Chick-Lip!: 23 watches and a crazy adventure!
Joshua Grillet
Since these 23 watches were unveiled to the watchmaking community around the world, the Earth has made a complete revolution around the Sun. Since this project has no commercial scope, its promotion has been discreet and it is very likely that you have missed it. Mixing vintage watches, the history of Besançon, sharing, art and creativity, that's what touches me in the heart heart ! I think it's high time I told you how it all began.
My meeting with Benoît aka @petitesecondes
I started to get interested in watches in 2014 and it's fair to say that this simple curiosity has become a major project! After many watch fairs, a growing vintage watch collection, Baselworlds, meetings between collectors, thousands of hours spent on FAM (ForumAMontres) and a CAP Horlogerie in my pocket, here we are in 2018, the year I met Benoît and the two missiles that were in his possession:
We met at a superb watch evening in Besançon organized by @maitretime with other collectors ( @denisprieur , @masqaar_universe and @montresbisontines ) and I greet him warmly. Since that day, we have exchanged a few watches and I maintain part of his collection including this one: Rolex Vintage 6564 "Explorer" Caliber 1030: Restoration
Having to lighten my generous collection, it is the heavy heart that I decide to part with two watches. Two Lip R25s from the 50s with a 33 mm steel case with a good military look, a treat! It's 2020 and he's the one who jumps at the chance. I'm extremely delighted that my two exes are in such good hands, but I was far from imagining all that was to follow...
The birth of Chick-Lip!
In 2021, @petitesecondes began to seriously accumulate Lip R25s with this steel case and supplies (as well as a Lip with a dubious but very nice dial) because a crazy idea was germinating in his tormented mind of a mad collector.
It should be noted that collecting is not the only watchmaking activity of our dear friend because he is one of the pillars of a watch media. Fifth Wrist is a platform dedicated to watch lovers, mainly offering owner reviews on various watch brands. Users can also publish their own reviews. In addition to reviews, the site offers a podcast dedicated to watchmaking, and a community for enthusiasts.
Benoît has been part of the Fifth Wrist community since its beginnings. He hosts The Vintage Henhouse , a podcast where he discusses vintage watches with other enthusiasts around the world. He is also the owner of “Snow the Chicken,” the hen who has become Fifth Wrist’s mascot.
The tragic day of Snow's death comes. As the Benoît's heart is deeply grieving, he decides to pay a sublime tribute to his hen but also to his Comtois roots and to the entire watchmaking community:
It will offer 23 Lip from the 50s decorated with a chicken in place of the second hand, also called " small seconds " in this configuration. Chick-Lip!
The Avengers of Watchmaking
To carry out his project, Benoît put together a crack team:
- Romaric André aka @secondeseconde for the artistic and physical creation of the legendary needles
- @wristwatchme for making handmade leather bracelets in Canada
- Zealande @zealandeofficial to make pouches
- And me, Joshua @lumeville , to restore the watches!
Here are the ingredients to create a crazy project:
1. Custom needles
Romaric André, aka Seconde/Seconde/ , is an artist known for his innovative and eccentric collaborations in the world of watchmaking. His unique concept consists of modifying the hands of vintage or luxury watches, by integrating unexpected and pixelated elements, transforming the watches into true works of art. The original hand replaced is preciously preserved in a vial. A successful bet, this "Snow" hand is particularly endearing!
2. One-of-a-kind bracelets
Chick-Lip! watches come with a custom handmade leather strap by Wrist Watch Me. All straps are stamped with “Chick-Lip Benoit TVH” and “Real men wear 33 mm”. Just the kind of detail I love!
3. Unique covers
Zealande is a company specializing in high-end rubber straps and watch accessories. Created by Zealande with the “Chick-Lip!” stamp, these pouches are the perfect showcase for this project.
4. Historic vintage watches
To be brief, Lip is the Besançon manufacturer par excellence, French watchmaking!
Benoît and I are from Besançon and since his project has an international scope, distributing a watch from the 50s with a French manufactured caliber makes particularly good sense, don't you think?
The R25 caliber embedded in the Ckick-Lip! was designed in 1948 and distributed massively because it was the first Lip caliber to be produced on an assembly line until 1963. And we needed the part to restore these 23 watches!
"The Calibre R25 will mature under the Occupation, since it is the work of Jean-Georges Laviolette, Lip engineer and very close to Fred Lipmann before, then during the war. Laviolette will imagine, while the second world conflict rages, the R25 movement, but also the tooling and the technical conditions necessary for its manufacture. The war over, and above all won by the Allies, this carefully considered project could finally see the light of day, not without a few years of additional work." wrote Clément Haond (another friend to whom I warmly salute) for musee-lip.fr , in a detailed article that I invite you to read.
Chick-Lip! are here!
One fine morning, Benoît knocks on my door and hands me a box, it's a gift. Inside is the fruit of 3 years of work. I discover its contents with great emotion and we can say that Benoît has an eye for detail and a love of things well done. We find:
- A thank you card with a drawing of one of my current hobbies
- A certificate of non-authenticity that I invite you to read with the greatest attention
- A pin featuring the Snow the Hen needle
- A pouch that I hasten to open
This watch is a true vintage watch. This means parts have most probably been changed or messed-up. The crown has a 99% chance of not being the original one. Heck! It might even be completely made up of distinct parts from donor watches that did not survive the 20th century. It's fragile and might even stop working after 2 hours of non-intensive wear. Flee humidity like the plague! We are so happy you now own such an exclusive vintage watch!
You recognize it well, it is the Lip Standard that I had given to Benoît 3 years earlier and which had stayed in my mind! This man is definitely an ace of the wink eye !
But where are the 23 Lip?
Benoît kept one preciously, of course. He sent them all over the world to his friends, most of whom did not even know they were the lucky ones and did not even know about the project, which was kept secret. Here is the distribution of these watches on the surface of the planet:
- 4 in France 🇫🇷
- 1 in Austria 🇦🇹
- 1 in Germany 🇩🇪
- 1 in Hungary 🇭🇺
- 1 in Italy 🇮🇹
- 1 in Sweden 🇸🇪
- 1 in the UK 🇬🇧
- 6 in the United States 🇺🇸
- 7 in Australia 🇦🇺
And here is the list of the lucky owners handpicked to ensure that no Chick-Lip! will end up for sale:
I would especially like to thank Benoît for inviting me to participate in his ultimate project, it was an immense joy as well as a deep inspiration. Most likely a key to our recurring question with my friend Vincent about the purpose of watch collecting and the love of watchmaking.
“Jean Staune relates in his book “the keys to the future” that the current adult generations are “cultural creatives” which would translate into “cultural creatives”. So… where will you find some joy in this world? In the next Tudor release? Or in something else… you've got the cards, I've got the chicken 🐔 . » - @petitesecondes
MIC DROP 🤚🎤
You can find the other blog articles here: Blog
You can also find a selection of vintage watches and watch accessories .
Joshua Grillet
Founder of LumeVille and watchmaker
