News · Maurice Lacroix

Maurice Lacroix cuts its AIKON Automatic Chronograph to 42 mm

Five new dial versions bring a smaller, slimmer steel case, rectangular pushers and an updated ML112 calibre; Australian pricing remains unverified.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 4 min read · 21 October 2026

• Maurice Lacroix has reduced the AIKON Automatic Chronograph from 44 mm to 42 mm and made the case one millimetre thinner.
• Five new versions share rectangular pushers, a revised Easy Change bracelet system and the ML112 automatic movement.
• All five are listed at US$3,950 on the US announcement; the blue reference is CHF3,150 including Swiss VAT, with no verified Australian list price.

The AIKON family marks its tenth anniversary with a smaller Automatic Chronograph. Maurice Lacroix has reduced its case from 44 mm to 42 mm and made it one millimetre thinner, while keeping the six-claw bezel and integrated bracelet that identify the family. The brand announced five new versions on 20 October 2026: blue, black and green with matching counters, plus silver with blue counters and gold tone with black counters. The question is whether those smaller dimensions make this still substantial steel chronograph easier to live with.

A smaller AIKON, still with presence

The new case is 42 mm across and, according to the blue reference's product page, 14 mm high. Two millimetres off the diameter sounds incremental, but it changes the amount of metal across the wrist. Maurice Lacroix has also reshaped the case around its six bezel claws, added a crown guard and replaced screw-down chronograph pushers with rectangular ones inspired by earlier AIKON models. The result in the official photographs is a more continuous line from case to bracelet. It remains a broad, assertive watch rather than a thin dress chronograph; the smaller numbers simply give that design a different starting point.

The case uses brushed and polished stainless steel, with a sapphire crystal above the dial and a domed sapphire window in the back. Water resistance is rated to 10 ATM. These details give the watch a practical sports-watch specification, although the exhibition back and polished surfaces make it as much a display of finish as an instrument. The rectangular pushers also change the feel of the case's outline. Their convenience is a claim best judged after using them; the brand's images establish the shape, not the tactile result.

The linked blue reference, AI6218-SS002-430-1, has a blue Clous de Paris dial. Maurice Lacroix describes the pattern as more three-dimensional than before, its small pyramids catching the light. It keeps the recognisable AIKON hands and indexes. Two chronograph counters measure 12 hours and 30 minutes; small seconds are at nine o'clock, and the day and date sit at three. The black background of the calendar windows separates them from the textured blue, although it also makes that area a stronger visual block. This is a crowded dial, as mechanical day-date chronographs often are, but each function has a defined place.

Five dials, one movement decision

The five versions are not five different mechanisms. Maurice Lacroix gives the range the updated ML112 automatic calibre, and the blue product page specifies a 60-hour power reserve, 28,800 vibrations an hour and 25 jewels. The movement can be seen through the caseback, with perlage and Côtes de Genève listed among its decorations. That level of reserve means the owner has some room to set the watch down for a couple of days. It does not make the movement a technical first, and the brand's release makes the revised case and dial its main argument.

The dial choices deserve more thought than a quick colour preference. Blue, black and green keep the counters close to the base colour, making the texture and bezel the strongest elements. The silver-and-blue and gold-tone-and-black versions put the subdials forward in a traditional contrasting arrangement. On a watch with an already detailed bezel and bracelet, the monochromatic versions read as the calmer proposition. The contrasting models may make the timing registers easier to pick out, but that judgement depends on light and wrist distance, which the published pictures cannot reproduce fully.

Maurice Lacroix has revised the bracelet's Easy Change system, concealing its release button in the integrated steel bracelet. The maker says it allows a tool-free switch between steel and rubber. That matters more than it might on a conventional lugged watch: an integrated bracelet is a large part of the AIKON's shape, so a well-designed release makes a different wearing character possible without treating the bracelet as permanent. The official blue reference is listed on steel; the release does not establish that a rubber strap is included in the box, so buyers should check any alternative separately.

The official wrist image shows the blue watch in use, while the separate black product image shows how the same case and dial architecture handles a darker treatment. Neither image substitutes for a wrist trial. At 42 mm by 14 mm, fit will still depend on case shape and bracelet articulation, and Maurice Lacroix does not publish a lug-to-lug measurement for the blue reference. The useful change is that the brand has brought its chronograph closer to the 42 mm AIKON Automatic Date without pretending it is now a compact watch.

AIKON Automatic Chronograph pricing and availability

Maurice Lacroix lists each of the five new references at US$3,950 on its US announcement page. The exact blue product page marks that US figure as excluding VAT, while the Swiss listing for the same reference is CHF3,150 including VAT. A verified Australian list price was not available from the official pages reviewed. The US page currently offers a notification sign-up for the blue reference rather than an add-to-cart button, so the published price should not be read as proof of immediate US stock. The smaller case, revised controls and dial treatment are clear; local supply and any rubber-strap terms need a direct retailer or brand enquiry.