Introducing Albishorn & the Maxigraph in Collaboration with Massena LAB

This week, Geneva Watch Days is featuring new releases from a wide range of brands, but it’s also hosting an entirely new brand making its debut (as well as a returning brand in Favre Leuba). The new brand is called Albishorn, and they’re launching with a collaborative effort with our friends at Massena LAB. The watch is called the Maxigraph, and it represents an alternate take on a historical watch that never existed. It’s something of a ‘what if’ exercise by the brands, and it’s a theme we’ll see carried through into additional watches from Albishorn, who has registered their concept as “imaginary vintage”, hoping to create watches that “echo the past, without replicating them directly”. The Maxigraph is an example of just that. 

The Maxigraph looks like a retro futuristic take on the classic regatta timer, employing tech and aesthetic codes from the ‘30s and ‘40s, and applying them to a theoretical regatta timer that could have come from the same era. It’s history reimagined. Even setting the concept aside, this is just a great looking, interesting watch from a new brand. The dial and bezel present an array of indexes and scales, each clad in a different color. A curious looking red apparatus appears at the 9 o’clock side of the case. The whole watch entices a “what’s going on here?” reaction at first glance, kicking off a moment of discovery. 

This is not your typical regatta timer, with the first ten minutes of a minute totalizer presented in a different color. Rather, the movement, which is merely listed as “proprietary”, uses a patented ten minute countdown timer, which is operated via a single, large deep red aluminum pusher at 9 o’clock. Starting the timer starts the 10 minute countdown, which is located at 7 o’clock on the dial. Once it reaches ten minutes, that hand stops, while the timing seconds hand continues to run. It’s a focused and remarkably simple take on the complication, and it’s integrated beautifully into the unique dial design. 

As there is no running seconds when the chronograph is stopped, there is a running indicator situated in an aperture at 4 o’clock. The hours, minutes, and a 24 hour scale are all set on different levels within the dial, while the bezel is split to show both hours and minutes elapsed. There are strong instrument vibes with the design, and it’s all encapsulated within a steel 39mm case that measures just 13mm thick. It’s an impressive effort out of the gates, though I’d welcome more clarity on the movement being used here. 

I love the inventiveness on display here, and the brand has me excited to see what’s in store given their conceptual basis for existing. The throwback trend is waning as far as I can tell, but this puts an entirely new spin on the idea. For the moment, this is our only glimpse at what to expect. The Maxigraph will be available from Massena LAB starting September 12th, and is priced at $4,995. Just 25 examples will be produced in each batch, and it’s not clear how many batches will be produced. Massena LAB