670080
Mach 2000 Chronographe 42*40 mm
Lug width: 20 mm
Source: DatabaseCase size: 42 mmMatte black dialCase material: Stainless steel 316L
- Attachment
- quick-release spring bars
- Status
- Listed in our database, not yet verified
The story · Since 1973
The story of the Lip Mach
- 1973 to 1974 A factory in revolt Lip filed for bankruptcy in 1973 and its workers occupied the Palente plant, making and selling watches themselves.
- 1974 to 1975 Seven designers, one brief Neuschwander and collections head Marie-Laure Jousset asked seven designers from outside watchmaking, among them Roger Tallon, Rudolf Meyer and Marc Held, to draw new models.
- 1975 to 1976 The Mach 2000 is born Tallon's range counted 24 models, led by a black anodised aluminium chronograph on a Valjoux 7734 assembled by Relliac in Maiche at about a thousand pieces a month.
- 1986 to 1996 Tallon redraws his own watch New owners of the brand called Tallon back: in 1986 for a flatter 26-model series with France Ebauches movements, and in 1996 for a refreshed range of 12 models.
- 2014 to today Back home in Besancon Production of the brand returned to the Besancon area under SMB, and LIP now sells a quartz re-creation of the 1975 chronograph on a Ronda 5021.
24
models in Tallon's original 1975 Mach 2000 range
Read the full storyHide the story
24models in Tallon's original 1975 Mach 2000 range
about 1,000chronographs assembled per month by Relliac in 1975 to 1976
140 F140 F: starting price of a Mach 2000 in a Le Point archive advertisement
14 to 20 mmlug widths in today's range (Mini to chronograph)
Chapters
- 1973 to 1974
A factory in revolt
Lip filed for bankruptcy in 1973 and its workers occupied the Palente plant, making and selling watches themselves. A recovery plan led by Claude Neuschwander was accepted in early 1974 and production restarted that March.
- 1974 to 1975
Seven designers, one brief
Neuschwander and collections head Marie-Laure Jousset asked seven designers from outside watchmaking, among them Roger Tallon, Rudolf Meyer and Marc Held, to draw new models. Le Point announced the collection on 17 March 1975.
- 1975 to 1976
The Mach 2000 is born
Tallon's range counted 24 models, led by a black anodised aluminium chronograph on a Valjoux 7734 assembled by Relliac in Maiche at about a thousand pieces a month. Production at Lip stopped in May 1976, the year of its second bankruptcy.
- 1986 to 1996
Tallon redraws his own watch
New owners of the brand called Tallon back: in 1986 for a flatter 26-model series with France Ebauches movements, and in 1996 for a refreshed range of 12 models.
- 2014 to today
Back home in Besancon
Production of the brand returned to the Besancon area under SMB, and LIP now sells a quartz re-creation of the 1975 chronograph on a Ronda 5021. In 2025 LIP turned the Mach 2000 case into a clock for the model's fiftieth year.
Moments
1975. Le Point, which announced the collection on 17 March 1975 and whose archive holds a Lip Mach 2000 advertisement from 140 F, later wrote that the watch flopped on release before becoming a collector piece whose auction value rose tenfold.
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen purchased a Mach 2000 Chronograph in 1984, credited to designer Roger Tallon and producer Lip, and showed it in the 2011 exhibition Futuro, utopie in constructie.
Designed by
Roger Tallondesigner1975
French industrial designer Roger Tallon (1929 to 2011) created the Mach 2000 range for Lip, bringing aeronautical materials and an ergonomic, asymmetric case with enlarged coloured pushers. The heritage inventory adds that he was asked back to redesign the series in 1986 (26 models) and again in 1996 (12 models).
Generations and strap changes
- 1996Lip France range
Lip France asked Tallon to rejuvenate the 1986 range, which became 12 models.
- 1986Flatter 1986 series
Tallon redrew the series for SMH (Kiple): 26 flatter models driven by a France Ebauches movement.
- 1975Ref. 43820 chronograph
Same chronograph case with three black buttons instead of coloured ones; the example kept by the regional heritage inventory.