About Lucien Piccard
In 1923, Lucien Piccard was founded in Switzerland. For a period of time it produced notable and interesting timepieces. Today, it is hard to tell what kind of company Lucien Piccard is- the name has changed hands. Googling their name brings you to shopping websites, and there’s little in the way of reviews.
Modern Lucien Piccards tend to use Japanese quartz or Chinese-manufactured automatic movements. The quartz movements are good quality, but be cautious with the autos.
HOW WE REVIEW WATCHES
Our reviews are based on our first-hand experience with the watch. All photos and media are created by us (unless otherwise credited). Learn more about how we review watches.
Review Summary
Where do I start with this one? From eighteen months into ownership, the day display hand came out of alignment, lining up just below the actual indication. One of the diamonds has a very obvious occlusion visible to the naked eye. It’s big, bulky, and has no idea what it wants to be. It’s horribly inaccurate. It’s not a good buy, period.
Lucien Piccard 26576SSD Technical Specifications
- Model Number: 26576SSD
- MSRP: $650
- Case Diameter: 42mm
- Alternate Models: Other automatic models
- Movement: Automatic, unknown origin
- Complications: Date display, retrograde day display, power reserve
- Power Reserve: Approximately 42 hours (observed)
- Water Resistance: 30m/98ft
- Crystal Material: Mineral
Operating the Watch
The 26576SSD has two buttons, one on the top left/right of the case, and the crown. Only the time is set via the crown.
How To set the time:
- Pull crown to the furthest position (position 2). Turn the crown clockwise to set the time. Note that the date and day display will roll over at midnight, indicating AM time.
How To set the time:
Before setting the day or date, ensure the watch is set in AM time.
- To set the day, press the button top-left on the case.
- To set the date, press the button top-right on the case.
Lucien Piccard 26576SSD Aesthetics & Design
To call this watch attractive would be a misnomer- inaccurate, close (but no cigar). One one hand, the retrograde day display and power reserve dial look excellent opposite each other. The day display at 12 o’clock looks vintage, and that’s a good thing.
Where it all falls apart is with the gaudy poor-quality diamonds, one of which you can visibly see an occlusion in, and an over-designed case. Combine this with a heavy steel strap and the resulting timepiece is not only heavy on the wrist, but the eyes as well.
Of course, you could make a case for gaudy as a style if the day hands hand’t gone out of alignment. This happened just a year and a half into ownership, too.
From day one it’s always looked just a little wrong, though most people can’t spot why. The reason? The watch has an identity crisis. The heavy steel bracelet and industrialesque case look one way, and the dial tries to be something else entirely. The whole thing looks… odd.
Lucien Piccard 2657SSD Horizon Build Quality
Where the case feels indestructible, the mechanics of the watch seem positively fragile. As previously mentioned, the date display came out of alignment not long into ownership. Finding service was (at the time) impossible, so I chose to live with it.
Crystal, Case, and Dial
Lucien Piccard placed a sapphire-coated mineral crystal on this watch, and from what I can tell it has held up well. Despite years of ownership, the crystal has remained clear. No nicks or scratches.
The case looks like it has been worn, but otherwise is no worse than average. The dial… that’s where the faults lie. The lume is poor on the hour markers, but sufficient on the hands.
Otherwise, you have poor-quality diamonds next to broken dial hands. Poor form all around.
Strap and Clasp
The steel bracelet on this watch is strong, as is the deployment clasp. I will say that it is one of the better bracelets I’ve worn, being surprisingly comfortable despite its considerable heft.
More About the More About the Lucien Piccard 26576SSD
Movement
The movement that powers the 26576SSD is an unknown Chinese-manufactured variant, of which I was able to find very little actual information on.
I’ve owned this watch since mid 2008 and it has always been fairly accurate (to within 10-20 seconds per day), but of note is that approximately 18 weeks into ownership the day function fell out of alignment. It is now impossible for it to reach the Sunday designation and sits permanently misaligned with every other day listed.
Value for Money
With the 26576SSD you’re getting some interesting complications, but it comes at a cost. Even $125 is too much for my books for this watch. I’d probably pay closer to $90. Or maybe $50. Or, even more likely, I just wouldn’t buy it and save up for a better piece altogether.
Photo Gallery
lucien piccard 26576 ssd…..the date goes to 39 than 00 whats up with that…
then it does not change automatically, you can manually change it but it gets stuck sometimes
and i see a little gold piece on top of the right hand number that floats around inside of watch? any experience with this? Thanks for any help
Hey Shawn;
My Lucien Piccard 26576SSD does not exhibit that issue, though the day hand no longer lines up with the day. Your issue is most likely the result of the cheap Chinese movement being used inside the watch. It’s not exactly known for its ruggedness.
I may suggest Seagull (http://www.usseagull.com/index.asp) as a better brand of watches that uses Chinese movements. Quite inexpensive for the functions/complications and a better track record for reliability.
Sorry I couldn’t be of more help!
– Cam
I am looking for a watch for Lucien Piccard watch in rubber model 26583BK