Maurice Lacroix Les Classiques Moonphase Review

Timeless and classic-looking watches with a “Phase de Lune” like this are often the reason why some people start collecting luxury watches. Join me as I review the Maurice Lacroix Les Classiques Moonphase.

This is hopefully the first of many. Rarely have I ever thought of reviewing a Maurice Lacroix, but this one has not just grown on me in a way that had me reconsider my whole outlook on this particular watch but also behooves me to pay closer attention to this brand moving forward. Let’s begin, shall we?

Maurice Lacroix Les Classiques Moonphase Review

For the sake of keeping my focus, I won’t be drawing any parallels between this watch and other similar watches from Maurice Lacroix or any other brand, for that matter. Simply because this watch alone has more than enough to offer for a full and detailed review in and of itself.

DIAL

Sometimes a glace at a timepiece draws my eye to the most unconventional of things. This time, it was the slender hands and vivid blue calendar days hand which then drew my eyes slightly lower to the modest, yet eye-catching moon phase aperture.

Unlike most “Phase de Lune” watches where this complication tends to really stand out, this one’s quite discreet. The moon phase disc is beautifully designed with a rich hue of blue in a radial gradation to a darker midnight-blue toward the outside, and the window is vertically aligned between the center post from which all 4 of the hands rotate and the word “Automatic” which is printed beneath it just above the 6 o’clock position.

The next thing I found myself staring at, now with even more intensity than my first glace is the hands. I noticed that the hour and minute hands had tips that were dipped in a luminous material. Then I realized why this caught my eye. The applied index hour markers had the same features. The luminous material was size-matched exactly to the height of the black printed seconds' track along the perimeter of the dial.

Once my loupe was in that area of the dial I noticed the dimensional chapter ring that sits between the seconds' track and the printed calendar days on the silver finely brushed sunray dial.

An insane amount of attention to detail can be seen in the design of this timepiece’s dial. Even the font used for the printed calendar days looks like it was hand-picked from hundreds of thousands of other options, and we haven’t even touched on the movement yet!

CASE

I then turned the watch sideways and literally fell in love with the 40mm stainless steel case. I noticed that the area in which the flared crown and recessed pushers sit the case uses a fine brushed finish, yet the rest of the case, bezel crown, pushers and even the beautifully curved lugs are polished. They say: “The devil is in the details.” and many times, people will miss these subtleties that make all the difference. Enough about aesthetics. Let’s get on with the automatic movement because the beauty of this watch is more than skin deep. 

MOVEMENT

The self-winding caliber ML37 is a 25-jewel movement that is based on the ETA 2824-2 from their MECALINE series which beats at 28,800 VpH or 4Hz. It uses Incabloc Novodiac shock absorbers and an ETACHRON corrector/regulator.

This base is impressive for its size at only 25.6mm in diameter and 4.6mm in thickness. Most watch nuts would recognize this as a workhorse caliber and Maurice Lacroix did an excellent job with the finishing of the rotor and various plates using a number of finishing techniques.

It offers Hours, minutes, and of course, the lovely sweeping seconds that you should expect from a high-end watch. The pushers on the side of the case allow you to correct the dates quickly and easily.

While may horologists will only sing the praises of in-house movements, the truth is that the ETA 2824-2 runs close enough to COSC specs without having to foot the bill for what many consider to be an overpriced Chronometer pedigree that just drives up the cost of the watch. Rarely do people ever appreciate an ébauche movement until they receive their first service bill.

This Swiss-made movement will do what it needs to and won’t cost you an arm and a leg like some of the upper-market brands who are too numerous to mention and have either the same or similar features and specs. While the manufacturer of this movement lists the power reserve at 38 hours, Maurice Lacroix must have worked some magic on it since they bumped it up to +/- 40 hours.

STRAP & BUCKLE

The strap is a sturdy black calfskin strap that has that alligator/crocodile leather-textured look. It uses black stitching to match and is fastened by a lovely brushed & polished stainless steel deployant buckle.

PRICES

The manufacturer's suggested retail price for this watch is $3,980, but you can find it selling on PrestigeTime.com for significantly less. Click the button below to find out the special pricing on this watch.