Depancel’s racing-inspired design DNA is all over the French brand’s new Allure Automatic Chronograph 43mm. “As an engineer, I have always been fascinated by the beauty of mechanics, passionate about cars and watches,” said Clément Meynier, founder of Depancel.
There are the obvious components–it is a chronograph, after all, meant to help drivers time their cars and calculate speed with the handy tachymeter. But Depancel sneaks in subtler cues as well. The Allure Automatic Chronograph features a textured dial meant to evoke the grille of a car, pushers meant to evoke pistons, and a crown meant to evoke a radiator cap. It’s not just a watch for racing–it’s a watch for racing enthusiasts, hoping to transport fans “to an era where chronographs were more than simple measuring instruments for race car drivers, they were loyal companions.”
The Depancel Allure Automatic Chronograph 43mm is available in two colorways: a blue dial and a silver dial, both using orange as a secondary highlight color. Adding some further color options to the mix, it can be paired with a black, brown, or blue leather strap with orange stitching or a metal bracelet. On the leather straps, a one-off red, white, and blue stitch near the upper lugs pays subtle homage to the flag of France.
With a non-reflective coating on the sapphire crystal and 100m of water resistance, the Depancel Allure Automatic Chronograph 43mm is durable, robust, and in a definitively contemporary case size.
In addition to its 43mm diameter, the watch has a 48.5mm lug-to-lug measurement and is 15mm thick. At $2,400, the Depancel Allure Automatic Chronograph 43mm is the most expensive watch in Depancel’s catalog, and it’s the watch’s movement that’s responsible for much of that price increase. Inside the case is a Sellita SW510 with a 62 hour power reserve and visible through an exhibition caseback instead of the Miyotas and Seagull movements found in other Depancel models. The brand had a previous limited edition, the Serie-A Allure, near this price point, but the Allure Automatic Chronograph 43mm is the first permanent addition to Depancel’s offerings above $1,000.
