ReviewVintage-Inspired Art In Motion: Presenting The Louis Moinet Memoris Spirit

Known for turning a watch’s mechanics inside out, Louis Moinet have won over 50 prestigious awards for their designs alone. This number doesn’t include the Guinness World Record for watchmaker and inventor Louis Moinet’s first ever chronograph, the Compteur De Tierces, designed in 1816. The Memoris, introduced in 2016 to honour Moinet, was upgraded to the more stunning Memoris Spirit timepiece in 2022. With the automatic winding movement pushed inside to make way for the chronograph function to be displayed on the dial, the Louis Moinet Memoris Spirit is art in motion, to say the least. The latest timepiece from the line, presented this year at the Watches and Wonders fair in Geneva, is the Louis Moinet Memoris Spirit Electrum, with an ‘electrum gold’—or metallic lime yellow—background for the chronograph’s column wheel on the dial.

Louis Moinet And The First-Ever Chronograph

Watchmaker Louis Moinet was not just inspired by the mechanical craft of watchmaking but also by art. While his Compteur De Tierces may have looked simple enough for its 1816 release, the world’s first chronograph was nothing short of a masterpiece. The revolutionary stopwatch could measure time intervals accurately up to 1/60th of a second, in 1816.

Watchmaker Louis Moinet's Compteur De Tierces may have looked simple enough for its 1816 release, but the revolutionary stopwatch could measure time intervals accurately up to 1/60th of a second, in 1816

The watch brand inspired by and named after watchmaker Moinet was established in 2004. Two hundred years after Moinet created the first chronograph, in 2016, under the direction of Jean-Marie Schaller, the brand released a tribute to their namesake. The Memoris timepiece in a 46mm case displayed the chronograph movement prominently on the skeletonised dial. But the brand had a new quest now. “How could one integrate a mechanism with over 300 components into a 40mm case, whose mission is to be even more spectacular than its 46mm predecessor?” says Schaller. “This secret dream remained hidden in the back of our minds for two long years. Whether the efforts of designer Fabrice Gonet of those of case-making artisan Bertrand Crevoisier, nothing seemed to work—until that lightbulb moment! The answer came from an original design, combining a strongly domed crystal with a flange dissociated from the glass notch.”

In 2022, the Louis Moinet Memoris Spirit made its first appearance, displaying the beauty and mechanical mastery of the 2016 Memoris, but now in a much more wearable 40.7mm case size. This updated Memoris Spirit went on to win multiple awards for its design, including the 2022 Good Design award, the 2023 German Design Award, and the 2023 Muse Design Award.

A Panoramic View Of The Louis Moinet Memoris Spirit

The Louis Moinet Memoris Spirit collection features 40.7mm cases made from grade-5 titanium that weigh only 18g, or considerably heavier but dressier rose gold versions, each with integrated crown support and new skeletonised lugs that enhance the contemporary aesthetic of the watch. The six-screw bezel on the Memoris was replaced with a box crystal. This domed sapphire crystal glass offers an improved view of the dial’s layered construction, with a double-reading flange integrated at the edge of the crystal around the periphery of the dial.

Besides Arabic hour markers, the timekeeping sub-dial at six o’clock features baton shaped indexes and hands in the same finish as the case. Translucent sub-dials display the 30-minute recorder at three o’clock and the 60-second counter at nine o’clock, offering up a view of the mechanics within. A decorated central chronograph hand and the hands on the two chronograph sub-dials shine through in red, regardless of the background colour of the dial.

A domed sapphire crystal glass offers an improved view of the dial’s layered construction, with a double-reading flange integrated at the edge of the crystal

Translucent sub-dials on the Memoris Spirit at three and nine o'clock offer up a view of the mechanics within

A decorated central chronograph hand and the hands on the two chronograph sub-dials shine through in red, regardless of the background colour of the dial

Powering the watch is the brand’s self-winding, mechanical LM84 calibre, with timekeeping, and chronograph functions

The movement has 311 components, most of which are visible through the openworked dial and the exhibition caseback of the watch

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The column wheel displayed on the dial activates the central chronograph via a single pusher at two o’clock. On the Memoris Spirit Electrum and the Memoris Spirit Royal Blue, this column wheel in steel stands out against an ‘electrum gold’ base or an azure background, respectively.

The column wheel displayed on the dial of the Memoris Spirit activates the central chronograph via a single pusher at two o’clock

Art On The Open Heart Of The Louis Moinet Memoris Spirit

Powering the Louis Moinet Memoris Spirit is the brand’s self-winding, mechanical LM84 calibre, with timekeeping, and chronograph functions. The movement has 311 components, most of which are visible through the openworked dial and the exhibition caseback of the watch. The movement beats at a frequency of 28,800vph, and offers a power reserve of 48 hours.

Louis Moinet Memoris Spirit timepieces come in limited editions of 28 pieces for the rose gold versions or 60-piece runs for titanium. The watches are paired with integrated alligator leather straps or preformed rubber straps, including a green rubber strap for the Memoris Spirit Electrum.

With the movement decorated conspicuously on the dial, the Louis Moinet Memoris Spirit is a beautiful tribute to the first ever chronograph. Truly, this is a timepiece that would make watchmaker Louis Moinet proud because of how the mechanics are integrated into the beautifully decorated dial.