Maurice Lacroix wins design prize again
For the third time, Maurice Lacroix’s outstanding and innovative design has triumphed in one of the most famous design competitions in the world. In the 2010 red dot award: product design category, the panel of top class expert judges has awarded the “red dot” seal of quality for design excellence to the Masterpiece Lune Rétrograde Limited Edition watch.
Today, the red dot design award, which dates back to 1955, is the greatest and most famous design competition in the world. It is broken down into three disciplines, namely, the “red dot award: product design”, the “red dot award: communication design” and the “red dot award: design concept”. In 2009, the competition had about 12,000 entries from over 60 countries.
The Masterpiece Lune Rétrograde, in a limited edition series of 250, is an ingenious blend of technology, tradition and modern aesthetics. It does justice to the highest standards of manufacturing while simultaneously giving fresh expression to time measurement. One of the remarkable features of this timepiece is its sheer geometric simplicity which lends a certain stylish panache to the mechanical complexity. The power reserve display at 2 o’clock and the retrograde date display at 10 o’clock are arranged in perfect symmetry. The hands, highlighted with colored tips, slowly glide along under apertures in the dial to provide the various indications. A luminescent hand indicates the days of the week on the outer edge of the moon-phase display.
The crown is a Maurice Lacroix innovation. It can be screwed down by a quarter turn, thereby making the 46 mm stainless steel case water-resistant to 100 m. The panel of judges cited not least the sapphire crystal case back that reveals the movement designed and produced by the Maurice Lacroix Manufacture as instrumental in their decision to award this extraordinary watch the “red dot”.
“All products that were honored in the red dot design award had to satisfy the panel of international experts. Such products are distinguished from mass-produced articles by their excellent design and innovative approach, and can thus prove their quality in one of the most challenging design competitions in the world.” So says design expert, Professor Dr. Peter Zec, who first set up the red dot design award. This year, designers and companies from 57 countries entered 4,252 products in the red dot award: product design competition.
The prize-giving ceremony, with over 1,000 guests, is to be held on 5 July 2010 in the Essen Opera House, the Aalto Theatre. The watch will then be exhibited in a month-long special exhibition in the red dot museum in the Zeche Zollverein exhibition center in Essen, the 2010 European city of culture. Afterwards, it will feature for at least a year as part of the permanent exhibition in the red dot design museum. This museum, displaying about 1,500 products over 4,000 square meters, houses the largest contemporary design exhibition in the world.
About Maurice Lacroix:
Since the launch of its first watch model in 1975, Maurice Lacroix has developed to become a sought-after Manufacture brand. With its own factories producing complex components for mechanical calibers, Maurice Lacroix joined the exclusive league of Swiss watchmakers at the end of 2006. Thanks to continued innovative development both in technical fields and in design, Maurice Lacroix has registered several patents and trademarks.
Maurice Lacroix is one of the few independent watchmakers and employs more than 200 people worldwide, the majority of whom are based at the international head office in Zürich and the production facilities in Saignelégier and Montfaucon in Switzerland.
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