L. Leroy - An Extraordinary Destiny
Heir to an impressive historical legacy, the House of L.Leroy has written some of the finest chapters in the history of watchmaking and of French chronometry. Founded in Paris in 1785 amid the tumultuous Age of Enlightenment and under the impetus of Charles Leroy, himself the son of a watchmaker, the House has thus been developing a wealth of technical and inventive treasures for over two centuries.
This human, artistic and industrial adventure is dotted with illustrious names including Marie-Antoinette, Proust, Matisse, Napoleon, Queen Victoria, Roosevelt, Chopin, Nobel, Bugatti, the brilliant designer Védrines, aviation pioneers Charles Lindbergh and Santos-Dumont, to mention but a few owners of a watch by L.Leroy. Here is the story of an extraordinary destiny.
Across a history spanning more than two hundred years, the Leroy watchmaking dynasty has found its way through a constantly changing world. Right from the time of its creation, the company was officially appointed as Watchmaker to the King. The twists and turns of history led it to change its name by adopting the anagram “Elyor” in order to escape the reign of terror that came in the wake of the French revolution. The quality of Leroy watch was rapidly recognised by the powers in place in the capital and its reputation literally took off in the 19th century, both in France and around the world.
The automatic tourbillon regulator model in the Osmior line is an exclusive creation from the company’s watchmakers who drew their inspiration from the exceptional timepieces in the brand’s private museum.
For almost a century and a half, L.Leroy has specialised in the production of watches known as ‘’Grandes Complications’’ and is one of the few historical brands to offer models fitted with a tourbillon. The first tourbillon escapement system was patented by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1801. It compensated for most of the variations in rate that occur in the vertical positions, caused by the effect of the Earth’s gravity. It is one of the most ingenious mechanical inventions in watchmaking history but is also one of the most difficult to produce. Specifically developed by L.Leroy, this model contains an ultra modern version of the tourbillon system with an escapement (wheel and lever) machined from pure diamond. This reduces the weight of the mechanism and increases its hardness. As a result, the high performance and chronometric stability of the watch can be guaranteed longer than is possible with a classic system.
The automatic single push-button chronograph in the Osmior line is an exclusive creation from the company’s watchmakers who drew their inspiration from exceptional timepieces in the brand’s private museum.
Manufacturing chronographs has been a speciality of L.Leroy for almost a century and a half. The company was the world’s first to develop and patent a chronograph capable of measuring time to one hundredth of a second and, a few years later, to one thousandth of a second.
The movement (calibre) of your watch has been manufactured in Switzerland, partly in the Val de Travers, and partly in Le Locle, a world famous centre for the production of top-of-the range watch components.
