Inside Leica’s ZM Watch Collection

Leica’s watches are not camera merchandise with hands.

The ZM collection takes familiar Leica ideas and turns them into mechanical details, from a crown that behaves like a shutter release to strap changes inspired by lens mounts.

It’s a small but clearly defined watch family, and its appeal sits in the way each model handles as much as how it looks.

At a glance

• Leica’s ZM collection spans hand-wound and automatic mechanical watches with design cues drawn from its camera heritage.
• The ZM 1 and ZM 2 use a patented push-crown, while the ZM 11 and ZM 12 add sportier cases and an Easy Change strap system.
• Confirmed prices start from SGD 9,740 for the ZM 12 in steel and rise to SGD 22,580 for the ZM 2 Monochrom.

Leica’s mechanical language on the wrist

Leica’s reputation was built around cameras that make operation feel deliberate, and the ZM watches follow that same line of thinking.

The name ZM is short for the German word “Zeitmesser”, meaning timepiece.

The historical link reaches back to 1863, when Ernst Leitz I worked with a watchmaker in Switzerland and developed mechanical skills that would later inform his career in optics.

That connection doesn’t make these watches camera-shaped novelties.

Instead, the collection leans on precision, legibility and tactile controls, which are the qualities that make the camera references feel integrated rather than decorative.

The push-crown ZM 1 and ZM 2

The ZM 1 and ZM 2 form the foundation of Leica’s watch catalogue.

Launched commercially in 2022 and originally named L1 and L2, both were designed by Professor Achim Heine, whose earlier work with Leica influenced details including the knurled crowns and domed sapphire crystals.

Each model uses a 41mm stainless steel case, a sapphire display back and a hand-wound movement developed with Lehmann Präzision in Germany’s Black Forest region.

The movements offer a 60-hour power reserve.

The defining feature is Leica’s patented push-crown.

Pressing the crown stops the movement and resets the small seconds hand to zero, while a dial indicator shows that the watch is ready to be set.

A second press restarts the watch.

Both models also include a date display and a power-reserve indicator that uses two moving blades.

The ZM 2 adds a second time zone through a rotating 12-hour inner bezel that can be read against the existing hour hand, along with a day/night indicator.

Monochrom and Urban Green add character without changing the formula

The Monochrom editions carry the ZM 1 and ZM 2 architecture into a darker visual language inspired by Leica’s M11 Monochrom camera.

The 41mm stainless steel cases receive a black PVD coating, while black rhodium-plated hands and indices sit over a sandblasted aluminium dial.

The red dot on the crown remains as a small flash of colour.

Leica pairs the watches with a black calfskin strap whose grain is matched to the leather covering of the M11 Monochrom, with hand stitching and cut edges adding a tactile finish.

Urban Green takes a different route.

Introduced in 2025, the ZM 1 Urban Green and ZM 2 Urban Green use aluminium dials with a vertical satin finish and a fumé gradient that moves from green to black at the outer edge.

Rhodium-plated, diamond-cut hands and indices keep the display crisp beneath the same rounded domed sapphire crystal used on the original models.

The automatic ZM 11 and ZM 12

The ZM 11 shifts the collection into a sportier register.

It pairs a 41mm steel or grade 5 titanium case with 100 metres of water resistance and an automatic LA-3001 calibre developed with Swiss movement specialist Chronode.

The movement delivers a 60-hour power reserve.

Here, Leica’s camera reference appears in the Easy Change system, where pressing a red release button allows the bracelet or strap to be swapped in a manner reminiscent of changing lenses.

The ZM 11 comes in Steel Midnight Blue, Titanium Coffee Black and a Titanium Launch Edition in black and red, limited to 250 pieces.

The ZM 12 keeps the horizontally latticed dial idea but brings the case diameter down to 39mm.

It also moves the seconds display to a subdial at six o’clock, with concentric circles set against the dual-layered dial.

Inside is the automatic LA-3002, also developed with Chronode and offering a 60-hour reserve.

Water resistance remains 100 metres, and the hands and indices are filled with Super-LumiNova.

The four ZM 12 versions are Steel Silver Grey, Steel Olive Black, Steel Blue Orange and Titanium Chocolate Black.

Details & Specifications

Leica’s ZM watches will make the most immediate sense to collectors who care about touch, legibility and control as much as brand symbolism.

The strongest pieces in the range are the ones that make a mechanical action feel purposeful, which is exactly where Leica’s design instincts belong.