The Movado Museum Imperiale Brings Elegance to the Everyday

As one of the oldest Swiss watch manufacturers still in existence, Movado has seen the watch industry go boom and bust and boom again many times over and weathered the various storms.

Originally founded in 1881 by Achille Ditesheim, the company quickly grew from a small workshop to employing over 80 watchmakers by the turn of the century. The company has undergone several changes in ownership, but the Movado name has remained intact, likely due to its well-edited, iconic, and award-winning timepieces and styles.

And the five new versions of the Movado Museum Imperiale are an excellent example of the brand’s enduring style.

The original Movado Sports Edition (SE) was introduced in 1981, and it was very much of its time. Sporty watches with integrated bracelets were also all the rage, and the Imperiale’s handsome, cohesive design helps explain why. It should also be noted that Movado’s take on an integrated bracelet was released before the revamped Omega Constellation, which featured a similar bracelet (albeit without Movado’s signature golden dot motif).
 

The new Museum Imperiale takes a similar tack but truly separates itself from the SE by upping the everyday sophistication ante. Movado does this by adding a few design elements from the slightly earlier L’Impériale model, introduced in 1980, and by utilizing more refined finishes and mechanics that are original to the new collection. The result is a cleaner silhouette.
 

For example, the new Museum Imperiale 40mm stainless steel watch features the minimalist, single-dot dial of the Movado SE but jazzes it up with a variety of colors, a date window, and a sunburst finish. Additionally, the 2025 model’s integrated bracelet and quartet of Museum dots added to the Dura 904 bezel are original features of the L’Impériale.

That said, the design of the Museum Imperial’s sculptural, three-row bracelet is reminiscent of the Movado SE. However, unlike both the L’Impériale and SE (which had the museum dot on every link or center link, respectively), the 2025 model doesn’t have any museum dots on the bracelet links.
 

There are five iterations of the new Museum Imperiale collection – two 33mm versions and three 40mm models – in an array of colorways; however, the bracelet on all five has become more fluid, with the curved bezel almost seeming to flow into the bracelet. The bracelet’s links are smoothly contoured and polished, engineered to emphasize the fluidity of it all.

While both the original Movado SE and L’Impériale were battery-powered (it was the ‘80s, after all), the new Movado Museum Imperiale takes its mechanics and craftsmanship to a new level by its use of a Swiss-made automatic movement with an engraved rotor.
 

Performance specs for all five Imperiales included water resistance to 10 ATM (100 meters), Super-LumiNova hands and indices for optimum legibility in low light. An exhibition caseback reveals the self-winding Swiss automatic movement, featuring a signature engraved rotor.
 

The 40mm versions, powered by the SW200-1 Caliber 608-A with a 41-hour power reserve, also feature a date window at three o’clock. Meanwhile, the 33mm model is powered by the SW100-1 Caliber 485-A movement, which features a 42-hour power reserve.

All five Museum Imperiale models are available now. The stainless steel 40mm versions, which are priced at $1,995 each, come with sunburst dials in three colorways: dark green, mid-tone steely blue, and cool gray (with this last model featuring yellow gold PVD dial and bezel accents)

Finally, the 33mm stainless steel model with a light blue sunburst dial also retails for $1,995, while the 33mm yellow gold PVD version with its champagne sunburst dial is priced at $2,195.

For more information, check out Movado’s website.