A fter constant announcements of little-known brand ambassadors for literally the past two years, Maurice Lacroix has finally dropped an interesting new metal wristwatch.
Maurice Lacroix’s Aikon collection is both a great value and highly polarizing because it tends to be either liked or hated, depending on people’s views of whether it copies the Royal Oak or not.
In a world where getting a Royal Oak at retail is near impossible, and even if you do, you’re looking at $25K minimum — naturally, there should be some alternatives. In spite of all the attempts from brands such as Autodromo and Chopard to create Royal Oak-like success — the Aikon is one of the best alternatives for the money if you cannot have the real thing. Calling it a knockoff is wrong because it’s not a blatant copy but to each their own.
Today, Maurice Lacroix debuted a new skeletonized version of the company’s best-selling timepiece: the Aikon. The Maurice Lacroix Aikon Skeleton is presented in a 39 mm x 11 mm stainless steel Aikon case, this is the first skeleton the company has made in this smaller diameter case size (43 mm, 44 mm, and 45 mm skeletons already exist).
Maurice Lacroix says they worked closely with Sellita to make an exclusive skeletonized version of the ubiquitous automatic caliber SW200 to drive the hours, minutes, and seconds of the Aikon Skeleton. The result is caliber ML115 — which beats at 4Hz, has 26 jewels, with a 38-hour power reserve — a high-quality, reliable movement, on the accessible end of the price spectrum. Decorated with ruthenium anthracite plating, sunray finishing, sandblasting, circular graining, and colimaçon finishing — Maurice Lacroix has managed to deliver an elegant-looking skeleton timepiece — which is rare at this price point.
Featuring a screw-down crown, and a caseback that’s secured by individual screws, this is not a sports watch per se, although the 200-meter depth rating and locking crown suggest it can handle more activity than a typical dress watch.
To ensure great legibility Maurice Lacroix created a sapphire crystal dial, encircled with a dark gray flange printed with a minutes/second track in white, and rhodium-plated faceted luminous baton-shaped indices and hands.
The Maurice Lacroix Aikon Skeleton comes with a 5-row integrated stainless steel bracelet that features an easy change system so you can easily swap the bracelet for a leather or rubber strap, without any tools.
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