For the last few weeks I’ve had the pleasure to go hands-on with the Millesime Tri-compax Chronograph, a very unique and surprising watch from Swiss watchmaker Raymond Weil. We don’t hear very much from this brand, with new releases often being drowned out by the likes of trending re-issues from industry heavies such as Longines and Omega who tend to cross paths within a similar price segment.
Right off the bat there’s a few aspects about this watch that set it apart not only from other watches within the Raymond Weil catalogue, but also the other competing brands. For one, this specific variant is a collaboration with Largo Winch and renowned illustrator Philippe Francq (limited to 300 pieces), who has designed a custom caseback illustration of the hero himself. Secondly, and more importantly for us collectors, this is a stunningly well proportioned chronograph that actually looks great and fits even better. We’ve witnessed the charade before, of watch brands butchering the principals of a chronograph such as was the case with the grossly oversized Longines Conquest.
Fit on Wrist
I’m a self proclaimed chronograph lover. Having daily worn my Daytona 116500 as much as possible since acquiring it has taught me a lot about the everyday wearability and usability of this style of watch. Whenever I receive a new chronograph in the mail for review on the WRB I keep my guard high, they more often than not leave much to be desired in the sizing and shape of the watch case. The Millesime Tri-compax we’re discussing today had me breathing out a sigh of relief when I first unboxed it – it did not appear overly thick, and the actual case size of 39.5mm on paper seemed perfectly accurate and representative of what I was now holding in hand.
Popping the watch onto my wrist was the moment of surprise that I rarely see, the watch fits excellent on my small 6.5 inch wrist. Even watches like the overly praised Omega Moonwatch can have me second guessing the size choice. Better yet, the Millesime Tri-compax has extra slender lugs and old school pushers that appear to be expertly finished with their mirror polished look. The watch has that “je ne sais quoi” recipe that many of us chronograph lovers seek. It’s a perfect mix of characteristics that only a few watch brands can achieve on specific models. The case, along with the rather uncommon sector dial layout really brings this watch to life.
Design Cues and Overall Impressions
Overlooking the artistry of Philippe Francq on the caseback of the watch, the raw design features of the watch have been chosen and executed with precision from Raymond Weil – somebody over there has their ear to the often overly verbal online watch community. Sizing and wearability is aced, fit and finish seems adequate for this price point, and they’ve even thrown in a sector dial with a chronograph sub-dial layout! The sector dial appearance is not as pronounced as what you’d normally see on a time only, or time and date watch. Usually the sector design of the dial takes front stage on a no-function watch, but in this case the design team has cleverly meshed the two features together.
The triple sub-dial layout does steal the show in this case, especially since the’ve been filled in with a deep green color that’s supposed to represent the green hue of cash from Largo Winch. The sub-dials really pop out, and looking closer you’ll notice that each one of them has their own layout, with the sub-dial at 6 o’clock having an elegant “automatic” font text at the bottom. Only after this did my eyes wondering to the sector dial design cues, with a neatly integrated step down in the center of the dial and crosshair like design. Even the baton markers, which are not applied, seem to echo the authentic style of sector dials from vintage watches.
Capping off this section here brings me to the unmissable and oversized pump pushers, tying the whole watch design together. I can’t help but get a Universal Geneve vibe from this watch, and I mean this in a very good way.
Movement
As you’ve probably guessed from the name of this watch, it’s sporting an automatic tri-compax movement called the caliber RW5030. Initially I had the impression that this was an entirely in-house movement, but after some research it appears to be based on the Sellita SW10.
The art on the back of the watch is really cool, and if you’re a fan of Largo Winch you’re probably entirely in love – but it does indeed impede the viewing of the movement somewhat. The movement has a respectable power reserve of 62 hours and beats at 28,800 bph. The movement itself is also only 7.9mm thick, which explains Raymond Weil’s ability to keep this chronograph quite thin, coming in at a 12.9mm case thickness.
Leave a Reply