LEGARE Debuts First Watch: Wei Koh Goes from Watch Critic to Watchmaker, Reviving a 1932 Double Balance Wheel Pocket Watch Movement

The name Wei Koh needs no introduction to anyone familiar with the watch media world—he's a watch critic and publisher who has spent years documenting the stories of countless independent watchmakers through words and lenses. This time, he's stepping to the other side. Together with Guillaume Tetu, he has founded a new brand, LEGARE, based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and it's now officially launching its debut piece, the Chapter 1 AGP Inverted.

This watch didn't start with a blank canvas—it began with a forgotten piece of history. In 1932, watchmaker Albert-Gustave Piguet created a double balance wheel pocket watch movement that almost no one carried forward afterward. LEGARE positions itself as a "mechanical archaeologist," and what it's doing here is redrawing Piguet's original concept into the proportions of a contemporary timepiece.

The case is crafted from grade 5 titanium, measuring 37.5mm in diameter and 9.95mm thick—dimensions kept impressively restrained. The movement features an open, inverted layout, bringing the two regulating mechanisms that would normally be hidden on the caseback right onto the dial side—two independent balance wheels each oscillate at 21,600 vph, with a mechanical differential continuously averaging the rates of both, then sending a single output signal to the flame-blued hands. To fit this system into a slim case, the movement borrows a lateral lever escapement system typically found only in tourbillons. A sapphire minute ring encircles the entire open-worked structure, and the bridges showcase traditional finishing techniques including hand-brushing, mirror-polished bevels, and Côtes de Genève-style fish-scale patterns.

The Chapter 1 AGP Inverted comes in two versions, each limited to 25 pieces, for a total of 50. The "Elegant" version features untreated German silver paired with Geneva stripes and a hand-sewn grey Alcantara strap; the "Darth" version takes a darker route, with bridges crafted from sandblasted, black rhodium-plated brass, paired with a blue Cordura fabric strap. Both are powered by the manual-winding Caliber LC1-AGP01, offering 50 hours of power reserve.

Each watch is priced at SGD 146,100, roughly $110,000 USD, and is produced through a network of Swiss watchmaking partners located within a 100-kilometer radius of Neuchâtel. For more details, visitLEGARE's official website。