Massena LAB and Raúl Pagès Are Back With a Gorgeous Green ‘Absinthe’ Dial Watch
Since William Massena founded his namesake studio Massena LAB in 2018, we’ve seen it lean into the “collaborative” side of the “LAB” on numerous occasions. One of the most notable watches came in 2022 with the Magraph, co-designed with the independent Swiss-based watchmaker Raúl Pagès. The watch was particularly remarkable thanks to the M660 caliber designed by Pagès, marking the first proprietary movement to be housed within in Massena LAB watch. As a cherry on top, it notched a price tag under $10,000. The duo teamed up again just last month for an exclusive limited edition watch for Phillips: the 1952 Observatory Dial. Now, the pair has just unveiled the sequel to the Magraph, equipped with a new iteration of their proprietary caliber and featuring a gorgeous new dial. This is the limited edition Absinthe by Massena LAB and Raúl Pagès.
Put together two great minds, and the result is sure to be something special. We’ve seen this to be true in each of the timepieces co-created by Massena LAB and Raúl Pagès. “When I first had the chance to work with Raúl 2022, the collaboration came together naturally,” William Massena shares with Robb Report. “As we grow Massena LAB, it’s very important to me to continue working with independent and small watchmakers—it is really at the heart of the business. Today, it’s just as easy to work with Raúl—except that he’s becoming busier and busier by the day! This year, he won the first-ever Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives for his Régulateur à Détente RP1, which, if you’ve seen the watch, you know that this was well deserved. Luckily for Massena LAB, he still answers my calls, and we’re grateful to have his continued help with the M690 and support for the release of Absinthe.”
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This is indeed lucky news for collectors too. The new limited edition Absinthe builds on the technical capabilities of the pair’s first collaboration, the Magraph, with the next generation of the M660 caliber: the M690. Like its predecessor, the M690 is a manually wound, Swiss-made movement with hand-finishing and a power reserve of 60 hours. However, the key difference is the shift of the small seconds subdial from six o’clock to nine o’clock. This is sometimes called a lepine movement, after the 18th century watchmaker Jean-Antoine Lépine who originated the aligned crown and sub-dial in pocket watches. For savvy collectors, such a movement is kind of a thing. For symmetry, the words “observatory precision” take the shape of a second “subdial” at three o’clock (something seen on a number of Panerai models with sub-dials at nine o’clock.
As an added bonus, collectors who purchase one of the 99 pieces of the Absinthe will have the opportunity to send their watch to the Horological Society of New York for testing as part of the organization’s Chronometer Certification Program. At completion of HSNY’s rigorous testing protocol (which exceeds the international standards outlined in ISO 3159), owners will receive a physical certificate listing individual results for their timepiece.
Aside from the Absinthe’s technical achievements, it’s housed in a 38.5mm stainless steel case and features a stunning ombre green dial, evoking the spirit of the “Green Fairy” that gives that watch its name. The Absinthe by Massena LAB and Raúl Pagès is priced at $8,675 and secured by a deposit of $2000. Orders open today and can be placed right here on the Massena LAB website with delivery in small batches of five to seven pieces per month starting in July on a first-come, first-served basis.
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