The Favre Leuba Harpoon Revival Series Expands With New Colours

One of the oldest Swiss watchmaking brands (Founded in 1737 in Le Locle), Favre Leuba underwent a global relaunch in 2024 under the leadership of CEO Patrik P. Hoffmann and has since been pretty busy relaunching timepieces that honour the brand’s extensive archives while meeting contemporary mechanical expectations, all with relatively fair prices. Next to the Deep Raider, Chief and Sea Sky Revival collections, there is now a range of more classic designs, which includes the dressy 1737 Triple Calendar and a compact vintage-inspired watch with a name that carries a lot of importance for the brand, the Harpoon. Following its launch earlier this year with a grey dial, the Harpoon Revival Series now expands with black and blue dials. 

Compared to other, more robust collections currently available at Favre Leuba, the Harpoon Revival is characterised by its classic 1960s design, but also by its overall faithfulness. Not only does the Harpoon Revival aim to bring back the original design of its 1966 ancestor, but the brand has also decided to give it identical compact proportions for its 60th anniversary. As such, we’re looking at a watch that measures a mere 36.8mm in diameter, with a reasonable 10mm thickness and a short wrist presence of 43.5mm. The retro effect continues with the domed sapphire crystal that mimics a vintage hesalite crystal, while the caseback is solid steel and screwed. Only the 50m water-resistance feels a bit on the low side, even though sufficient for an everyday watch.

While the relaunch model of April was fitted with a grey dial, akin to the original from 1966, the Harpoon Revival range now expands with two new, yet classic colours: black and dark blue. On both, the base is sunray-brushed and paired with a white inner minute track, giving them a bit of a tuxedo style (particularly on the black edition). Other elements of the dial are carried over from the grey edition, meaning a minimalist dial with applied, horizontal bar markers at 12, 6 and 9 o’clock, a framed date window at 3 o’clock, lumed hands and a nice model logo, keeping with the stylised typography of the 1966 model.

Under the screw-back is a tried-and-tested movement, the calibre FLD034, the brand’s internal name for an automatic La Joux-Perret G100. A strong alternative to the ETA 2824 and Sellita SW200, this calibre runs at a 4Hz frequency and delivers a solid power reserve of 68 hours.

The Harpoon Revival comes paired with a leather strap in black or brown (for the black or blue dials, respectively) secured by a stainless steel pin buckle bearing the Favre Leuba signature. The strap also features an easily interchangeable mechanism. Available as part of the permanent collection, these new black and blue editions are priced at CHF 1,800, just like the inaugural grey model. For more details, please visit favreleuba.com.