calibre r26
lip mouvement
de manufacture
Convinced of the need to restore the oldest French brand still in business to its former glory, LIP management decided to launch production of the LIP R26 Manufacture movement.
After three years of patient work in collaboration with the SupMicroTech engineering school in Besançon, this self-winding mechanical movement, 70% of whose cost price is French and more specifically from the Besançon region, equips a first family of watches designed to meet the needs of demanding users, whether on land, at sea or in the air.
Calibre lip R26
TYPE 14
To awaken the desire of frequent flyers to read the time like pilots, LIP mouvement de Manufacture launches the Type 14, a timepiece with a case design inspired by a watch used in the cockpits of French fighter planes in the 1940s.
Calibre lip R26
NAUTIC 666
Water sports enthusiasts will appreciate the timeless character of the Nautic 666 line, whose technical specifications and sturdiness will meet all their requirements.
Calibre lip R26
ANNAPURNA
This collection will appeal to adventurers who, living their daily lives in the heart of the urban jungle, can count on its reliability and subtly vintage design to attract the attention of purists.
LIP MANUFACTURE
CALIBRE R26
After three years of patient work in collaboration with Besançon's SupMicroTech engineering school, LIP launches the R26 caliber. This first self-winding movement from a Bisontine manufacture since Fred Lip was developed from a mechanical base developed by a benchmark manufacture, then thoroughly reworked and improved. Carrying the LIP DNA in its structure, it offers enthusiasts access to affordable manufacture watches powered by reliable, robust movements bearing the same signature as the one affixed to the dial. Today, such an association is a luxury that has become rare in the industry, and practically unique in this price range.
a reverse engineering task
To ensure that mechanical watch enthusiasts get the very best for the very best price, LIP chose to reverse-engineer several key components of a mass-produced manufacture movement, renowned for its endurance and reliability. To this end, the management of the French watchmaking company collaborated with students and teachers from the SupMicroTech school in Besançon. They were entrusted with the task of carrying out a study aimed at rethinking and redesigning certain essential components. After several months of research and development, a set of plans incorporating numerous aesthetic and structural modifications was drawn up.
Design and development
The R26 caliber is the result of teamwork between enthusiasts. This mechanical self-winding Manufacture movement measures exactly 26 millimeters in diameter (or 11 ½ lines) for a thickness of 5.92 mm.
In all, over 70% of its cost price is French, and more specifically from Besançon and the surrounding region. Its name follows the nomenclature traditionally employed by LIP, indicating that it is round for “R” and that “26” is its diameter expressed in millimeters. Enthusiasts will recall that an R26 caliber derived from the Buser 145 was modified by LIP to make it automatic in the 1960s.
However, it was never marketed, and the few existing prototypes are nowhere to be found. Called to align with a large-scale industrial logic, this new-generation movement has overall dimensions corresponding to the size of the most commonly used generic Swiss calibers. It therefore complies with the latest environmental and health standards thanks to its bridges and base plate made of watchmaking brass, protected from oxidation by electroplating.
from prototype to series production
Determined to create a unique architecture that could be identified at first glance, LIP succeeded in integrating its logo into its functional structure.
This playful, hypnotic mobile décor was imagined by an in-house engineer. Requiring a perfect fit, it is micrometrically cut by high-precision machines so that, once the R26 is assembled, it appears as if by magic with the movements of the oscillating weight.
assembly and adjustment
Once the components have been machined and sent to the LIP Manufacture workshops, the Swiss-origin rubies are removed on site by master watchmakers. Next, the various revisited parts are cleaned before receiving aesthetic finishes and a metal treatment to protect the brass from oxidation (galvanoplasty).
Finally, the bridges and oscillating weights are individually laser-decorated before being transferred to the trays where the other components of the R26 caliber await.
The assembly of these “Maison” movements bearing the brand's logo is carried out in the LIP Manufacture workshops by master watchmakers, as are the best calibers from high-flying Maisons.
The new mounted R26s, with a 42-hour power reserve and a regulating group oscillating at 21,600 vibrations per hour (3 Hertz), are individually adjusted for daily precision within tolerances ranging from -5 to +10 seconds.
And because it's essential to underline the French origin of these new hearts right down to the smallest detail, the balance bridge, oscillating weight and gear bridge screws are custom-made with hexagonal-shaped heads to subliminally underscore the french style, from design to production.
lip R26
Technical data
- Manufacture self-winding mechanical caliber, 26 mm in diameter and 5.92 mm thick.
- Watchmaking brass treated by electroplating and surfaces with sandblasted finishes.
- 70% French production cost.
- Design, assembly and adjustment carried out in-house in Besançon.
- Customized LIP decoration on the gear bridge and oscillating weight: laser carbonization of the LIP letters. Hexagonal screws for the oscillating weight, gear bridges, and balance bridge.
- Rubies set in the LIP Manufacture workshops in Besançon.
- Regulation group oscillating at 21,600 vibrations per hour.
- 42-hour power reserve under full load.
- Accuracy: from 5 seconds late to 10 seconds early per day.
- Display: hours, minutes, central seconds, date window.
- Quick date adjustment by winding crown.
- Stop second for more precise time setting.
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mouvement de manufacture
LIP Mouvement
de Manufacture
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