So, who’s Elgé? Nicely, data on them is sparse, and primarily based on a fast search, each description seems to be practically similar, all riffing on a WUS put up from 2012. As such, the story goes that they had been round from the Nineteen Forties to the 70s and had been primarily based in Annecy, France, which could be very near Geneva. They had been French-made watches that used French actions. In response to the fashionable model, at Elgé’s peak, they’d 120 workers, which isn’t so small in any respect.
For the return, they’ve targeted on a mannequin known as the Chamonix, named after a French mountain city by Mont-Blanc, in addition to persevering with the model’s legacy of “French-made.” It’s a remake of a classic design, although not fairly one-to-one. Slightly, because the city is a significant snowboarding vacation spot, the watch is designed as a purposeful sports activities watch by trendy requirements. As such, the 38mm x 44mm x 11.6mm case options an outsized 7mm screw-down crown, a water resistance of 150m, drilled lugs, and a field sapphire with two layers of AR.
It’s a reasonably basic case design, however one executed to a excessive diploma of match and end, particularly on the worth level. The brushing, particularly, stands out because it has a barely pearlescent high quality that I, no less than, usually affiliate with watches that value a few thousand {dollars} extra. Admittedly, ending has improved industry-wide, so maybe that is the brand new commonplace. The case proportions are additionally interesting, with a skinny mid-section compensated by a thick case again, a considerable bezel, and a domed crystal. The curve of the lugs, nevertheless, brings the rotation level of the strap previous the case-back, letting it sit on the wrist naturally.
The watch’s character comes from the dial, nevertheless. A correctly mid-century design that’s extra harking back to pores and skin divers than discipline watches, on this context, it has the over-lumed enchantment of a bezel-less diver. The hour index options massive, even numerals alternating with lengthy rectangles, all in closely built-up old-radium lume with white outlines. The typography is especially interesting, with an open six and tiny serifs on the corners, that are additionally current on the rectangles. This can be a cool hold-over element from the classic items. Encircling the hour index is a minutes/seconds observe with proportionally massive lumed rectangles, additionally with serifs, at intervals of 5.
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