AQUAMARINE SWISS CHRONOGRAPH - A MODERN CLASSIC
We are excited to announce that in the coming weeks we will be revealing a new Swiss Made automatic ocean watch. This new watch will complement our popular Aquamarine Swiss range and will be powered by a LANDERON Swiss Made automatic movement.
In preparation for this exciting launch let’s explore LANDERON and take a look at their prestigious pedigree as a Swiss watch movement manufacturer with origins spanning back to the 1800’s.
The company began in 1873, formed by Charles Alfred Hahn and his brother Aimé Auguste Hahn, and was established as Charles Hahn & Cie.
In 1924, Charles Hahn (son of the founder) acquired the patents of Anatole Breitling and began producing chronograph movements.
This movement production company took the name, LANDERON named after the beautiful and affluent Swiss municipality of Le Landeron.
LANDERON’s column wheel chronograph movements were famous, and the company supplied these movements to many militaries. Examples include Cal. 11 and 13 and the state-of-the-art Cal. 39. Because they held the Breitling patents, LANDERON was the exclusive supplier of column wheel chronograph movements until their expiration in the 1930’s.
THE BEATING HEART – LANDERON CAL.L24
Just before World War II, LANDERON developed the first cam actuated chronograph. Their Cal. 47 had three pushers: One to start, another to stop, and a third to reset the counter.
They refined this movement to become the two-pusher Cal. 48. This would become one of the most popular watch movements ever made, with more than 3.5 million examples produced between 1937 and 1970. The lower price of production compared to a column wheel model meant an average person could afford a chronograph for the first time.
While some LANDERON iterations were simple and inexpensive movements, some added date, calendar, and moon phase complications and found use in high-end watches. The Heuer Carrera is perhaps the most famous watch to use LANDERON’s cam switching movement, but it was also found in chronographs from Edox, Favre-Leuba, Glycine, Helvetia, Nivada, Titus, and Zodiac. Even Lemania and Leonidas, known for their own movements, used Landeron chronograph calibers.
In the 1960’s, LANDERON produced the first Swiss electric movement, Cal. 4750. It featured a battery-powered balance wheel rather than a mainspring.
More recently the LANDERON brand has seen a resurgence with local Swiss investment in the brand and the release of the LANDERON Cal. L24 automatic and LANDERON Cal. L98 hand wound movements. The L24 is designed as an alternative to the ETA 2824-2 while the L28 is compatible with the classic ETA/Unitas 6498-2.
Being fully Swiss Made and compatible with their respective ETA models, both movements offer exceptional reliability and simplicity of maintenance.
With such a distinguished history in Swiss movements, we are very excited to announce that our new PANZERA Aquamarine Swiss range, hand assembled in our workshop in Ticino Switzerland, will feature a LANDERON Cal. L24 Swiss movement as the beating heart inside every timepiece. The specifications for this automatic Swiss L24 movement are below:
- Reference: LANDERON L24
- Power supply: Automatic
- Size: 11 1/2”
- Number of jewels: 25
- Power reserve: 40 Hours
- Frequency: 28 800 bph
- Date Feature: At 3H
- Certificate: Swiss Made
- Parts/Service Compatibility: ETA 2824-2