The New Laps Studio Arche, A New Direction for the Parisian Brand

Over the past few years, Paris-based brand Laps has been offering watches built around graphic design and artistic expression. Collections such as Signature Art Print presented affordable quartz-powered references with fun dial designs inspired by architecture, photography, illustration and contemporary culture. The emphasis was always on visual storytelling rather than traditional watchmaking. Now the brand launches the new Arche collection, a significant step in a different direction. Introduced to mark the brand’s tenth anniversary, the Arche is its first automatic watch and the opening chapter of a new range named Studio. While creativity remains at the heart of the project, the focus is now shared, with greater attention paid to case construction, finishing, proportions, and mechanical content.

The Arche feels quite different from the brand’s earlier creations, almost exclusively rectangular-shaped. Its round stainless steel case adopts a thoughtful architectural design and measures 37.5mm wide, 44mm lug-to-lug, and 9.8mm thick; compact and elegant proportions suited to daily wear. The case is composed of five separate elements, allowing each surface to be finished individually. Brushed and polished areas alternate throughout, while the bezel combines a vertical satin finish with polished bevels. One notable element is the construction of the lugs. Their arched shape gives the watch its name, and each lug is individually machined before being attached to the case middle. The screw-in caseback is open, slightly tinted, to highlight the mechanical substance. Water resistance is 50m.

The Studio Arche’s dial, protected by the flat sapphire crystal, is available in four versions across two distinct styles. The Mineral line comes in Green and Ivory with a textured matte finish inspired by contemporary architecture (the brand mentions a landmark building by Korean design studio WGNB). The Minimal series is offered in Blue and Black and features a glossy enamel-style finish that creates stronger reflections.

The applied, slim hour markers, with multiple brushed and polished facets, are shaped to create an illusion of volume despite their thin profile. They constantly react to changing light, creating nice reflections that bring the dial to life. The asymmetrical shapes of the hour and minute hands echo the markers. Alternating finishes enhance contrast and legibility, while the central seconds hand is discreet yet original. Reduced almost entirely to just a cap, it has a polished facet that catches the light as it rotates, making its motion visible. Another distinctive detail is the diamond-shaped date window positioned at 4 o’clock, which adds an extra layer of character to the display.

The new Laps Arche is powered by the Miyota 9015 automatic movement. Well known throughout the industry, this calibre operates at 28,800 vibrations/hour and offers approximately 42 hours of autonomy. If you’d like to learn more about this particular movement, we highly recommend reading Robin’s deconstruction of one here.

The new Laps Studio Arche series watches are supplied on leather straps fitted with a custom steel pin buckle. To buy, the pre-order window opens June 4 and closes on July 6th, with deliveries planned for September 2026. The pre-order price is EUR 690, which will go up to EUR 860 after the pre-order window closes.

For more information, please visit Laps.fr.

Sponsored post: This article is sponsored by Laps Studio. However, it reflects the writer’s opinion and has been written in accordance with MONOCHROME’s editorial policy.