Although Leica has not released watches for the first time, as early as 2014, the brand collaborated with Valbray to launch a commemorative watch to celebrate its centenary. However, this time, Leica finally released two models of push-button crown watches, Leica L1 and Leica L2, under its own name, equipped with registered patented crowns.
The appearance of the watch is designed by Professor Achim Heine, who has designed many Leica products and has a deep understanding of the brand’s aesthetic concept. The elegant time markers and dial scales of the watch, the carefully crafted stainless steel case, the special grooves on the crown, and the curved dial glass all evoke the brand’s lenses.
Like cameras, the brand’s watches are also “Made in Germany”. Leica collaborates with local manufacturer Lehmann Präzision GmbH for research, development, and design, with the movements and most of the watch components being vertically produced in the manufacturer located in the Black Forest region of Germany.
The traditional crown design is to pull out the crown to stop the watch and adjust the time, but the crown of the Leica watch is like a camera shutter button. When the crown is pressed, the watch stops and the second hand jumps to zero. After adjusting the time, press the crown again and the watch will continue to operate.
L1 and L2 both use a 41mm stainless steel case, paired with a manual winding movement, featuring central hour and minute hands, a small seconds sub-dial, and a date display. The difference between the two is that L2 has an additional dual time zone function, with a GMT 12-hour bezel and day/night indicator added to L1.
