There are watchmaking encounters that surprise us because they feel like opening a forgotten door. At the latest Time to Watches, Passion Horlogère discovered White Star Watch, a Swiss brand whose name immediately evokes a certain idea of elegance, but whose history above all deserves that we linger over it. For behind this white star lies a house born in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1895, carried today by a clear ambition: to bring a watchmaking heritage back to life with the means, the standards and the perspective of today.
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White Star does not come out of nowhere. The brand claims 130 years of history, an origin in one of the cradles of Swiss watchmaking, and a trajectory marked by innovation. Founded by Henri Weiss, it developed around an ambitious vision: not merely to keep pace with its era, but to try to stay ahead of it. The house’s story evokes patents, research into the display of functions, mechanisms for reading time, as well as a period during which White Star is said to have run as many as three manufactures.
White Star’s contemporary rebirth fits precisely into this idea of continuity. The brand is not trying to manufacture an artificial nostalgia. It draws on its archives, its aesthetic codes and its historic models to offer a coherent collection, inspired by the 1950s, but designed for today’s enthusiasts. The official Time to Watches website presents White Star as a house attached to a heritage of more than 130 years, to rigour, to detail and to innovation, with a headquarters still established in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Diagrafic, the return of an emblematic model
At the heart of this rebirth is the Diagrafic. It is the model that sets the tone, the one that best tells the link between past and present. Created in 1951, the Diagrafic returns today with an aesthetic that fully embraces its origins: contained proportions, graphic elegance, a lively dial, poetic indications. But above all it returns with an exclusive movement, the automatic WST-01 caliber, developed to recapture the spirit of the original model’s complications.
The Diagrafic stands out through a singular display. At 12 o’clock, the complication that gives it its name pairs the day of the week with a day/night indication. At 6 o’clock, a second counter houses the date. At the centre, the hours, minutes and seconds are complemented by an indication of the week of the year. This last detail is particularly interesting, because it refers to a Swiss tradition in which production and delivery deadlines were often planned in weeks rather than in precise dates.
Technically, White Star installs this complication in a 38.5 mm case in 904L steel, offered depending on the version in steel, with a rose-gold or yellow-gold treatment, or in 750 / 18-carat rose gold. The size is interesting: it does not seek an excessive wrist presence, but favours balance, elegance and a form of universality on the wrist. The brand indeed insists on the unisex and timeless character of the model.
The technical specification confirms a serious approach: domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment, transparent case back, water resistance to 10 ATM, a 42-hour power reserve, 21 jewels, decorative finishes with Côtes de Genève, sunray brushing, rhodium plating and blued screws. The applied indexes and diamond-cut hands contribute to the impression of preciousness, while the Super-LumiNova serves as a reminder that this watch is not merely decorative: it remains legible, functional, and made to be lived with.
The Diagrafic is therefore not a simple reissue. It belongs more to the category of faithful reinterpretation. It preserves the spirit of the 1951 model, but re-inscribes it in a contemporary execution. This is no doubt where White Star finds its first point of balance: not to betray the archive, but not to lock itself inside it either.
Neografic, the moon as mechanical poetry
Alongside the Diagrafic, White Star offers the Neografic, a watch inspired by a 1953 model. Here, watchmaking poetry comes through the moon phases. The dial stages a luminescent moon, treated with Super-LumiNova, accompanied by a day/night indication. The complication is not only technical: it becomes visual, almost narrative, with this idea of a miniature sky that comes to life on the wrist as the light fades.
The Neografic adopts a 39.5 mm case in 904L steel, water resistance to 10 ATM, a domed anti-reflective sapphire crystal and an automatic Sellita 285-1 b caliber personalised with a White Star oscillating weight. The movement displays the hours, minutes and seconds at the centre, the moon phases at 5 o’clock, the day/night indication at 9 o’clock, as well as a horizontal date at 2 o’clock. The stated power reserve is 41 hours.
This watch expresses another facet of White Star: more celestial, more nocturnal, almost contemplative. Where the Diagrafic asserts itself as the manifesto piece, the Neografic seems to seek emotion more in the balance of the dial, the depth of the colours and the charm of the moon.
Unigrafic, elegance brought back to the essentials
The third line, the Unigrafic, draws its inspiration from a 1958 model. Its intent is different: to remove the superfluous and keep only the essential. Three hands, a pared-down dial architecture, careful finishes, and this desire to offer a simple watch without it being ordinary.
The case measures 39.5 mm, again in 904L steel depending on the version, with a domed sapphire crystal, water resistance to 10 ATM and an automatic Soprod P024 movement. The caliber offers a 38-hour power reserve and concentrates on the central display of the hours, minutes and seconds. But White Star adds a touch of discreet poetry: depending on the variant, the dial can be adorned with a luminescent constellation, while the seconds hand becomes a shooting star in the dark.
The Unigrafic could be considered the most accessible in spirit. It speaks to lovers of dress watches: legible, elegant, but singular enough not to disappear into the uniformity of contemporary three-hand watches.
A brand to watch
What holds the attention with White Star, beyond the models themselves, is the coherence of the project. The brand does not merely dust off an old name. It builds a territory around the golden age of its history, the beauty of graphic displays and a certain idea of the poetic complication. The official website today presents the Diagrafic, Neografic and Unigrafic collections, along with a Chronografic line that extends this exploration of the house’s archives.
The approach is all the more interesting in that it belongs to a broader movement in contemporary independent watchmaking: that of brands seeking to reconnect with a history, not to turn it into a museum piece, but to give it a future again. Cédric Berruex, now associated with the relaunch of White Star, is said to have discovered the brand in 2023 before acquiring ownership of the brand and of the Swiss company, according to Europa Star.
White Star therefore moves forward with an identifiable proposition: Swiss Made watches, inspired by historic models, carried by original displays, reasonable dimensions and a genuine aesthetic sensibility. The Diagrafic is its piece of character. The Neografic reveals its lunar poetry. The Unigrafic offers its purest expression.
Discovered at Time to Watches, White Star deserves the attention of enthusiasts today. Not because it returns with a bang, but because it returns with a history, a coherence, and that ambition which runs through the great watchmaking houses: to give time a form that is immediately recognisable.
Frequently asked questions
White Star is a Swiss watch brand founded in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1895 by Henri Weiss. Claiming 130 years of history and a heritage of innovation, it is being revived today as an independent house that still keeps its headquarters in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
The relaunch is built around three lines inspired by historic models: the Diagrafic (1951), the Neografic (1953) and the Unigrafic (1958). A Chronografic line extends this exploration of the house’s archives.
The Diagrafic is driven by the exclusive automatic WST-01 caliber, housed in a 38.5 mm 904L steel case. It combines the day of the week with a day/night indication at 12 o’clock, the date at 6 o’clock, and an indication of the week of the year, with a 42-hour power reserve and 10 ATM water resistance.
The Neografic focuses on poetry, with a luminescent Super-LumiNova moon phase, a 39.5 mm case and an automatic Sellita 285-1 b caliber (41-hour power reserve). The Unigrafic is the pared-down three-hand model, in a 39.5 mm case with an automatic Soprod P024 movement offering a 38-hour power reserve.
Passion Horlogère discovered White Star at Time to Watches. According to Europa Star, Cédric Berruex found the brand in 2023 before acquiring ownership of the brand and of the Swiss company that carries its relaunch.
