Viva La Lip!

So where we last left off, I had decided to revisit one of my favorite places - Besançon, France. And what drew me at this particular time? It was a new watch that Lip had come out with. But I was drawn not just as a journalist, but as a potential customer...

I wrote about it when it just came out, but to re-heat the pertinents, this is the Lip T18 Original.

It is based on an original take on the current Churchill series. What makes it so special? Well its movement is based on an original hand wound caliber -

Courtesy of Lip

This is special because at no small effort and expense, Lip committed to making something true to the original, with the help of local and regional partners. They could have done a cheap-and-cheerful homage, but Pierre-Alain Berard and his team in Besançon set their sights a little higher!

Per Lip - 

"The components of its movement are machined in Switzerland by the La Joux-Perret factory and assembled in Besançon by the Humbert-Droz company. The casing and inspection are carried out in the LIP workshops in Besançon."

This photo was taken by yours truly at Lip HQ, back in March. And based on what I saw, and was able to try on? I was very, very impressed.

So impressed that I broke my cardinal rule:

"Never get high on your own supply!"

If you were to visit the Lip website to look this little wrist bound bijoux up, you'd be out of luck. It sold out REALLY FAST!

But it would seem that fateful day back in March, my luck was in! I was able to put my marker down, and was able to secure the final piece of the series (all the others were spoken for) - lucky #180 / 180!

And a few weeks ago, it found its way to the North Shore, where I have been enjoying wearing it immensely!

There is quite a bit more to come about my visit, Besançon, and the people at Lip who are truly bringing back traditional watch making to it's ancestral home in France.

Stay tuned!