Leica L1 and Leica L2 Watch Review
Leica, a name synonymous with high-end cameras, has just released two watches, the Leica L1 and Leica L2. Both watches are housed in 41mm stainless steel cases and share the same Teutonic robustness as the firm’s photographic equipment. Mark McArthur-Christie, a man of notable discernment, shares his thoughts.
Leica Watch Review
Hofstadter’s Law states: Everything always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.
Developing a new watch with a new movement is not a task you can rush. Even without Hofstadter’s Law, things take longer than one anticipates in Watchworld. The finished item is the product of so many processes that all start at different times, need different amounts of time to complete and, finally, need to come together at the same time. So has it been with the Leica L1 and L2.
The first noises about Leica making their own watch started filtering out back in 2018. The company has previous form, having launched a few collaborations with other makers over the years, but the L1 and L2 have always been intended to be Leica’s own. The plan was for the firm to work with a maker to develop a completely new mechanical movement and for Leica to design the rest of the watch. We even saw some prototypes that year. But after the initial excitement and plenty of positive comments, things went quiet. Now it looks as though the curtain is really about to go up on perhaps the most interesting brand extension watch this year. And it’s a watch that’s about as far from ‘brand merch’ as it’s possible to be.
Bauhaus Watch
So why on earth should the world’s best-known camera firm decide to make a watch? Perhaps a better question is ‘why not?’ Watches and cameras are both about timing, not to mention engineering, precision and design. And even if you’ve never peered through a viewfinder and don’t know an f stop from an f hole guitar, you’ll have heard of Leica. Better still, you’ll have a sense of their design aesthetic: functional, clean, minimal fuss; almost Bauhaus. A Leica watch makes a lot of sense.
Professor Achim Heine
The new watches manage that balance between having enough Leicaness to tip a nod to the cognoscenti but not so much that it becomes shouty or crass (a lot of supercar-branded watches, we’re looking at you). That’s down to the exterior design coming from the pen of Professor Achim Heine. He’s been the designer behind a host of Leica products, including the Digilux, the C1, C2, C3, CM, CM Zoom, the D-Lux 1… you get the idea. The Ultravid binocular series was his too, so he’s far from just a camera specialist. But a watch is a whole different thing, as many successful designers have discovered. In fact, Leica’s owner Dr Andreas Kaufmann politely describes some of the firm’s previous watches as “Er, let me call them ‘interesting’.”
Leica L1 and Leica L2 watches – cases
The Leica L1 and 2 can definitely beat ‘interesting’. Let’s start with the case. Rather than going all swank with metal choice, Prof Heine has chosen good old 316L stainless steel. Industry standard stuff, corrosion-resistant, robust, no-fuss and does the job – bit like a Leica camera. It’s a not-too-big-not-too-small 41mm in diameter and just under 15mm high. Because the bezel is relatively thin, it certainly doesn’t feel like a large watch, despite the thick, integrated lugs. The mix of polishing and satin case surfaces helps take visual weight away from the case and those lugs too.
The case design, looking in profile, has a definite camera feel going on with the case acting as the ‘body’ and the large dome on the sapphire crystal doing duty for the ‘lens’. These are pretty subtle design cues, mind – not a full-on attempt to ape a camera shape. If you know your Leicanography, you’ll spot the red dot on the crown and the red running second hand at 6.
Leica L1 and Leica L2 – dial
The L1 is a straight time/date watch with its close relative the L2 doing duty as a GMT timer too. The inner bezel rotates using that Leica-style knurled crown at 4 so you can set it to your new timezone as you travel. And both would struggle to be any clearer to read, thanks to the camera body-style black grained, high-strength aluminium dial background and the mix of polished and textured baton hands. Typography for numbers and letters is just as clear and detailed as you would expect.
Leica L1 and Leica L2 – crown
The crown itself is worth a mention on its own, apart from the red Leica dot. To adjust the hands, you’ll need to push it in – and doing so rather neatly resets the small seconds to zero. It’s not a huge thing, but it gets rid of the faff of setting your watch to a time signal and waiting for the second hand to hit 12 so you can hack, then missing it and having to start again.
Professor Achim Heine explains: “Together with Markus Lehmann, we expanded and fine-tuned the idea of the push crown. In contrast to conventional designs – whereby the crown must be pulled out to stop the movement and adjust the time – we wanted the crown to be pressed down, like the release button of a camera. The moment you push the crown, the watch stops and the small second hand jumps to zero. Another click releases the movement again. This is an unusual detail that perfectly fits in with Leica.”
When you push that crown in, it also changes the little circular indicator on the dial just to the right of the centre from black to – you guessed it – a Leica red dot. Push the button at 2 and you can set the date. The power reserve indicator is intended to look like a shutter gradually closing. There’s another lovely Leica detail on the straps of both watches. Not only is the inside of the strap faced in red, there’s a tiny red double stitch on both top and bottom strap halves where they meet the case. The strap tang buckle is milled, polished and brushed stainless steel with a LEICA engraving.
Leica L1 and Leica L2 watches – Lehmann Präzision
The engineering firm responsible for building the movement in both the L1 and L2 is Lehmann Präzision. Apart from having a wonderfully swish modern HQ on Weilerstraße in Hardt, they’ve done clever things with crowns on their own range of watches. Here they’ve played a blinder with the two Leicas. Not only did it specially develop two movements, one with a GMT function, it actually developed and produced most of the watches’ components in its Black Forest workshop. Properly vertical manufacturing.
The two 26 jewel movements are both manual-winders with around 60 hours of power reserve. The balance runs at a conventionally rapid 28,800Vph (4Hz if that’s your thing) and have a power reserve indicator.
And what movements they are! The bridges for the balance and the going train are separate halves of a grained and polished circle. The balance bridge is anchored at either end for better stability and has a novel micro adjuster. The winding train is almost completely open, again with grained and polished bridgework. Each screwhead is mirror-polished. The finishing throughout is, as you’d expect, very high quality work indeed. Fortunately, it’s not hidden away and Leica has thoughtfully provided a sapphire crystal, screw-on, caseback.
Leica L1 and Leica L2 watches – closing remarks
It’ll be interesting to see where Leica takes its line of watches. Originally, Dr Kauffmann also planned to launch a mechanical alarm watch, so we might see that making an appearance. Given photography’s reliance on time and timing, a chronograph would be an easy fit into the line too. But the current two watches in the range are most definitely a very considerable distance from ‘interesting’. They manage to reference Leica’s design cues without any sense of parody yet stand absolutely on their own merits.
Further reading
Technical specification
- Model: Leica L1 and Leica L2 watch models
- Case: Stainless steel 316L; diameter 41 mm; height 14.5 mm; water resistance 5 ATM (50 metres); sapphire crystal to front; exhibition case back.
- Functions – Leica L1: Hours; minutes; small seconds; date; power reserve indicator
- Functions – Leica L1: Hours; minutes; small seconds; date; power reserve indicator; second time zone (GMT with day/night indicator)
- Movement: Hand-wound movement; frequency 28,800 vph (4 Hz); 26 jewels; power reserve min. 60 hours
- Bracelet – Leica L1: Veal leather, black with matching stitching, red inner side supplied in a tang buckle, stainless steel, milled, polished and brushed, with LEICA engraving
- Bracelet – Leica L1: Veal leather, black with matching stitching, red inner side supplied in a tang buckle, stainless steel, milled, polished and brushed, with LEICA engraving
- Price – Leica L1: £8,660.00 (RRP as of 14.11.2023)
- Price – Leica L2: £11,960.00 (RRP as of 14.11.2023)