Lederer CIC 39 mm Racing Green

The CIC 39 mm enters the LVMH Watch Prize semi-finals, a milestone for Lederer’s philosophy, not just a watch.

On December 15th, the CIC 39 mm Racing Green was named among the semi-finalists of the LVMH Watch Prize, recognized not only for its striking architecture but for the vision that shaped it. This press release exists to share that vision: a watchmaker’s pursuit of mechanical truth, sincerity, and the belief that horology’s future lies not necessary in ornament, but in meaning. The CIC 39 mm stands as a creation that advances watchmaking at its core: quietly, profoundly, and with deep respect for time itself.

An unresolved truth became a lifetime pursuit

The story of the CIC 39 mm begins with a centuries-old dilemma: the inherent fragility of the detent escapement. Admired for its high efficiency yet limited by instability at low amplitudes, it has long stood as one of horology’s most seductive but elusive problems. 

Abraham-Louis Breguet touched it.

George Daniels explored it.

What followed was not simply development, but a voyage. Years of experiments, recalculations, doubt, and persistence. Solutions that dissolved as soon as they appeared. Yet every failure revealed a truth, a clue, a fragment of understanding. Progress was demanding and deeply personal but never abandoned. 

The breakthrough arrived only when Lederer understood that refinement could not solve the problem. Reinvention was necessary. Two independent gear trains, each driven by its own constant-force mechanism. Two escapement wheels alternating their impulses with exact regularity. And at the origin of this harmony, a regulating organ, the metronome, securing coherence even at low amplitudes. The idea that resisted solution for centuries finally found its voice on Lederer. 

I was not born into watchmaking. Curiosity brought me here, and my failures taught me the craft” - Bernhard Lederer.

The philosophy that dares to pursue the impossible

For Bernhard Lederer, a watch is never an object, it is a manifestation of thought. A place where he chooses to go precisely because no one else dares to. His work is not meant merely to be admired, but to be understood. Each component, each curve of architecture, each force in motion expresses a belief that watchmaking still holds unexplored territories, and that its future belongs to those who pursue sincerity rather than spectacle. His philosophy is anchored in convictions shaped not by habit, but by a lifetime of questioning and by the courage to follow paths others abandoned.

Innovation must be meaningful.

For Lederer, a creation has value only if it solves a real mechanical challenge, clarifies a system, stabilizes energy, or deepens understanding. Anything else is only noise.

Progress must honor truth

Advancement cannot betray the craft. It must carry the wisdom of the past while refusing to be limited by it. To move forward in watchmaking is not to discard tradition, but to refine it until coherence appears.

Performance must be pursued through structure, not style.

A watch should reveal the logic of its movement through architectural honesty, through lines and volumes that let the mechanics speak. Aesthetics arise not from decoration, but from the equilibrium of forces, the clarity of purpose, the elegance of a mechanism that has nothing to hide, only truth to reveal.

Knowledge must be transmitted, not protected.

A movement should teach. A watchmaker should lift the craft rather than guard it. Lederer believes the next generation deserves a horology that is readable, learnable, and enriched by those who came before. Transmission is the soul of the métier.

A mechanism must solve a real problem. If it doesn’t, it remains an idea, not watchmaking. For centuries, the detent escapement had potential locked inside it. I wanted to give it a voice.”

Where mecanics become a language, an understanding becomes the beauty

The CIC 39 mm is constructed like an open manuscript. Each wheel, bridge, and lever is placed with intent so that the movement reads clearly, teaching the eye how energy travels and how precision is earned. Its architecture is not merely functional; it is didactic. Lederer believes that watchmaking must remain a living knowledge, and the CIC is designed to be both a masterpiece and a lesson.

At the center of the CIC lies the metronome, a discreet organ that transforms the escapement’s destiny. An element small in size yet immense in consequence. It regulates the flow of energy where the detent escapement has always been most vulnerable: in low amplitudes. Creating it required years of analysis and re-engineering. Today, it stands as the quiet force that allows the CIC to breathe with coherence and confidence. It is a subtle form of innovation, one that changes everything.

The movement’s pulse, experienced

The CIC 39 mm does not demand attention; it invites a quieter form of fascination. The domed sapphire crystal acts not just as a window but as a lens, softening the contours of the movement and drawing the gaze toward the heartbeat of the escapement. Its proportions offer balance without excess, creating a piece that lives with the wearer.

Whether in serene silver or in deep racing green, the CIC expresses precision with a calm, almost meditative authority. Each glance uncovers a new detail, a brushed edge catching the light, a gear revealing its geometry, a finishing gesture hinting at the hours spent at the bench. It reminds the wearer that time is not only measured, it is felt.

Racing Green, Bernhard’s own way interpretation

The racing green dial draws from a personal memory: Bernhard’s vintage Sunbeam. For him, this color carries the spirit of technical elegance, endurance, and understated strength. In the CIC 39 mm, that same spirit is brought to life through a sandblasted matte finish that softens reflections and enriches legibility, encouraging the eye to settle into the depth of the hue rather than the shine of the surface.

The dial is framed by a 39 mm 5N rose gold case whose polished bezel and flanks warm the green with subtle radiance, while the domed sapphire crystal opens an immersive view into the sculptural movement beneath. Through the aperture at 10 o’clock, the remontoir d’égalité reveals its quiet choreography, a reminder that every aesthetic choice in the CIC exists to serve the mechanics.

On the wrist, a handcrafted calfskin strap in harmonized green anchors the composition with natural elegance. A refined 5N rose gold pin buckle mirrors the case geometry, completing a design guided not by ornament, but by intention.

In this configuration, racing green becomes more than a color.

It becomes Bernhard Lederer’s signature, a fusion of memory, engineering, and a philosophy shaped by purpose.

Building the horology of tomorrow

For Bernhard Lederer, independence is not solitude, it is responsibility. It is the duty to honor the past while opening pathways for the future, to explore territories where others hesitate, and to elevate the craft through sincerity rather than spectacle. The CIC 39 mm embodies this commitment: a watch that does not imitate tradition, but extends it; a creation that proves innovation is meaningful only when it deepens understanding.

His work unites rigor, discipline and methodology with a profoundly human sense of curiosity and introspection.

Time reveals its truth only to those who dare to question it.” - Bernhard Lederer.

Technical specifications

Lederer CIC 39 mm Racing Green

Case

• Material: 5N rose gold or 904L steel
• Diameter: 39 mm
• Polished bezel, brushed flanks
• Domed sapphire crystal for immersive visibility
• Curved sapphire caseback
• Water-resistant to 30 meters

Dial and hands

• In-house crafted
• Silver or deep racing green
• Sandblasted matte texture
• Aperture at 10 o’clock revealing remontoir

Movement

• Lederer in-house, hand-wound
• Movement diameter: 35 mm
• Movement height: 4.95 mm
• Double detent escapement
• Two independent gear trains
• Twin constant-force
• remontoirs d’égalité
• Number of parts: 212
• Number of jewels: 36
• Frequency: 3 Hz, 21'600 vph
• Power reserve: 38 hours

Functions/Indications

• Hours, minutes
• Small seconds

Strap and buckle

• Handcrafted natural calfskin
• Tone matched to dial
• Curved lugs for ergonomic comfort
• 5N rose gold pin buckle
• Sculpted to mirror case geometry

MSRP: CHF 155'000 (excl. taxes)

For more information, please visit lederertimepieces.com