Materializing Forgotten Horology: Introducing The New Watch Brand Legare And Its Chapter 1 AGP Inverted
Meet a high-end watch brand built on a deep love for everything horological and ample experience to bring the founders’ original vision to life. Wei Koh, founder of Revolution and The Rake, and watch industry veteran Guillaume Tetu, who worked for TAG Heuer, Hautlence, and Ralph Lauren, started Legare to unearth long-lost horological treasures and present them in a contemporary fashion. The Legare Chapter 1 AGP Inverted, available with a more traditional, untreated German silver movement or a black-rhodium-finished one, marks the first outing for the brand residing in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Only 25 pieces of each of the two 37.5mm titanium watches will be made.
If you’re passionate enough about horology to start a magazine on the topic, starting a watch brand isn’t such a strange step. Revolution‘s Wei Koh, who is, as of this year, also president of the GPHG Jury, found a partner to launch a watch brand. Guillaume Tetu, who co-founded Hautlence and also worked at TAG Heuer and Ralph Lauren, is the second half of Legare. The brand is the result of a collaboration between the two men brought together by a shared fascination with the history and forgotten ideas of watchmaking. “Legare” is Italian and translates roughly as “to unite,” “to connect,” or “to build a close relationship.” And that’s what Legare sets out to do — connect historical horology to today’s watchmaking in a contemporary watch. The first Legare to do so is the Chapter 1 AGP Inverted.
Introducing the new watch brand Legare and its Legare Chapter 1 AGP Inverted
The Legare Chapter 1 AGP Inverted comes in two versions and is inspired by Albert-Gustave Piguet’s 1932 pocket watch with a double balance and differential. His last name is famous, but who knows who this particular Piguet was? Let me fill you in. Albert-Gustave Piguet (1914–2000) was a Swiss watchmaker and technical director at Lémania. Born in Chez-Villard in the Vallée de Joux, Piguet graduated from the École d’Horlogerie in Le Sentier in 1933. Then, in 1934, he joined movement maker Lémania in L’Orient, where he would climb the ranks thanks to his talent. He is most famous for designing the Lémania 2310 (originally the CH 27), a chronograph movement that became the basis for Omega’s famous caliber 321, indeed, the movement trusted by NASA to power the Moon-traveling Speedmaster.
Albert Piguet pocket watch
Albert-Gustave Piguet also dabbled in unconventional horological experiments before his Lémania years. For instance, in 1932, he completed a pocket watch equipped with two large, split bimetallic balance wheels. Their rates were averaged by a differential, creating a system that approached precision from a different angle. Only six examples spread across three movement sizes are known to have been made between 1932 and 1934. It was an impressive piece of watchmaking for such a young student, combining the traditions of the Vallée de Joux with a willingness to question how a mechanical watch could regulate itself.
Fast-forward from 1932 to 2026
Piguet’s experimental creation didn’t represent a breakthrough, though, and never entered serial production. Therefore, the system never evolved. But what if it had? That is where Legare steps in. The Chapter 1 AGP Inverted shows what might have happened if Piguet’s double-balance concept had been developed further. The watch takes the original idea and gives it a distinctly contemporary execution. Its Grade 5 titanium case measures 37.5mm across and just 9.95mm thick. The design looks back to the 1930s and ’40s without trying to recreate a vintage watch. A stepped bezel, raised case flanks, and sharply defined lugs establish the basic architecture. The concave bevels add another layer of contemporary complexity and clearly indicate that the case demanded considerable manual finishing.
The real talking point, however, is the movement. Legare turned the construction inside out and placed the two regulating organs on the dial side for all to see. Both balance wheels operate independently at 21,600 vibrations per hour, while a differential continuously averages their rates before transmitting a single output to the hands.
Nope, not a resonance system
You might think the two visible oscillators are part of a resonance system, but they aren’t. The two oscillators do not influence each other directly. Instead, they remain independent, with the differential acting as the mechanical intermediary between them. It is an unusual solution that stays remarkably close in principle to the experiment conducted by the young Albert-Gustave Piguet almost a century ago.
Fitting all this into a relatively compact movement presented challenges of its own. Legare opted for side-angled lever escapements, a construction more commonly encountered in tourbillon calibers. The result is a movement that is as much about fascinating horological architecture as it is about regulation. The two versions of the Chapter 1 AGP Inverted bring an old experiment back to life but in an evolved way. This is what the system could have looked like if it had been continuously improved and updated for another 90 years.
Legare Chapter 1 AGP Inverted Elegant
The two faces of the Chapter 1 AGP Inverted
The Chapter 1 AGP Inverted’s movement is as interesting to look at as it is to study. It invites you to look straight into its mechanics. The two balance wheels take center stage, framed by mirror-polished plates, while the escapements and differential add movement to the miniature spectacle. If you get a chance to hold the watch up to the light, do it. The skeletonized openings reveal even more of what’s happening beneath the openworked dial.
The Chapter 1 AGP Inverted is made in Switzerland, with its various components produced by a network of specialist suppliers located within roughly 100 kilometers of Neuchâtel. Purtec, part of TEC Group, manufactures the movement. UM2 machines the case and buckle, while Polissage des Franches-Montagnes finishes them. Fabrika produces the dials, Sebal supplies the sapphire components, and Waeber HMS makes the hands. Product development, sourcing, final assembly, and quality control are handled by GLS2F in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
As previously mentioned, there are two versions of the AGP Inverted. The Elegant features untreated German silver movement components. This is the most classic version of the watch. The Darth has a movement showing black rhodium and is the more modern-looking of the two. Both versions are limited to 25 individually numbered watches.
Imagined evolution
Legare’s Chapter 1 AGP Inverted will retail for CHF 81,944 (excluding taxes). That puts it firmly in the category of high-end independent watchmaking. It does so with an interesting and surprising story to tell. One that will resonate with affluent watch collectors with a soft spot for historical watchmaking. The idea of taking an obscure experiment from the past and transporting it to the present, following an imagined evolution, is very original and intriguing. The two versions of the AGP Inverted make a 1932 experiment tangible in a fascinating way. I know we first have to savor these two creations, and we will, but these watches also make us curious to see what other forgotten horological treasures Wei Koh and Guillaume Tetu will unearth and reimagine.
