Elegance Meets Adventure in Raymond Weil Millesime Chronograph Tri-Compax Limited Edition Largo Winch

In a previous life, before I plied my trade covering and critiquing the wristwatch industry, I edited, and occasionally wrote, comic books and graphic novels, and my appreciation for that form of visual storytelling goes all the way back to childhood. So it is my natural inclination to take an interest in the relatively few timepieces that take inspiration from that niche and somewhat nerd-oriented world — even if the delicate balance between fan-service homage and watch design excellence is rarely achieved. One of those rare examples, however, just dropped today: the Raymond Weil Millesime Chronograph Tri-Compax Limited Edition Largo Winch, which was first revealed to me in a sneak preview during last Spring’s Watches & Wonders Geneva exhibition. Limited to just 300 pieces and featuring a classical three-register “reverse panda” dial on the front and an original illustration by Belgian illustrator Philippe Francq on the back, the watch nails the formula to stunning effect — for a striking aesthetic that will appeal even to those who (like myself) have never read or even heard of the Belgian comics hero whose adventures inspired its design.

Of course, my instantly positive reaction to the watch was helped along by my already well-documented appreciation for Raymond Weil’s Millesime family of timepieces, launched in 2023 in three-hand and small-seconds iterations, and expanded into complicated models, including chronograph and moon-phase versions, just one year later. (The GPHG “Challenge Prize” awarded to the Millesime Small Seconds, which I review here, indicates that I wasn’t alone in my high regard for the model.) The first series of Millesime Chronographs, to which this watch belongs, established their classically elegant look: a sector-style dial surrounded by a tachymeter scale; sharp “obelisk” hands for the hour and minute, nickel-plated and vertically brushed; luminous-coated baton hour markers; and three subdial counters at 3, 6, and 9 o’clock with the same sectored design as the main dial and a polished finish on the hands. The round, stainless steel case measures 39.5mm in diameter and 12.9mm thick, with a glassbox crystal over the dial, pump-style pushers, and a fluted crown bearing an engraved “RW” emblem. Distinguishing the Largo Winch edition is the high-contrast silver-and-green colorway, with a very specific shade of green used for the subdials: Pantone 4214C, the color of dollar bills, a sly reference to Largo Winch’s adventures “in and around the world of finance and business,” according to Raymond Weil. The only other visual cue to the graphic novels is the subtle, stylized “W” of the Largo Winch logo in the 9 o’clock running-seconds subdial.