Lebois & Co launches three Heritage Small Seconds dress watches at €2,650

Lebois & Co has opened orders for three new Heritage Small Seconds models, each drawing on a different chapter of the brand's mid-century catalogue. The Numeral, Baton and Script share one case and movement but carry distinct dials. Reservations for the 2027 production run are live now on the brand's website, with deliveries expected in early summer 2027.

Every version is priced at €2,650 including VAT. Early adopters receive a complimentary Fixoflex steel stretch bracelet alongside the standard leather strap and steel pin buckle, and the stretch bracelet fits the period look the dials evoke. That is the full cost of entry to a COSC-certified chronometer from the revived Dutch-founded maison.

The brand was founded in 1934 and stayed dormant until Dutch entrepreneur Tom van Wijlick revived it in 2014. Van Wijlick is also the force behind the return of Airain and its Type 20 and Type 21 pilot's chronographs, so the Heritage Small Seconds arrives from a team practiced at resurrecting historical watchmaking rather than one styling new watches as old.

The watch follows the Heritage Chronograph in the contemporary collection, but takes the quieter route. It revisits the understated dress watches of the 1940s and 1950s, and the result does not read as a reproduction. Brushed case surfaces meet polished accents on the bezel and lugs, and the fluted crown at three o'clock is sized for easy handling.

The case and movement the three share

The 316L stainless steel case measures 37.8mm across and 45.5mm lug to lug, with a 10.5mm total height that includes the double-domed sapphire crystal. Without the crystal the case is 8mm thick. The crystal carries an underside antireflective coating and introduces a gentle vintage distortion when the watch is viewed at an angle.

A screw-in case back seals the movement, and water resistance is rated at 50m, fitting the watch's dress purpose. Lug spacing is a versatile 20mm. Turn the watch over and an engraved exhibition back opens onto the caliber, so the mechanical construction stays visible rather than hidden behind a closed case.

Powering all three is the automatic LC-350 caliber, built on the Sellita SW360-1, the small-seconds variant of the SW300 and an alternative to the ETA 2892. It beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour, carries 31 jewels and holds a 56-hour power reserve. Decorations include perlage and a skeletonised rotor marked with the Lebois & Co logo.

Every movement is certified as a chronometer by COSC, and each dial carries the Chronomètre signature above the logo at twelve o'clock to attest to that rating. That certification is the point of the word: the buyer is not asked to take accuracy on faith. The movement runs at the standard high-beat frequency and stores enough reserve to rest over a weekend.

Three dials, three moments in the archive

The Numeral is the most functional of the trio. Its matte black dial uses printed Arabic numerals and a railroad-style track with double digits marking each five-minute interval, giving it the air of a vintage instrument. It is the closest the collection comes to a traditional everyday watch, and the one that reads most like a tool.

That dial traces back to a watch sold at a Christie's auction in 2012, the piece that helped inspire the brand's return. Every numeral is in precise, symmetrical placement, and the layout favors legibility over flourish. A recessed small-seconds register with an azurage finish completes the black dial and adds texture to an otherwise clean design.

The Baton is the most contemporary. Its sunray-brushed blue dial shifts with the light, and applied elongated markers alternate with Arabic numerals at the cardinal positions. The recessed small-seconds register carries a white scale matching the main minute track. It looks back to two recently rediscovered 1930s Lebois pieces, one in cream-white and one in salmon.

The Script is the dressiest. Its opaline vintage-white dial carries applied Breguet-style numerals that do most of the work, and the minutes track stays quiet so the layout feels open. The idea came from a white-dial chronograph sold at a 2018 Monaco auction, and designer Matthieu Allègre shaped the reinterpretation using those same Breguet numerals.

All three dials share polished leaf-shaped hands and a recessed small-seconds display at six o'clock, finished with fine concentric decoration. That change in texture breaks up an otherwise symmetrical design and adds depth. The wide railway-style minutes track runs the periphery on each, with numerals placed at ten-minute intervals where the design calls for them.

The collection lets a collector choose how the same platform speaks. The Numeral offers crisp clarity, the Baton a minimalist sharpness and the Script a formal grace, and none of the three feels like a compromise. Each dial recalls a specific vintage piece or an auction moment rather than a vague idea of the past.

We have covered compact field and dress watches across our watches jewelry section, and the proportions here sit well within that territory.

The setup also answers the one question collectors raise: prepay now and the watch arrives in about nine months. That customer-financed rhythm is deliberate for a microbrand revival rather than a house with retail stock, and it means each 2027 run is built against confirmed demand rather than guessed inventory. The dial choice is the buyer's only real decision.