I’ve been following Lesablier since it released its debut watch, the Aviateur VQ, in 2017. Like many small brands, its first watch wasn’t its strongest and bore no resemblance to what would follow. The brand smartly pivoted after that, releasing a series of increasingly refined designs that show a clear evolution of design. The new Lesablier LS-04 Travelgraph is the finest distillation of what has become the brand’s look, and arguably its most ambitious watch yet.

In 2019, Lesablier introduced its Sport Classic, a design that laid the groundwork for the Chronosport that followed it and ultimately the current LS-04 Travelgraph. I’d argue that the Sport Classic was neither particularly classic nor sporty, but it did debut the polygonal bezel, Vacheron 222-inspired bracelet, and dramatic case that have become the brand’s signatures. With the Travelgraph, the design is seen in its most sophisticated form. The dodecagonal bezel is scalloped and almost elegant with brushing and polishing,  the hooded lugs of the Sport classic and the Chronosport are gone in favor of a more traditional 20mm opening, the case is less dramatic with fewer facets and finer finishing, and the bracelet has been rethought for a more elevated look. The upshot of this all is a less edgy manifestation of the brand’s look that makes for its most accessible model yet.

The new Lesablier Travelgraph stainless steel measures 40mm wide and 44mm lug-to-lug. Factoring in the 13.8mm height (12.8mm without the domed crystal), it’s got a manageable if somewhat stout presence on the wrist. At no point did I feel encumbered, but the 40 x 13.8 measurements felt tall on my wrist, and the visual trick of the small-looking dial amplified the feeling. The watch gets a double-domed sapphire crystal, 100 meters of water resistance, and a perfectly sized screw-down crown that uses the right flank as its crown guards. I was happy to see the crown done so well. It seems like an easy thing to get right, but Lesablier flubbed it with a woefully undersized nubbin on the Chronosport. I will note that the lugs are short enough that they’re best suited to straps with curved ends, but I found plenty of pairings that I think looked fantastic, so the watch remains versatile as long as you’ve got the right accessories.

I think it’s important to talk about this bracelet. This iteration is the best yet of the Lesablier bracelet, with more articulation, added chamfers on the edges, and a new built-in micro-adjustment mechanism in the clasp. In a silo, that’s all that matters and it should be applauded for its quality. But we don’t live in a silo. The Vacheron Constantin 222 exists and, given the recency of the reissues, it’s low-hanging fruit to cry “COPY!” As mentioned, though, Lesablier introduced the first version of the bracelet back in 2019 with the Sport Classic. That was years before anyone but the nerdiest vintage Vacheron devotees were even thinking about the 222. Given the timeline, I’d say this is arguably “inspired by” rather than “copied from.” There was no jumping on any bandwagon here, and while it may not be a completely original design, it is done very well. For my part, I’m going to call this (and any similar bracelet) a Zelda-style bracelet, given the resemblance the center links bear to the monetary rupee gems in the game series.

“Enough about bracelets and case evolution,” you say. “Tell me about the Travelgraph’s dial,” you demand. Fine. The Travelgraph is offered in four dials, three of which are still available at the time of this writing. The 50-piece aventurine Constellation dial sold out almost immediately, but the icy-blue Azzuro seen here, as well as a black Midnight dial and a 50-piece deep Red Fumé dial with Arabic language numerals all remain. I didn’t choose the Azzuro because it’s the review model that I was sent. But I would’ve chosen it anyway because I find it the most appealing of the three. The main dial of the Travelgraph is a simple time display with circular brushing accented by polished-capsule hour markers and obelisk hands. The seconds hand continues the design from both the Sport Classic and the Chronosport, with its monocle counterbalance and lollipop pip. Everything gets a nice coating of BGW9 Super-LumiNova for a nice, even glow. I’m a fan of the brand’s redesigned nameplate, which adds a bit of class.

Sure, I’d be happy to tell you how the worldtime function works. Thanks for asking. Lesablier is proudly based in the Washington, D.C., area and, as such, sought to pay tribute with this watch. Instead of New York for the Eastern Time zone, you’ll find “D.C.” As a D.C. native and resident, I like the nod. The structure of the dial is not what you commonly see in worldtime watches, though. The city ring is supported by arms extending from the main dial, with a gap that reveals the rotating fully lumed 24-hour disc below. Using the crown, you rotate the 24-hour disc to set the time (typically with the local time in your city), then you can use the city ring to tell the time around the globe.

But the Travelgraph has two tricks up its sleeve. The first is that the hour hand can be independently adjusted, making this both a world timer and a flyer GMT. It’s also simply a huge convenience for setting the time quickly instead of swinging the hands around and around and around until you finally reach 2 o’clock, but dammit! it’s showing 2:00 PM, now you’ve got to swing them around another 12 hours. No more! Just jump the hour hand instead. Anyway, the second easter egg is the daylight saving time indicator on the city ring. Next to each city where DST is observed, there’s a line connected to the previous time zone’s indicator triangle. When DST is active, simply track back an hour to the previous indicator. It’s also useful for knowing which major cities observe DST. And that’s how I learned that DST is not observed anywhere in Asia except Cyprus, Israel, and Lebanon.

To get that independent hour hand, the Travelgraph employs the Japanese automatic Miyota 9075 movement. This is a flyer GMT movement, which most prefer to the caller style that doesn’t allow for independent adjustment of the hour hand. Of course, the movement has been modified such that the GMT hand is replaced by the 24-hour disc, and Lesablier has also used a beautifully engraved custom gold-tone rotor. The movement is decorated with some simple striping and operates at 28,800 vph with a power reserve of 42 hours.

Seeing a brand bring a series of products to market that build upon themselves and show improvement and thoughtfulness and the emergence of an identifiable look is a special experience. I’m thankful that it’s not unique to Lesablier — we get to see it each time a small brand makes it past the breakers. Lesablier is a particularly salient example of this, though, as it took such a hard turn after its first watch, only to immediately find its footing and soon after hit its stride with the iterative refinement of its geometric case. The Travelgraph makes it seem as though Lesablier has perfected this case, which only opens the door to more functionality and creativity in the future. The Lesablier LS-04 Travelgraph is priced at $875 USD in Azzuro and Midnight, while the Smoked Ruby dial is priced at $915 USD. For more information, please visit the Lesablier website.