Favre Leuba Chief Tourbillon Adds a Hand-Guilloché Dial

A New Dial for the Chief Tourbillon

Favre Leuba adds a hand-guilloché dial to its Chief Tourbillon, introduced in 2025 as the collection’s entry into the realm of high horology. The new Chief Tourbillon Guilloché retains the movement developed in collaboration with independent watchmaker Jean-François Mojon but introduces a blue dial with a barleycorn pattern, known in French as grain d’orge.

Applied rhodium-plated hour markers provide contrast against the guilloché surface. Their polished finish and Super-LumiNova C1 X1 coating ensure legibility in low-light conditions, when the luminous material emits a blue glow. The rhodium-plated central hour and minute hands combine satin brushing with sandblasted grooves, while a flame-blued steel hand indicates the seconds on the tourbillon carriage at 6 o’clock.

Here, attention to detail is taken to the extreme. The tourbillon bridge has a horizontally brushed finish on its top surface, running parallel to the 3 o’clock–9 o’clock axis, while its outer edge, which carries the seconds track, features a circular-grain finish. In addition, the opposing sections of the cage’s upper bridge evoke an hourglass, hinting at the brand’s emblem.

The dial is produced on a rose-engine lathe dating to the late 19th century. Each one requires five to six hours of work by a trained craftsperson, with the pattern radiating from the center. The geometric relief creates changing reflections as the watch moves, giving the blue surface depth without relying on additional colors or decorative elements. Because the pattern is engraved by hand, each dial has its own character.

A Robust Case

The watch is housed in the cushion-shaped stainless-steel case characteristic of the Chief collection. It measures 41mm in diameter and 11.45mm thick, with a curved sapphire crystal featuring an antireflective coating and a sapphire caseback. Water resistance is rated to 100 meters.

The case combines brushed and polished surfaces, emphasizing its contours and giving the watch a defined profile. It is complemented by a bracelet with brushed H-shaped links and polished central links. The bracelet can be exchanged for the supplied integrated blue FKM rubber strap, which matches the dial and closes with a Favre Leuba pin buckle.

A Custom-Made Movement

Power comes from the hand-wound Caliber FL T01, based on Chronode’s C502 and reworked by Jean-François Mojon for Favre Leuba. The movement operates at 21,600 vibrations per hour, or 3 Hz, and provides an approximately 60-hour power reserve. Visible through the sapphire caseback, the movement features Geneva stripes, an anthracite finish, blue screws, and a ratchet wheel engraved with the Favre Leuba logo.

Limited to 25 Pieces

The Favre Leuba Chief Tourbillon Guilloché is limited to 25 pieces. Each watch is delivered in a wooden presentation box with an additional strap, a medallion, and a loupe. The retail price is $34,500.