wearability. At 43 mm across and 14 mm in height, the dimensions place it squarely within the modern sports chronograph bracket without overwhelming the wrist, aided by the carefully sculpted case geometry where brushed and polished planes guide the eye around its contours rather than emphasising bulk. The black ceramic bezel and sandblasted ceramic claws create the signature AIKON/AIKONIC silhouette – instantly recognisable yet refined enough for varied contexts. This is very much a design language rather than styling, evident in how the external flange typography, the ceramic crown cap, the DLC pushers with their Clous-de-Paris keys, and the bi-rubber strap with its textural contrasts all speak the same architectural vocabulary.
The AIKONIC Chronograph Skeleton demonstrates Maurice Lacroix‘s understanding that modern luxury sports watches must deliver on both fronts: iconic design that stands out in a crowded market, and the kind of daily wearability that transforms a timepiece from occasional statement piece to constant companion. The 43 mm case feels substantial but not imposing, the bi-rubber strap system provides immediate comfort with quick-change versatility, and the transparent dial construction creates visual interest without compromising functionality. This is a chronograph built for those who appreciate technical sophistication delivered with contemporary confidence, where every design decision, from the ceramic bezel to the skeleton rotor, reinforces both the watch’s distinctive identity and its essential usability.
