Leica, one of the most well-regarded camera producers in the world, announced late last week that it was introducing an intriguing new product line into its portfolio. That’s right, the brand beloved by camera enthusiasts around the globe is crossing over into the watch world with two new timepieces, the time-and-date-only Leica L1 and the Leica L2 GMT.
Whenever a non-horologically inclined luxury brand ventures into the watch sphere, there’s usually a decent amount of skepticism among general consumers and the educated enthusiast. This is fair. There are a lot of expensive variables that go into watch production and it’s far easier to work out a licensing partnership, throw some branding on a Chinese quartz watch, and call it a day. We see this more than ever nowadays but, thankfully, Leica has used its technological know-how and niche appeal to create an exciting new entry into the watch marketplace that will attract not only the substantial amount of people interested in both fields but the average watch consumer as well. The time-and-date-only Leica L1.
The two new timepieces were designed in collaboration with Achim Heine, a German product designer of some renown who has worked with Leica many times before. There are a few recognizable Leica attributes to the watches that are immediately noticeable. The fluting of the crown and the cambered shape of the crystal is meant to recall a camera lens while the ruby set on the crown represents the recogniz...