Lorige
BL-Evolution "Hyperblack"
$32,158
Lorige is a Franco-Swiss brand founded in 2018 by two motorsport enthusiasts, Emeric Paraud and Clément Etienvre, whose founding idea was straightforward and genuinely unusual: to translate the emotional register of circuit racing into the language of fine watchmaking. The AS-01 Tourbillon is the most complete expression of that ambition yet, and its point of departure is a material with no real precedent. The case and dial of each of the eight pieces in this edition are machined directly from the carbon/carbon brake pads of the McLaren MP4/8 that Ayrton Senna drove during the 1993 Formula 1 season. Because the brake pads measured 67mm wide by 53mm high, only one case can be extracted from each pad, which is also why the edition is limited to exactly eight examples. Producing a watch case from this material required more than three years of research and development to develop and patent a reprocessing method that densifies the carbon, renders it waterproof, and makes it machinable to watchmaking tolerances. Each case demands over 30 hours of manufacturing time across approximately 10 distinct steps.
The movement inside, the LOR-TC01, was developed in collaboration with Timeless Unité Renaud-Favre and draws on the expertise of Dominique Renaud and the late Pierre Favre. It is a flying central tourbillon whose 323 components include a titanium upper cage measuring just 13.6mm in diameter finished in four distinct ways, two barrels styled after the Speedline rims of 1990s Formula 1 cars, and a power reserve of exactly 93 hours, a deliberate reference to the year the brake material was produced.
Every proportional decision in the AS-01 carries meaning. The tourbillon sits at the center of the dial as the driver sits inside the car. The movement is fixed by tie rods referencing single-seater chassis construction. Senna’s three world championships are engraved into the titanium tourbillon cage alongside details recalling the yellow of his iconic helmet. The white gold bezel traces curves that recall 1990s F1 aerodynamics. The Lorige AS-01 represents a convergence of motorsport history and genuine watchmaking achievement that, by definition, cannot be repeated.
