Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. Chapter Two in the Revival of L. Leroy with the New Elyor Flying Tourbillon
Recently revived, L. Leroy is determined to reassert its historic pedigree with its second watch, the Elyor Tourbillon.
Parisian watchmaking maison L. Leroy was founded by Basile-Charles Le Roy in 1785 and became the official watchmaker to King Louis XVI and later to Napoleon I and Queen Victoria. Expanding operations to Switzerland, L. Leroy produced marine chronometers for the French Navy and amassed 384 gold medals in chronometry competitions. Iconic masterpieces like the Leroy 01, the world’s most complicated pocket watch from 1900 to 1989, underscore the brand’s legacy of precision and innovation. Revived in 2004 by Miguel Rodriguez of the Festina Group. L Leroy is determined to reestablish its reputation as a haute horlogerie player and presented the complicated Osmior Bal du Temps in 2025, with a minute repeater and tourbillon. For 2026, L. Leroy unveils another simpler complication in its classic Osmior collection: the Elyor Tourbillon.
During the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror (1793–1794), Charles Le Roy adopted the anagram “Elyor” to evade persecution – and the guillotine’s blade – as his regal-sounding name risked marking him as a royal supplier.
History aside, the new Elyor Tourbillon comes in a classic drum-shaped case with contemporary proportions. Measuring 42mm across with a height of 11.88mm, including the domed sapphire crystal (9.9mm without), the case is available in three metals – grade 5 titanium, platinum and red gold. The round case with short lugs and a large, fluted crown is brightly polished, save for details like the sandblasted area around the engraved logo on the crown and the frosted segments on the caseback. Asserting its rotundity, the bezel and the tips of the lugs are domed, and the slight overhang or lip of the bezel and caseback emphasises the tambour-shaped middle case.
As a brand reclaiming its 240-year heritage, the dial honours the past with classical decorative details. The multi-layered dial – blue for the platinum case, silver for the titanium and anthracite for the red gold – displays a traditional guilloché Clous de Paris (hobnail) motif composed of small pyramids in the centre. Adding depth and creating reflections, the engine-turned dial recalls L. Leroy’s guilloché and enamel pocket watch dials and specialised montres à tact from the 19th century, recreated in wristwatch format in 2023 for the Only Watch charity auction.
Several features on the dial will remind you of Abraham-Louis Breguet’s design language. However, since Breguet and Charles Le Roy were contemporaries, and both supplied the French royalty and influenced each other’s innovations, this is hardly surprising. Sitting above the hobnail guilloché centre is the wide satin-brushed chapter ring with applied, slanting and polished Arabic numerals. Also reminiscent of Breguet, the long, slender hands have an openworked oval instead of a circle near their tips. The precision minutes/seconds flange on the periphery, slightly lower than the chapter ring, is grained.
The standout feature here, though, is the large aperture at 6 o’clock for the one-minute tourbillon. The mirror-polished 13.6mm titanium bridge is shaped like the intertwined double “L” L. Leroy monogram – also featured in the applique at noon.
The reverse reveals the L600 proprietary automatic calibre manufactured for L. Leroy by Régence Production SA (ex-Timeless SA) near Geneva. A high-performance contemporary movement, it features an off-centred micro-rotor delivering a robust 60-hour power reserve. Made from high-density tungsten alloy (Inermet), the gilded micro-rotor reduces the overall thickness of the movement and allows a better view of the components and hand-finished decorations. And there are a good number of high-quality finishes: the perlage on the mainplate, the contemporary frosted decoration on the rhodium-plated bridges with hand-polished bevelled edges and the mirror-polished screw heads. As mentioned, the caseback ring is also richly decorated with frosted segments highlighting the polished and engraved inscriptions in relief.
The watches are paired with elegant black alligator leather straps and secured by a round folding clasp matching the case material with a double “L” logo on the clasp. According to CEO Hugo Lesizza, only 50 movements will be produced, available in any of the three case metals. The price for the red gold is USD 118,800, the platinum retails for USD 138,000 and the titanium for USD 82,800. More information at montres-leroy.com.
