In 1865, Belgian armourer Auguste Lebeau set about making the world’s most sophisticated hunting rifles at his workshop in Liège. By the time Ferdinand Courally took over the company in 1896, its exceptional guns had already won the hearts of the nobility across Europe.
The first watchmakers were often also armourers, the two fields brought together by a common vocabulary and similar production methods. As early as the end of the 16th century, clock makers were producing the mainplates and trigger mechanisms for guns produced in Liège. By the 18th century the town had some 900 watchmakers, including the legendary Hubert Sarton, to whom some attribute the invention of the automatic watch.
Four years after reuniting the two historically-linked trades with the launch of its first watch collection, the Belgian family that owns Lebeau-Courally acquired the prestigious IMH watch and movement manufacturing company based in Le Locle, Switzerland. It now produces the finest Swiss Made watches incorporating 40 different traditional crafts that have been brought together under the same roof.
Lebeau-Courally
Sharing terms such as calibre, lever and barrel, arms manufacturing and watchmaking have certain parallels. Belgian brand Lebeau-Courally has a distinguished history in the latter and is the only brand to bring the two worlds together.
Lebeau-Courally aims to uphold the values of traditional craftsmanship by producing a strictly limited number of exceptional watchmaking complications each year. The majority of movement components, including the escapement, are produced in-house, where the emphasis is on traditional, labour-intensive operations to produce finely decorated movements and exquisite dials.
L’Archiduc
the Archiduc collection consists of limited-edition chronographs in a 43mm case in red or white gold equipped with a self-winding movement.
Le Baron
The Baron is a chronograph model with a 43mm stainless-steel case and has a self-winding movement.
Le Dauphin
the Dauphin collection comes in a 38mm stainless-steel case with a self-winding movement and a variety of references to suit all tastes, including various colours and diamond settings to appeal to ladies.
Le Marquis
the Marquis collection has a feminine allure with exclusively diamond-set variations with a 38mm gold case and a self-winding movement.
Le Comte
this collection has two limited-edition GMT models in red or white gold, fitted with a self-winding movement.
