Maurice Lacroix Les Classiques

Anyone looking for a high-quality dress watch with a classic design should consider the timepieces of the Maurice Lacroix Les Classiques collection. The Swiss manufacturer has been producing these timelessly elegant men's and women's watches since the early 1990s.

Maurice Lacroix outfits top models with interesting complications, such as a moon phase display and pointer date. That being said, simple three-hand watches with polished stainless steel cases and dark calf leather straps make up the majority of the Les Classiques collection. If you prefer sportier timepieces, you may enjoy the models with multi-link stainless steel bracelets or one of the two-tone editions.

Most Les Classiques watches are powered by an automatic ETA or Sellita movement. However, there are also many older models with quartz ETA calibers.

Up until a few years ago, the Les Classiques collection also contained watches with a chronograph function, large date window, or complete calendar. While most of these timepieces feature automatic movements, chronographs produced after the turn of the millennium generally use quartz movements.

The moon phase display is among the most popular watch complications. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Maurice Lacroix equips several Les Classiques watches with this function.

One such timepiece is the Les Classiques Phases de Lune Automatic, which debuted in 2010. This watch's clean, symmetrical dial features applied indices, a moon phase display at 6 o'clock, and day and month windows at 12 o'clock. An additional central hand points to the current date. Domed sapphire crystal protects the matte black or silvery-white dial against the elements. Maurice Lacroix offers this timepiece in solid stainless steel or as a two-tone edition with an 18-karat yellow gold bezel and gold-plated hands. The automatic caliber ML37 ticks away inside the 40-mm case. This movement is based on the ETA 2824-2 and has extra modules for its moon phase and complete calendar.

You can purchase a mint-condition stainless steel model for about 2,700 USD. Prices for pre-owned pieces begin around 1,900 USD. Two-tone watches are even more affordable at roughly 1,400 USD in good condition.

If you can do without day and month displays, you may prefer the Les Classices Phases de Lune from 2013. Its lack of calendar windows results in an even tidier, more refined timepiece. This effect is further heightened by Maurice Lacroix's use of two different dial finishes: The area within the central date ring has a vertical brushed pattern, while the area beyond the date ring features fluted guilloché engraving. This is also where you'll find the rhodium-plated hour indices. A moon phase display at 6 o'clock completes the dial.

Like the model with a complete calendar, this Les Classiques Phases de Lune has a 40-mm stainless steel case. It houses the Maurice Lacroix caliber ML137, another modified version of the ETA 2824-2. The timepiece changes hands for around 1,900 USD on a black calf leather strap and 2,100 USD on a stainless steel bracelet.

Maurice Lacroix also produced Les Classiques chronographs until the year 2019. Examples include the Les Classiques Phases de Lune Chronograph Automatic. Its automatic movement, the ML154, is based on the Valjoux 7751 and lends this timepieces its chronograph function, moon phase, complete calendar, and 24-hour display. The dial has a typical Valjoux layout with an hour counter at 6, small seconds at 9, and minute counter at 12 o'clock. Maurice Lacroix maximizes the dial's limited space by adding an additional function to each subdial. The moon phase display sits within the hour counter, the small seconds does double duty as a 24-hour display, and the day and month windows are integrated into the minute counter. Finally, the date is shown using a central hand that points to a scale around the dial's edge.

The Phases de Lune Chronograph Automatic is available with a black or silver dial. Both versions feature rose gold hands and indices. The version with a silver dial requires an investment of about 1,900 USD. At approximately 2,800 USD, the model with a black dial is much more expensive.

Maurice Lacroix also offered the Phases de Lune Chronograph with a quartz movement. Its 40-mm stainless steel case bears a strong resemblance to that of its automatic counterpart. However, the dial design is completely different. The quartz edition has a small seconds at 2, a date display at 4, and a 30-minute counter at 10 o'clock. The moon phase display maintains its position at 6 o'clock, lending this timepiece a nice sense of symmetry. Long, narrow line indices round off the dial.

This quartz chronograph comes with your choice of a black, white, or silver dial. The versions with a black or white dial demand roughly 900 USD on a leather strap and 1,100 USD on a steel bracelet. Watches with a silver dial cost only slightly more.

The Les Classiques collection is home to a wide range of three-hand watches. Among the top models you'll find the Les Classiques Automatic Grande Date GMT from 2019. As its name implies, this timepiece has a large date window and can display the time in a second time zone. The date sits at 12 o'clock, across from a subdial with the GMT time at 6 o'clock. All this functionality comes from a modified ETA caliber 2892-A2.

Plan to spend about 1,100 USD on the model with a white dial and gold-plated hands and indices. The same watch with a black dial and rhodium-plated indices sells for around 1,700 USD.

Les Classiques Tradition and Date

With sizes ranging from 28 to 38 mm in diameter, the Les Classiques Tradition and Les Classiques Date lines present options for men and women alike. Defining features include simple three-hand designs and – but for a few exceptions – a date display at 6 o'clock. Like the other members of the Les Classiques family, Maurice Lacroix offers these watches with a black, white, or silver dial. You can also choose between applied line indices or stamped Roman numerals, as well as automatic or quartz calibers.

Prices for automatic watches fall between 880 and 1,400 USD. The quartz versions are much more affordable, with prices ranging from 280 USD for older models to 560 USD for more recent timepieces.