Leica Watches
Leica watches are the timepiece expression of one of the world's most celebrated precision instrument companies — a brand whose foundation in fine mechanics predates its fame as a camera maker by decades. Ernst Leitz, the company's original founder, trained as a watchmaker before moving into optics; that watchmaking DNA has been present in the company's engineering culture ever since, even through the century in which the red dot became an icon of photographic excellence. The watch line is operated through Ernst Leitz Werkstätten GmbH, Leica's horological and accessories arm, led by Henrik Ekdahl since 2024. Gerd Plange, a former IWC senior designer with twenty years at the brand, joined in 2025 to deepen the watchmaking credentials of the operation. For fiscal year 2024/25, Leica Camera AG reported record revenues of EUR 596 million and is now valued at around EUR 1 billion — a commercial strength that underpins the ambition of the watch programme.
The collection is built around four models in two movement families. The **ZM 1** and **ZM 2** are the manual-winding flagship line — described by the brand as the result of years of development, produced in limited numbers, and Made in Germany. The ZM 1 is Leica's first mechanical watch, limited to 300 pieces, with a Grade 2 sandblasted titanium case measuring 42mm × 49.5mm lug-to-lug × 11.9mm, powered by the Calibre L001 (a Sellita-based movement decorated and modified by Leica) beating at 28,800 A/h with 42 hours power reserve, 26 jewels, and 100 metres water resistance. The patented push-crown — a direct reference to the shutter release button of Leica's cameras, pressed rather than pulled to set the time — is a signature mechanical feature carried across the manual-winding line. Dials across the ZM 1 and ZM 2 draw their visual language from Leica camera dials and viewfinder graphics: hour markers resembling aperture indices, a design restraint and material quality that rewards close inspection. The ZM 2 shares the same platform in a more refined execution, available with alligator leather straps and different case finishing options.
The **ZM 11** is the self-winding step into broader accessibility, departing from the Made in Germany limited production ethos of the ZM 1 and ZM 2 in favour of Swiss manufacture with higher production numbers. Powered by the Leica Calibre LA-3001, developed in collaboration with Chronode SA, the ZM 11 beats at 28,800 A/h with 60 hours of power reserve and an accuracy of -4/+6 seconds per day measured in five positions — in line with COSC standards. The 41mm case is available in steel and titanium with dual-layered coloured dials featuring horizontal cutouts that create depth through an interplay of light and shadow, visible through a domed sapphire crystal. The movement, viewed through an edge-to-edge sapphire display caseback, features sandblasted surfaces, brushed chamfers, and dark grey galvanic Ruthenium plating on the bridges and rotor. The ZM 11 introduced Leica's Easy Change Band Locking System, allowing rapid strap changes. The **ZM 12** is the newest and most refined model in the collection. A 39mm case in 316L stainless steel or Grade 5 titanium, the ZM 12 features four dial colourways — Steel Silver Grey, Steel Olive Black, Steel Blue Orange, and Titanium Chocolate Black — all in the signature dual-layer horizontal construction. Powered by the Leica Calibre LA-3002, also developed with Chronode, it moves the running seconds to a sunken snailed subdial at 6 o'clock, creating a cleaner, more balanced dial architecture than the ZM 11. The ZM 12 is priced from $6,250 USD for steel and $7,600 USD for titanium. All four models share sapphire crystals front and back, screw-down crowns, 100-metre water resistance, and Leica's restrained but immediately recognisable design language: Bauhaus-inflected precision, the red dot present but never shouted.