Round-UpThe 10 Best Favre Leuba Watches That Definitively Represent The Brand
Here are 10 of the best contemporarry watches from Favre Leuba, the second-oldest Swiss watch brand in the world. Rugged, yet luxe in their appeal, these watches are ideal for sportspersons and adventure seekers, but also suit the needs of an urban lifestyle
May We Recommend
The world’s second oldest watchmaker, Favre Leuba, have gained repute for their tool-like instrument watches such as Deep Blue, Bathy, Harpoon and Bivouac. With their motto ‘Conquering frontiers’, timepieces by the 1737 brand are robust, practical and designed for all kinds of adventures and terrains. Here are Top 10 Favre Leuba watches that thrive on adventuring.
Favre Leuba Raider Bathy 120 MemoDepth
This hand-wound 48mm wristwatch in titanium, introduced at Baselworld 2018, pays tribute to the famed 1968 Bathy watch. With a 200m water resistance and inbuilt mechanical limiter, the Raider Bathy 120 MemoDepth can function at up to 120m below sea level without a glitch. The blue hand measures depth while the sub-dial at three o’clock records maximum depth. This watch runs on FL321 calibre that offers a 65-hour power reserve, gaugeable from the semi-circular indicator positioned at 12 o’clock. A small seconds sub-dial sits at nine o’clock and date aperture, at six o’clock. The registers are clearly legible on the black dial that has depth indications marked in blue, and topped with a unidirectional bezel. The hour and minute hands, plus indexes are coated in lume. This barrel-shaped watch features and a black rubber strap. The antireflective sapphire crystal on both sides offers protection and good visibility.
Raider Bivouac 9000
The Raider Bivouac 9000 homage to the original model, dating to the early 60s, with its inbuilt mechanical altimeter. The hand-wound timepiece runs on FL311 calibre that offers a 65-hour power reserve. Its 48mm barrel-shaped titanium case appears bulky, but is lightweight. The stone grey dial with silver hour and minute hands, matches its grey antelope leather strap. Other Favre Leuba iterations are mostly dive watches, but this model is designed for those willing to scale loftier heights. While the 60s timepiece could measure heights up to 3,000m, the current model goes up to 9,000m. The central red hand measures altitude up to 3,000m with a single rotation. The sub-dial at three o’clock indicates the altitude up to 9,000m after the central red hand makes three rotations. For ease in instantly comprehending altitude, both hands are of the same red hue. This sub-dial also indicates air pressure. The small seconds sub-dial sits at nine o’clock, power reserve indicator at 12 o’clock, and the date aperture is at six o’clock. The watch offers only 30m water resistance, so steer clear of any water bodies or watersports.
Raider Sea Sky
The 44mm Raider Sea Sky automatic watch flaunts a sporty aesthetic. The unidirectional bezel made from anodised aluminum has an orange hue; contrasting well with its black rubber strap. The watch runs on ETA Valjoux 7753 calibre that offers a 48-hour power reserve. The timepiece is effectively hybrid. With a 200m water resistance, the model is classifiable as a dive watch. The array of chronograph registers make it suitable for both land and sky. Three sub-dials sit at the three, six and nine o’clock positions. The highly legible minute markers stand out on the white inner flange. The date aperture lies between the four and five o’clock. The rectangular hour and minute hands have blue emission coating, while the seconds hand is accented in orange.
Raider Harpoon
The Raider Harpoon has an unconventional design. Instead of reading the hour and then the minute, this dive watch makes you check the minute and then the hour. The longer hand is indicative of both hours and minutes, with hand pointing to the right hour and minute simultaneously. A centrally mounted silver disc with a short arrow indicates the small seconds. Hour markers with Arabic numerals are placed along the ring, encircling the applied rectangular indexes for minutes. Atop the blue or black dial iteration sits a dual-toned unidirectional rotating bezel in robust anodised aluminum to track elapsed time underwater. The 46mm case encloses the FL301 calibre, based on the famed Sellita SW200 movement. This automatic wristwatch features a helium escape valve at two o’clock and prevents the antireflective sapphire crystals on both sides from giving way when you pop back up after a considerably long time underwater. This dive watch offers up to 500m water resistance.
Chief Date
The 43mm stainless steel case of the Chief Date is powered by the robust ETA 2824 movement. One of the iterations feature a stunning anthracite dial with rectangular indexes as hour markers. In the grey and green iterations, the rose gold hands and bezel create a beautiful contrast. Even in poor-lit conditions, glancing at the time on this iteration is quick, thanks to the luminous coating on the indexes, and on the hour and minute hands. The antireflective coating on the sapphire crystal also aids this legibility. A tiny date window sits at six o’ clock. With an impressive water resistance up to 100m, the model is suitable for a quick dip in the pool.
Chief Chronograph
The 43mm Chief Chronograph automatic watch has a contemporary minimalistic design, and also retains signature elements like the tetradecagon bezel. An inner bezel in white includes the minute track for a clean, uncluttered grey dial. The rectangular hour indexes along with the hour and minute hands are coated in lume, plus the dial is sealed by an antireflective curved sapphire crystal. This construction ensures the watch is legible under any light condition. The watch is powered by the ETA 2824 calibre, and features two sub-dials at nine and three o’clock for the small seconds and chronograph functions. A rectangular date window sits at six o’clock, and has the same background hue as the dial. The lugs, crown and caseback are made from stainless steel. The Favre Leuba chronograph variants come attached to brown, tan and green leather straps. This automatic timepiece is water resistant up to 100m.
Raider Deep Blue
The barrel-shaped Raider Deep Blue stands out for dual-toned, unidirectional rotating bezel, and contrasting hour and minute hands against the blue or black dial. Ensuring good legibility in badly lit areas are the lume-coated rectangular indexes. One of the unique features of this automatic timepiece is the disc-shaped running seconds pointer. Its anodised aluminum bezel is highly scratch-resistant, and features a sapphire crystal offers further protection. The 43mm stainless steel case houses the ETA 2824-2 calibre. The watch is attached to a sturdy, stainless steel bracelet. Along with 300m water resistance, these features together make it an ideal dive watch.
Raider Sea Bird
The 37mm Raider Sea Bird adds a pastel flavour to the overall repertoire of Favre Leuba. This self-winding watch is run on the reliable ETA 2824-2 calibre, enclosed within a stainless steel case that envelops a starlight white-coloured dial. The 34mm variants are powered by the ETA F05.411 quartz movement, encased in a stainless steel barrel-shaped case. Lume-coated elements consists of the rectangular hour indexes with the hour and minute hands; the dainty seconds hand exudes a polished look. The antireflective sapphire crystal offers high legibility. A date aperture occupies the three o’clock position. This watch is water resistant up to 100m. This watch comes with a stainless steel bracelet that exudes sheer sophistication.
Raider Sea King
The Raider Sea King features a 41mm stainless steel case that encloses the ETA 2824-2 calibre, and is topped with the famed Favre Leuba tetradecagon bezel. The clean grey dial features rectangular hour indexes and three silver hands. Both these features have luminescent coating for easy readability of time in the dark. The antireflective flat sapphire crystal is another functional touch. A date aperture sits at three o’clock. This wristwatch is built for adventurers as the sturdy casing ensures 300m water resistance. The model is attached to an antelope leather strap, which defines rugged sophistication.
Sandow
The Favre Leuba Sandow, available in blue, green, grey, and white dial hues, harks back to the dress-watch sensibilities of the 1940s and 50s with a whiff of moden-day elements. A tetradecagonal bezel crowns the 40mm case. Elongated indexes match the design philosophy of the minimalist dial. The indexes along with the tips of the baton-shaped hands are coated with luminescent material, allowing for supreme legibility in low-light conditions. A rectangular date aperture sits at six o’clock. The clean lines of the case also follow through to the straight lugs that are fitted with a Milanese bracelet in a mesh design, extremely popular in the early 20th-century. The watches are driven by an automatic movement and are water-resistant up to 30m.