Hands-On With The Venturist Watch By Lebois & Co
A few years ago, long before the introduction of this Venturist watch, I was contacted by a young Dutch guy with big horological dreams. This guy, Tom van Wijlick, was so passionate about watches, that besides collecting, he wanted to make his own watch.
This story so far is not unique though. Even back then, in 2014, when Fratello wasn’t as big as it is today, we received many of these messages from guys who wanted to create their own watch. The difference between Tom van Wijlick and most of the others was that Tom was destined to build a brand, instead of running just a watch project. After resurrecting an old brand name, Lebois & Co, he introduced the Avantgarde Date watches. After three versions of that watch, it was time for something new.
Not only did his business model change, but so too did the set-up of this company also changed. With this new structure, funding is not anymore done via Kickstarter, but partly via a shareholder campaign. But let’s not talk about the past too much, or Lebois & Co in general, but about the Venturist watch. If you want to read more about Lebois & Co, you can click here for our previous coverage.
Lebois & Co Venturist
The Lebois & Co Venturist is delivered in a nice-looking rectangular box. It has two compartments, one for the watch and one for the additional strap, tool, and Observatoire Chronometriqué certificate. I will get back to the latter shortly. The Venturist watch comes on a Shell Cordovan leather strap with a tang-type buckle. The strap reminds me of those on NOMOS watches. It is very comfortable and has a bit of a shiny surface. The Lebois & Co Venturist watch has a 41mm diameter case and better yet, it isn’t very thick. With a height of 10.5mm, it is very comfortable on the wrist.
Quality
A time-only watch with a retail price of €2,500 should bring something special to the table. And Lebois & Co made sure that’s the case with the Venturist watch. The quality of the case, crown, and strap is wonderful. All elements are nicely finished, and there’s quite a lot of detail. The lugs have brushed finishing on the top surface, the bezel has a brushed finish as well and the case band is polished. The side of the bezel also has a polished finish. The watch plays nicely with the light, but to be honest I wouldn’t have minded a brushed case band as well. It would bring a bit more of a “tool watch” vibe to this Venturist watch.
The screw-down case back has polished surfaces as well, and a sapphire crystal to show the LC-201 movement. The crown is signed with the Lebois & Co shield, loosely based on the coat of arms of the Van Wijlick family (dating back to 1550).
Venturist dial and hands
For me, the dial is where this watch is very interesting. It has a lot of detail. The downside is that it is not always visible when on the wrist. Like the groves in the hour track, these are only visible with enough (day)light. I noticed that when wearing this watch in my office, it is hardly visible. The matte black dial has hand-applied indexes, filled with Super-LumiNova. The sleek-looking rhodium-plated hands are also treated with Super-LumiNova.
I think designing hands is one of the toughest things to do for a watch. You can totally change the looks of a watch by using different types of hands. Lebois & Co choose wisely in my opinion, with these thin long hands. They are elegant, but still very suitable for daily use. The hour hand threatens to tickle the tip of the hour markers, the minute hand kisses the minute markers, and the second hand — the longest of them all — reaches almost to the rehaut.
LC-201 Movement
In previous articles (here and here) I already touched upon the Observatoire Chronometrié+ certification. In short, it is a stricter set of requirements that needs to be met. The LC-201 uses a Sellita as base movement, which caused some discussion after previous articles. To some, €2,500 is too much for a watch with a Sellita base movement. I do get the sentiment, but there’s more to the cost of a watch than a movement. But what’s more important, it that you either like a watch or you don’t.
I can’t believe that someone would buy a mechanical watch purely based on specs. And that leads also to the following, I don’t believe that someone will purchase this watch because of the OC+ certification, but if you like the watch anyway, the OC+ is a very nice additional “feature”. It is certainly a talking point among the WIS community.
On the wrist
I’ve been wearing the Venturist watch on and off for a week and there are a number of things that I particularly like about it. First and foremost is the design, not only the dial and all details, but also the case shape and dimensions. On my 19cm wrist, the 41mm case wears pretty well and with a height of just 10.5mm, it easily disappears under my cuffs. The best thing about the design is the dial, in my opinion. Lebois & Co’s Venturist Watch is incredibly readable, with the large applied Arabic numerals. Almost from any angle, I can read the time. The typography of Lebois & Co on the dial is also very fresh. Very visible, but certainly not loud. Something many brands like to have these days it seems.
Price and availability of the Venturist watch
The Venturist logo is in red on the dial, which brings some color to proceedings. You will also find the chronometer wording on the dial, presumably added for visual balance. What I also like a lot, is that the dial has no date. It keeps it clean! Purchasing this Venturist watch for €2,500 includes 25 shares in Lebois & Co. With a value of €1,000 in total. With the plans and ideas of Lebois & Co’s CEO Tom van Wijlick in mind (click here), it is perhaps an interesting proposition. More information can be found on the official Lebois & Co website
