Paul Picot Firshire Chrono: Classic Movement, New Case

Today’s “Watch A Day” is my Paul Picot Firshire chronograph, which I described extensively back in 2014. It’s combines a classic hand winding chronograph movement with modern build quality in a dressy yet sporty tonneau case. Four years on, I find myself wearing it about once a month, which is above average in my collection.

The Paul Picot Firshire Chrono has a lot going for it, but the hands get lost against the dark dial

As discussed in my original article, Paul Picot is a relatively under-the-radar brand but has serious credentials behind it. An independent company based in Geneva but building watches in the tiny town of Le Noirmont in the Jura Triangle of Switzerland since 1976. The brand produces a few thousand watches a year in classic Swiss etablisseur tradition, combining cases, dials, straps, hands, movements, and so on from the best suppliers. Many of their watches use common movements like the Valjoux 7750, while their older pieces like this tended to use classic movements.

Read “2002 Paul Picot Firshire Chrono” for a more detailed description

This particular watch was likely made around 2002 and is from the company’s “Firshire” collection. It uses a classic hand-winding cam-based chronograph movement, the Lemania 1872. The case has a classic look but uses modern materials and finishing techniques to create something of an anachronism. It’s small yet “beefy” like a modern case. Frankly it has a lot in common with sporty cushion-case watches like the Aquanaut, but the hands, markers, and dial belie this linkage. Roman numerals and pomme hands are pretty out of place in a sporty watch. I just don’t know what to make of it.

The Firshire Chrono has a slim case reminiscent of the sports watches of the 1970s

I upped the sporty quotient by swapping out the black alligator strap specified by the brand for a perforated leather one from Di-Modell. It really does change the feel of a watch when you swap the strap! Where it was once a bit frumpy, it’s now much more accessible-looking. Plus, this strap is incredibly comfortable.

This Di-Modell Rallye strap really upped the sportiness of this watch

I really don’t have much to add to my 2014 review of the Paul Picot Firshire Chrono. It’s a solid watch if a bit small, has a classic movement, and really works with this sporty strap. I just wish I could figure out what they were going for with this dial and hands!

I’m wearing and blogging about a different watch from my collection each day of April, 2018. Check back here for our “Watch A Day” series, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook!