Hands-on: Maurice Lacroix Aikon automatic watches made of titanium with a purple dial

Since its debut a few years ago, the Aikon watch collection has, in my opinion, been the most popular product in the Maurice Lacroix watch catalog. Based on the Calypso watch family from the 1990s, the Aikon was intended to be the Swiss brand's answer to the integrated wristwatch, intended to compete in the general sports lifestyle watch category that was (and still is) very popular. Since its debut, the Aikon has been offered in many shapes and styles, including mechanical, quartz, metal and plastic, each of which was relatively affordable compared to the competition. For 2024, Maurice Lacroix is ​​finally adding some new materials to the Aikon collection, including (finally) titanium. Today I'm looking at two versions of the Maurice Lacroix Aikon Titanium with the trendy purple dial – including the Aikon Automatic Titanium with time and date, reference AI6008-TT032-430-1, and the Aikon Automatic Titanium Chronograph, reference AI6038-TT032-430 -1. 1.

First, let's talk about purple. A few years ago, men's watches with a purple dial or purple as the main color element were rare to find. As the watch industry began experimenting with bolder and bolder colors that consumers might not have traditionally liked, I did a little analysis on aBlogtoWatch in 2023 to find out which colors were hot, which weren't, and which are emerging playful colors be. Purple was ranked very high as an emerging color that will be popular in the future. Either the industry read my article in detail, or I read minds, because since then the number of men's watches with purple dials (and sometimes entire cases) has exploded. Now Maurice Lacroix offers you two very beautiful men's watches with a very purple dial. The combination of a strong matte purple to match the grayish color of the titanium cases works really well in my opinion. When it comes to the suitability of purple, what matters most is the attractiveness of the underlying watch shape as well as the particular shade (and finish) of the purple used.

The other part of the story is the titanium case. The real advantage here is the lower weight compared to steel. Maurice Lacroix also refines the case differently and uses sandblasted (instead of brushed) and polished surfaces. Made of titanium, the Aikon is about 30% lighter than made of steel, and you can clearly see that when you hold these watches in your hand. Lightweight is great, especially when combined with durability. I don't know why it took Maurice Lacroix so long to introduce titanium to the Aikon collection, but I'm glad it's finally here.

Otherwise, these two watches have the same case profiles and movements as the standard Aikon Automatic and Aikon Automatic Chronograph models. The smaller three-hand automatic has a 42 mm wide case, is 11 mm thick and waterproof to 200 meters. It contains a basic Swiss-made automatic movement (base Sellita, I believe) that operates at 4Hz and has a 38-hour power reserve. The Maurice Lacroix Aikon Automatic Chronograph is slightly larger at 44 mm wide and 15 mm thick (also 200 meters water-resistant) and contains a 12-hour chronograph movement based on the Valjoux 7750 architecture (probably also Sellita) running at 4 Hz and 42 Hours of performance works reserve. The case is thick, but if the size is right it can be worn comfortably on the bracelet. Both watches have a sapphire crystal display back, which provides a view of the movement.

Although the ends of the titanium bracelet are mounted on quick release spring bars, I am not sure if Maurice Lacroix also offers an additional bracelet option on these titanium watches. Most or many of the steel versions of the Aikon come with an additional rubber strap, but for these titanium models this is not mentioned on the brand's website. That's a shame, because a matching purple strap would have been a very cool additional accessory for these Aikon Automatic Titanium models. Perhaps the brand will consider introducing a strap option in the future.

Although these watches are similar to the steel variants of the Aikon on which they are based, a lot of research and development goes into making the titanium cases. So it was probably a lot of trial and error to get this right. Purple is not the only dial color available for the titanium versions of the Aikon (there may be two other color options currently available), but in my opinion purple is the most vibrant and striking color (though certainly not the most conservative). In terms of price, these titanium models cost several hundred dollars more than the steel versions. The cost of the reference AI6008-TT032-430-1 Maurice Lacroix Aikon Automatic Titanium is $2,950 and the price for the reference AI6038-TT032-430-1 Maurice Lacroix Aikon Automatic Titanium Chronograph is $4,600. Find out more on Maurice Lacroix's website.