The Couture watch and jewelry show, which wrapped up yesterday in Las Vegas, offered us watch journalists not only a second look at some of our favorite timepieces launched earlier this year at the Swiss fairs, but also a handful of new timepieces that have been rolled out since then; we’ve covered some of these over the past week, and the latest one to catch our eye is the new Maestro Moon Phase from Raymond Weil.
Outfitted with a round, 40-mm case in polished stainless steel, the Maestro Moon Phase draws instant attention with its galvanic dial, in silver, gray, or dark blue, enhanced with the radiating, musically inspired wave-like motif that debuted on the recently launched Maestro Blues model. The watch’s signature moon-phase complication appears in a large, crescent-shaped aperture at 6 o’clock. The date is displayed in a window at 3 o’clock, the Roman numeral hour indices are arranged on an outer track that calls to mind the grooves of a vinyl record, and all are swept over by baton-shaped hands.
Inside the 50-meter water-resistant case, and visible through a clear sapphire caseback, is the self-winding Caliber RW4280 — presumably the Sellita SW200-based Caliber RW4200 that powers the Maestro Blues, with an added moon-phase module — which offers a 38-hour power reserve. The polished steel crown is fluted and engraved with a Raymond Weil “RW” monogram. The watch is mounted on either a genuine blue alligator strap with white contrast stitching or a steel-mesh “Milanese”-style bracelet; both fasten to the wrist with a steel folding clasp with a double-push security system. Prices for the Maestro Moon Phase range from $1,295 on leather to $1,495 on steel.
I recently bought this watch, and it is truly beautiful. I opted for the blue dial. I have one complaint ~ and I think it’s a fairly important point: the sapphire crystal on the front of this watch may be scratch-proof, but it is certainly not glare or reflection proof. In fact it is so ‘glare-y’ I have written R.Weil & Co to inquire about having a non-glare, better crystal installed in place of the off-the-shelf version. I have my fingers crossed ~ this is such a beautifully designed watch it seem a real shame for it to be hidden behind reflections and glare most of the time.