LIP T18 Original: the very limited edition finally available

Posted by lifata on March 1st, 2024

It was just a year ago that the French company LIP announced its intention to market, to celebrate the brand's 90th anniversary, a new T18 Original equipped with a Franco-Swiss manufactured caliber which pays homage to the T18 caliber which has, among other things, allowed LIP to stand out from its competitors. It is ultimately a limited edition of 180 pieces.

First things first, what makes the LIP T18 so popular for watch replicas uk enthusiasts and/or collectors. It differs first of all by the shape of its case, rectangular. And what would be the rectangular watch “the most produced in the world and the best known in France, Russia and the United States”?

According to LIP, it is not the Rolex Prince or the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso, but the T18 which, “between 1933 and 1949, was manufactured in more than 400,000 copies”. In 1947, the T18 was even the first shaped wristwatch to feature a tourbillon. Just that !

We cannot finish with this historical reminder without talking about the year 1948, and more precisely the most famous of the T18s, the gold-plated one offered to Winston Churchill! It is based on this model that LIP today offers a T18 Original.

What can we say about this new T18 Original expected since the end of last year? It offers a dial inspired by the period model with hand-applied embossed numerals and a small second hand at 6 o'clock.

The dial is protected by a sapphire crystal, anti-reflective treatment, rectangular and slightly curved. The replica watch uk is supplied with an alligator strap, made in an artisanal way, by hand, in the Sibra workshops in Besançon.

In terms of footprint, the gold-plated steel case is 24mm wide, 34.5mm long (41.5mm lug to lug) and 10mm thick. Note that the watch is only water resistant to 30 meters and that the case back is transparent and screwed to make room for its Franco-Swiss caliber T18 Original, the parts of which are machined in Switzerland by the La Joux-Perret factory. and then decorated and assembled by Humbert-Droz in Besançon.

It offers a manually wound mechanical movement operating at 21,600 oscillations per hour and allows a power reserve of 40 hours. Its frequency is 3 hertz or 21,600 vibrations per hour, and its promised precision is from -12 seconds to +12 seconds per day.