Monovant is a new brand founded in 2024 in Greece with watches designed in both Athens and Paris. There’s a unique virtual showroom on its website that allows enthusiasts to interact with a digital version of watches, a concept Monovant calls phygital timepieces (the blending of the physical and digital worlds). This concept extends to virtual worlds like Decentraland, Zepeto, Ready Player Me, VRChat and more, with a variety of approved virtual wearables to use. The physical watch we’re looking at today is the Rheon Royal Lapis with a deep blue dial comprised of a semi-precious metamorphic stone, lapis lazuli. Its unique style and nice specifications make it an intriguing choice with an attractive price.
The stainless steel case is mostly polished with a tonneau(ish) shape and long, flowing curvature to the solid and flat case back. The latter is nicely embossed and numbered, and coupled with the screw-down signed crown, water resistance is 50 metres. Not spectacular, but rain and light swimming should be fine. A sapphire crystal protects the dial with an anti-reflective inner coating. It’s a fresh and somewhat daring aesthetic that certainly breaks away from the norm without going overboard. At 40mm in diameter and only 9.7mm in height (lug-to-lug 47mm), it’s also very wearable for everyday use. To help keep the polished sides clean, there’s an unusual anti-fingerprint coating that’s nice to see. A stainless steel bracelet with polished centre links and a butterfly clasp merge well with the case, and a purple rubber or black leather strap is also offered. As a bonus, a dial-matching lapis lazuli bracelet comes in the box.
The dial is a deep blue lapis lazuli stone with a VVS (Very, Very Slightly Included) diamond at 12 o’clock. The diamond is very small at 0.1ct, but it’s a cool addition and has a high clarity grade. There’s also a Rheon model with an imperial jade dial in deep green. The dial itself is sparse without an outer track or text and only has the brand logo above 6 o’clock and a 12 o’clock triangular marker. The partially open-worked hands are polished with Super-LumiNova BGW9 inserts at the upper ends, and they sometimes disappear into the dial depending on the light (which is a deliberate design choice). However, the lume keeps things legible at all times.
Powering the Rheon Royal Lapis is a Sellita SW200-1 automatic with 26 jewels, 28,800vph (4Hz) and a 42-hour power reserve – the latter is a modification from 38 hours, and there’s also enhanced shock resistance. This movement is a direct alternative to the ETA 2824 and functions include central hours, minutes, hacking seconds and date (the date isn’t utilised here).
The Monovant Rheon Royal Lapis is limited to 99 pieces and available to preorder for EUR 970 with a retail price of EUR 1,250. Shipments are scheduled for later in October and November. Not bad for such a unique piece with a hand-finished lapis lazuli dial with a VVS diamond. For more information and to place an order, please visit Monovant’s website.
Sponsored post: This article is sponsored by Monovant Watches. However, it reflects the writer’s opinion and has been written in accordance with MONOCHROME’s editorial policy.
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