Angelier
Angelier is a Dutch micro-brand built around a single idea: a hand-wound dress watch in the proportions of the 1930s to 1950s that a collector might actually wear every day. Its founder, Paul Angelier, is a watch enthusiast and former dealer rather than a trained watchmaker, and the Angelier Classique is the watch he says he wanted to wear but could not find. The first production run is 100 pieces, sold on a presale basis, at €3,998.
Paul Angelier's own account on the brand's site begins with a Swatch with a transparent case, then a Festina styled after the Breitling Chronomat, then a Seiko 5 with an open caseback, which sparked his interest in mechanical movements. His collection grew to include Seiko divers and JDM-only Seiko models, as well as watches from Omega, Panerai, Rolex and Breitling. He became a watch dealer in Europe, and Monochrome's interview with him dates his dealer business, Pange Watches, to 2016, with a focus on Grand Seiko and JDM Seiko. He found that dress watches from Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and A. Lange & Söhne were too expensive to wear every day, and that most modern dress watches were too large and thick while vintage ones were too small. He had considered making his own for about six years, and design work began in March 2024.
The Classique is a 38 mm stainless steel watch, 47 mm from lug to lug and 8.5 mm thick including the box-shaped sapphire crystal, with a three-part case, long lugs, a brushed centre section, a polished bezel and case back, and a clear case back. Water resistance is 50 metres. The movement is the hand-wound La Joux-Perret LJP7380 in its soigné grade: 30 mm across and 2.7 mm thick, with 21 jewels, a 3 Hz beat, a 90-hour power reserve and small seconds at six o'clock. Paul says he chose it over the ETA/Peseux 7001 because that calibre's smaller diameter would have put the seconds subdial too close to the centre. The movement is made to order, which is part of why delivery takes so long. The dial carries applied Breguet-style Arabic numerals drawn by Paul by hand and then digitised, with a countersunk, chamfered small seconds subdial that is guilloché-patterned and circular-brushed. The hands are curved and leaf-shaped with a bent tip, and the watch comes on a 20 mm Saffiano leather strap with quick-release spring bars and a 16 mm steel buckle.
The first Classique comes in three dial finishes: Frosted Silver, Glossy Black and Sunburst Green, an olive green. The brand's site says the first production run of 100 pieces is sold on a presale basis, that production starts after the presale window and takes upwards of seven months, that orders can be cancelled for a full refund within two weeks, and that the watch carries a two-year warranty. At the time of writing the three models were shown as sold out. Monochrome's interview, published in February 2025, notes that Paul worked with a brother-in-law who is a 3D CAD specialist on the case drawings, that some outside parts carry minimum orders of 500 pieces, and that the photographs then showed early prototypes.
A second, much less expensive model has been announced. Described on the brand's site as a classic slim watch with applied Breguet numerals, curved hands and bent tips, it is powered by a Miyota 9039 automatic movement and measures 37.2 mm across and 45.9 mm from lug to lug, 8.7 mm thick, in Sunburst Blue, Frosted Ivory, Frosted Black and Tuxedo Black-White. The expected price is €699 including VAT, with special pricing planned for a Kickstarter campaign whose pre-launch page is live. This listing draws on the brand's website and on Monochrome's interview with Paul Angelier; the specifications and dates come from those sources, and the second model's details may change before release.