The illustrious jury was made up of fifty experts including such celebrated icons of industrial design as Ken Nah, Hideshi Hamaguchi, and Gordon Bruce. Their verdict gave Les Ateliers Louis Moinet its seventh Red Dot Design Award and reaffirmed the brand’s eminent position in a distinguished international pantheon alongside notable stars of design like Apple, Ferrari, Kartell, and Bang & Olufsen. It also confirmed the effusive creative powers of CEO and Creative Director Jean-Marie Schaller, who, over the past twenty-plus years, has built and shaped a brand with a reputation for unique and innovative timepieces.
TIME TO RACE Green Racing features a fascinating opportunity for personalisation. Collectors can choose their own lucky number, which will appear at six o’clock, as well as a colour that recalls the fabled cars of the racing world. It was the Green Racing version that captured the imagination of a jury. The chronograph remains one of the most essential complications in the modern world, particularly in the field of sports. After all, it is the ultimate judge of any race, the one device that can really identify the winner. TIME TO RACE pays tribute to gentlemen drivers and those who comprehend the deep and unique connection between human and machine.
TIME TO RACE’s aerodynamic lines reflect the spirit of competition. Its sapphire dome opens a wondrous panoramic view onto the column-wheel mechanism. The bimaterial flange rests on a woven carbon-fibre plate, enabling precise reading of short times measurements thanks to a tachymetric scale and a sixty-second display. The feather-light grade 5 titanium case exhibits taut, flowing lines, with openworked lugs and a subtle curvature that underscore the perfect integration of the bracelet.
ABOUT LOUIS MOINET
Throughout his life, Louis Moinet pursued the art of genius without consideration for his legacy. He was a man possessed by his craft. As it happened, his humility almost denied him the plaudits he deserved for his enormous contributions to the history of horology.
The inventor of both the world’s first chronograph and the first high-frequency watch, Moinet would not receive widespread acclaim for either for more than one Thunder years after his death. Jean-Marie Schaller was responding to a call of destiny when he took on the mission to preserve Louis Moinet’s exceptional heritage and to share it with the rest of the world. In 2012, at an auction, he discovered and acquired Louis Moinet’s famous “compteur de tierces”. This instrument, identified as the world’s first chronograph, was introduced to the general public on 21 March 2013, a date that rewrote the history of watchmaking. Thus, Louis Moinet was officially awarded the prestigious title of “First Chronograph” by the Guinness World RecordsTM organisation.
Ever since, Les Ateliers Louis Moinet in St-Blaise has worked tirelessly to protect and promote the legacy of Louis Moinet (1768–1853), harnessing the same creative spirit that propelled Moinet himself to greatness. Under the watchful eye of Schaller, Les Ateliers Louis Moinet produces exclusively mechanical timepieces that fall into one of two categories, either “Cosmic Art” or “Mechanical Wonders”.Every Louis Moinet timepiece is produced as either a one-of-a-kind pièce unique or as part of a strictly limited series. Continuing the inventive and eccentric legacy of the man behind the name, Louis Moinet’s creations often make use of unusual and rare components, such as extraterrestrial meteorites or prehistorical materials.
The brand’s core values are creativity, exclusivity, and art and design. This unique creative approach within the world of mechanical horology has enabled Louis Moinet to win over 50 of the world’s most prestigious awards, including a UNESCO Award of Merit, seven Red Dot Design Awards, eighteen Good Design Awards, gold and bronze medals in the International Chronometry Competition, and many more. Jean-Marie Schaller also personally received two illustrious distinctions: he was awarded the high-ranking title of “Darjah Seri Sirajuddin Perlis” corresponding to a knighthood, and was also honoured with the Prize for Horological Creativity Contribution Award for his “overall contribution to watchmaking”.
