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Photography by Lebond.
The Lebond Norman Foster Black Edition is Norman Foster’s first watch in its most concentrated form: a matte black DLC-coated titanium case, a matte black lacquered dial and hands, and a single flash of red where the rotor turns behind sapphire. Designed by the 1999 Pritzker laureate with the Design & Innovation Unit of the Norman Foster Foundation, it reduces the design to silhouette, structure and light.
The Lebond Norman Foster Black Edition is a Swiss automatic watch in grade 5 titanium finished with a matte black DLC coating, paired with a matte black lacquered dial, black hands with Super-LumiNova and a black integrated rubber strap. It shares its construction with the Natural Titanium Edition: the lugless case, the 12-hour bezel for a second time zone and the ETA 2892-A2 movement. What changes is the reading of the object. In black, the eye stops looking at surfaces and starts looking at form.
It follows Lebond’s collaborations with Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura, and it comes from the same question Foster brings to every project: how should each part meet the next?
“A watch is intensely personal. It is something that travels with you and becomes part of everyday life.” Norman Foster
A black object is a lesson in silhouette. Without reflections or contrasting tones to distract, what remains is outline, proportion and the joints between parts, which is exactly where the design of this watch lives. The Black Edition makes its central idea, a case and strap conceived as one continuous form, more legible than ever.
The defining gesture of the Lebond Norman Foster is the removal of conventional lugs. The strap becomes a direct continuation of the case, wrapping around it to create one uninterrupted silhouette, and in all black the effect is almost sculptural: case and strap become a single, dense line around the wrist. Comfort is part of the same decision, as the watch sits closer and lower than a conventional design. The case measures 38.5 millimetres, 40 millimetres including the strap, and 10 millimetres in thickness, under a domed anti-reflective sapphire crystal, with 50 metres of water resistance.
Turn the Black Edition over and the watch reveals its most vivid detail: a red rotor with five precision-machined perforations, turning above the Swiss automatic ETA 2892-A2 behind a flat sapphire caseback. In a watch otherwise without colour, it is the one deliberate accent, conceived as an architectural element in its own right, the way Foster lets a structural member or a staircase become the signature of a building.
“It expresses something I have always believed: engineering can also be beautiful when the way something works is made visible.” Norman Foster
The movement beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour, with 21 jewels and a power reserve of approximately 50 hours. On the front, the bidirectional rotating 12-hour bezel lets the wearer follow a second time zone with the main hour hand, a function rooted in Foster’s experience as a pilot and a lifelong traveller. In black, with luminous hands, it recalls the instruments of a cockpit at night.
The essentials of the Black Edition are below.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Designer | Norman Foster and the Norman Foster Foundation Design & Innovation Unit |
| Case | Grade 5 titanium, matte black DLC, anti-fingerprint coating, individually numbered |
| Dimensions | 38.5 mm (40 mm including strap), 10 mm thick |
| Water resistance | 50 m |
| Dial | Matte black lacquered |
| Hands | Matte black lacquered, with Super-LumiNova |
| Bezel | Bidirectional rotating 12-hour bezel (second time zone) |
| Crystals | Domed sapphire front, flat sapphire caseback, both anti-reflective |
| Movement | Swiss automatic ETA 2892-A2, 28,800 vph, 21 jewels, approx. 50 h power reserve |
| Rotor | Perforated, red |
| Strap | Interchangeable integrated FKM rubber, matte black, 18 mm |
| Clasp | Grade 5 titanium deployant clasp, matte black DLC |
| Price | 3,500 euros (excluding taxes), worldwide shipping included |
The Black Edition is the more nocturnal of the two, but it is equally a watch for everyday use: discreet in the studio, robust on site, understated with a dark suit in the evening. Its matte surfaces recall the dark steel and glass of the city at night, the setting in which Norman Foster’s skyscrapers show their structure most clearly. Each watch is individually numbered and arrives with a presentation box, a collector’s letter and a photographic print.
For the lighter, daylight reading of the same design, see the Lebond Norman Foster Natural Titanium Edition, or explore the full collection of architect-designed watches and its architects. The Black Edition is available on the Lebond website.
“I hope it feels timeless rather than fashionable.” Norman Foster
The case and deployant clasp are made of grade 5 titanium with a matte black DLC coating. The dial and hands are matte black lacquered, the crystals are sapphire and the integrated strap is black FKM rubber.
The Black Edition has a red perforated rotor, the only touch of colour on the watch, visible through the sapphire caseback above the Swiss automatic ETA 2892-A2 movement.
DLC, or diamond-like carbon, is a thin, very hard coating applied to metal surfaces. On the Black Edition it gives the titanium case its matte black finish and increases its resistance to scratches.
Yes. The hands carry Super-LumiNova, which glows in the dark against the matte black dial, and the 12-hour bezel allows a second time zone to be read at a glance.
It is priced at 3,500 euros excluding taxes, with worldwide shipping included, through the Lebond Watches website.