Movements made in France are not that common, far from it.
But, step by step, young brands are pushing their watchmaking passion to the point of abandoning Swiss or Japanese calibers to support new French products and offer the most French watches possible.
This is particularly the case of Akrone, a brand born a few years ago in Nantes, and which has carved out a reputation as solid as it is discreet in military and watchmaking circles.
Akrone C-02 Akrone Heritage
Akrone recently presented its first collection of diving watches with a French caliber, the C-02 collection.
Calibers with 44 hours of power reserve designed, machined and assembled in France, rich in special finishes, with blued screws, Geneva stripes, a personalized mass and snailing.
These movements assembled in Maîche, France, mark the return of France Ebauches to French watches.
Parts waterproof to 100 or 300 meters, depending on whether their bottom is open or not, resistant to shocks and corrosion.
Their vintage style, with a double-domed sapphire crystal and superluminova X1 (the most powerful luminescent on the market) revisits emblematic post-war models.
Each watch is assembled and rigorously controlled in the former capital of the Dukes of Brittany, Nantes.
Akrone C-02 Akrone Heritage
In total, Akrone offers four different C-02 models, each produced in an edition of 300 copies.
The C-02 Héritage Décompression is a watch paying homage to the old diving decompression tables.
It offers manual decompression calculation based on dive duration and depth, with an engraved bezel to measure underwater time.
Akrone C-02 Akrone Heritage
The C-02 Héritage Maréograph, inspired by the legendary Abercrombie & Fitch Seafarer, incorporates a tide gauge function on the bezel with a nautical color code.
It follows the tide over 12 hours, for navigation and surfing.
The C-02 Héritage 164 Brasses combines the retro aesthetic of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, while the C-02 Héritage No Bat limited to 164 copies is inspired by the Fifty Fathoms 'No Radiation', with its small "NO BATTERY" logo " at 6 o'clock.
Akrone C-02 Heritage VINCENT LIONS
Akrone C-02 Héritage, €1190 rubber strap / €1250 metal bracelet