Cuervo y Sobrinos Historiador Luna Negra

Cuervo y Sobrinos is a Swiss brand based in Le Noirmont, but it has deep Latin roots with design influences from its earlier years in Havana, Cuba. We reviewed the Historiador Pequeños Segundos last year and the piece really exemplifies the Historiador style with long, angular lugs and distinctive dial elements. The new watches build on this with a more sophisticated layout and multiple complications, but the collection’s core DNA remains intact. Let’s take a closer at the two latest additions to the historic line, the new Historiador Luna Negra (Spanish for Black Moon), which draw influence from the brand’s vintage aesthetics, circa 1946.

The polished stainless steel case is 40mm in diameter and 11.25mm in height, hitting that sweet spot for both a daily driver and boardroom companion. It has unusually long, angular lugs that are very much a signature element for the brand and hug the wrist. A double curved sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating protects the dial, while a sapphire exhibition case back displays the decorated automatic. The signed crown is flanked by two recessed pushers to set the calendars, which are unique standouts on the dial.

Within the dial’s central section are two black discs – the month at the right and day at the left – and both are exposed with individual windows at the center to relay current calendar information. Just below the hands is an oversized moon phase and some mechanics are also visible as the front is partially skeletonized. Portions of this central dial section and the outer ring have a Clou de Paris guilloché pattern, while the outermost ring has 31 Arabic numerals for the days of the month, relayed by an elongated central hand with a red crescent tip. The Breguet-style hour and minute hands are seen on many Historiador models and complement the dial well, while spear-shaped applied indices complete the Latin vibe. The dial comes in two colors, sand or anthracite, and the dial elements are silver on the sand model and gold on the anthracite. Water-resistance is 30 meters.

Powering the Historiador Luna Negra is the Calibre CYS 6331 automatic, based on the ETA 2892-A2 with a Dubois Dépraz module. It has 31 jewels, beats at 28,800vph (4Hz) with a 42-hour power reserve. Functions include central hours, minutes, seconds, date, day, month and moon phase. Seen from the exhibition case back, it has a custom black rotor with gold stars and the brand’s logo, and plates are decorated with perlage. The strap is Louisiana alligator with a folding steel buckle in either sand or black to match the dial, and both come with quick-release levers. An optional stainless steel bracelet is also available.

Both watches are available now at the Cuervo y Sobrinos website and retail for EUR 5,900, CHF 6,000 or USD 7,250. Each model is limited to 88 pieces and deliveries take approximately four weeks. 

More details at www.cuervoysobrinos.com.