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Lip type 10 "La croix du sud" (the Southern Cross)

Lip produced the watches on board of the famous 4-engine plane Late300 (also called "La croix du sud" - the Southern Cross) piloted by Jean Mermoz. Jean Mermoz was a French aviator, viewed as a hero by many in both Argentina and his native France, where many schools bear his name. He was the first aviator to fly from Europe to the Pacific Ocean (from Paris to Santiago de Chile) in 1929. He moved to Argentina when he flew a lot of dangerous routes with his friend Antonie de Saint-Exupery (the writer of The Little Prince)

On December 7, 1936 he turned back shortly after take-off to report a troublesome engine on his Latécoère 300 "Croix du Sud" ("Southern Cross"). After learning that he would have to wait for another one to be prepared, he took off again in the same plane after a quick repair, concerned that he would be late in delivering the mail. (His last words before boarding the plane were "Quick, let's not waste time anymore."). Four hours later, the radio station received a short message, where Mermoz reported that he had to cut the power on the aft starboard engine. The message was interrupted abruptly. No further messages were received, and neither the Laté 300 nor the crew were ever recovered. It is assumed that the engine they had tried to repair lost its propeller midflight, causing the plane to lose its tail and crash instantly. 

This accident happened on December 7th, 1936. Mermoz was preparing his 24th crossing of the South Atlantic. At 800 km from Dakar, he unfortunately crashed. The lip watch on board of the plane indicates 10.40.

The type 10 watch was then released as a tribute to this aviation hero. The watch is inspired by the original watch (type 10) aboard this plane.

The type 10 watch (in all-black or black & white version) is available on the kapok webshop.

Charles de Gaulle watch

This watch is a major innovation for the lip brand. The company launched the first electronic watch in 1952, called "Electronic" (it was not electric because of the presence of a diode). The first model was worn by Charles de Gaulle. The Charles de Gaulle watch has a particularly significant place in French history, elaborated to mark the end of WW2.

It was  subsequently given to French president Charles de Gaulle, British prime minister Winston Churchill, and US president Eisenhower and in 1994 to President Bill Clinton to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

This watch has then be dubbed by many admirers "the presidents' watch", and it has been reissued by Lip in 2009.