According to the Pritzker Prize foundation when it awarded Eduardo Souto de Moura its highest honour in 2011, his designs convey both “power and modesty, bravado and subtlety.” The Portuguese master has more recently turned his hand to designing a watch with Lebond.
“I want the watch to be and feel as slim as possible,” says Souto de Moura. With the first Lebond watch having been designed by fellow Portguese master architect, Álvaro Siza, de Moura steps into fitting, and fittingly prestigious, shoes. ‘Minimalism with an architect’s touch’ is the guiding concept for the design.
Souto de Moura started by drawing a round watch before turned the dial, movement and crown 30 degrees clockwise. “The 12 is the reference, and we rotate 30 degrees for optimal visibility on the wrist,” he explains. The result is an architect’s take on a driver’s watch. While the shape is familiar, the literal twist in the design plays with the mind and changes perception not only of the watch but also of the way you experience time itself.
In-keeping with his signature style of clean lines, Souto de Moura kept the dial as pure as possible. Stick hands offer a bold contrast to the colour of the dial, while Souto Moura mixed an Arabic numeral with a bold hour marker at 12. The idea is to automatically grab the eye’s attention and guide it through the familiar act of telling time, forgetting all the while that it’s at a 30-degree different angle. Matching markers at the three, six, and nine o’clock positions bring symmetry, aided by the more modest dashes indicating the remaining hours and the dots in between them telling the minutes.
To make the watch as slim as possible, a 38.5mm large case was crafted from grade five titanium. With the strap attached underneath it, the case thickness is a mere 7.6mm, and the total weight of the watch is only 46 grams. The timepiece includes a domed sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating, allowing a clear view of the dial. Meanwhile, the micro-sandblasted finish of the case is protected by an anti-fingerprint coating, ensuring that it continues to look pristine for longer.
The ticking heart of the Lebond Souto Moura is then an ETA 2892-A2, an automatic Swiss-made calibre running at 28,800 VpH/4Hz and offering a generous power reserve of 50 hours. It is decorated with blued screws, Geneva stripes, and circular graining. The movement can be admired through a sapphire insert in the titanium grade 5 caseback, which is adorned with Eduardo Souto de Moura’s autograph. Each of the Lebond Souto Mouras is also individually numbered.
“I arrived at the office feeling bored, but when I saw the latest pictures of the watch, I became excited,” concludes Souto de Moura.
