LORESUM has turned back the clock to embrace iconic 70s cool with its new LS06 Royal Ellipse, a watch that’s all about soft curves and semi-precious stone dials. It’s a strong aesthetic and one that could be divisive. So, does it nail the look?
LORESUM founder Jason Chan has 11 years or so experience in watchmaking, with some pretty adventurous designs under his belt under the guises of JW Watch and Behrens Original. Jason’s designs often incorporate the use of mechanical modules atop of industry standard movements to bring a certain uniqueness to telling time. His latest watch, the LS06 Royal Ellipse takes a much simpler approach, drawing on retro cool and using an off the shelf time-only movement.
LORESUM Royal Ellipse – Collection Overview
Over the past couple of years or so there’s been a plethora of stone dialled watches available from both microbrands and mainstream brands. And it seems like people can’t get enough of them, which is good news for brands like LORESUM. However, LORESUM has given this formula a refreshing twist by choosing to combine these bold dial materials with an ellipse shaped case and dial!
The LS06 Royal Ellipse is essentially a 1970s inspired time-only dress watch and the design undoubtedly draws inspiration from ellipse-shaped watches of the era including the Patek Philippe Ellipse, Omega De Ville 511.0472 and variousAudemars Piguet references. There are four stone dials to choose from; Onyx, Malachite, Tiger’s Eye and Lapis as reviewed here. The Onyx and Malachite variants use rose-gold plated cases for added bling and warmth, whereas the Tiger’s Eye and Lapis stick to stainless steel.
The LS06 Royal Ellipse enters Kickstarter on 21 August 2025, with early-bird pledges priced at £360. Backers can customize their dial and strap preferences via a post-campaign survey. Once the Kickstarter has ended, the price will increase to £498.
The Case and Wearing Experience
The fully polished case measures 35.5mm wide by 39.5mm tall excluding lugs (44mm including lugs) and it’s 9.3mm thick. On paper these struck me as being near perfect proportions and from the press pics I was expecting that to convert into the real-life experience. However, get the watch in hand and it’s surprising how large the watch looks and feels. It’s certainly comfortable and nice to handle, but on the wrist you’d swear it was thicker than the 9.3mm (I measure 9.5mm, but I know that’s splitting hairs). And whilst I’ve not reviewed an ellipse-shaped watch before, my suspicion is that the shape of the case in addition to its bulging sides makes it wear bigger than an equivalent round watch, especially since it’s pretty much all dial too!
Of course, case size and proportions are entirely subjective and based on a multitude of factors including wrist size, how you like your watch to wear and whether you want it to be faithful to vintage proportions. But whilst there is no right or wrong here, neo-vintage enthusiasts looking for a wearing experience akin to genuine 70s ellipses might find it fractionally too big in diameter and/or thickness. My thoughts are borne out by the fact that most vintage Patek Philippe Ellipse watches measure 27mm x 32mm and even the jumbo versions measure 31mm x 35.2mm or 33mm x 35.5. It’s a similar story with vintage ellipses from Audemars Piguet which measure 30mm x 36mm. However, the flip side is that the LORESUM’s Royal Ellipse measures almost identically to the Patek’s Golden Ellipse found in the brand’s current line-up (34.5mm x 39.5mm), so it all comes down to what YOU want.
The simple three-part case comprises a softly curved bezel encasing the flat sapphire crystal, barrel-shaped mid-case that’s steps out slightly wider than the bezel, and a flat caseback secured by four screws. The lugs are sharply downturned but due to their stubby design they don’t extend past the caseback. Incidentally, it’s on the lug sides that you’ll find the only flat surfaces anywhere on the case. I think the watch might have looked more elegant as a lugless design or with longer and more slender lug profiles. As it is, it seems to be neither quite one thing or the other. But of course, design is very much a personal opinion! The knurled and signed push-pull crown gives the watch 30m of water resistance and has two positions, although you won’t be needing the first one as sadly it’s just a ghost date position. Simply pull it out to its furthest position to set the time. I found there was a fair bit of play in the crown but it’s easy to grip and set.
The included strap on my review watch was a blue imitation alligator print leather with matching stitching. It’s a good thickness (not too thin, not too thick) and is supple. A nice touch is the curved tang buckle, which suits the watch well. I would have preferred to see a nice vegetable tanned vintage-look leather, but the imitation alligator strap is of course era-appropriate and you’ll also be able to choose an Epsom strap at the checkout. The lug width is a friendly 18mm and production straps will be fitted with quick release spring bars, so it will be easy to find and fit alternative aftermarket straps.
The Micro-Rotor Movement
The LS06 Ellipse is fitted with a Chinese-made Hangzhou HZ5000a automatic movement which is viewable through the sapphire caseback. The key selling point of this calibre is that it uses a micro-rotor for winding, which makes for a very attractive view of the mechanics as less of the movement is obstructed by the rotor. Micro-rotor movements are also often also thinner than other automatic movements, but that’s not really the case here.
With the small but thick (necessarily so for oscillation) bi-directional rotor set within the framework of the bridges and plates, you can gaze at the watch’s inner workings unobstructed to your heart’s content. Accuracy of the 34-jewel movement is quoted as -10s/+20s per day, tested over seven days in five positions. Decoration includes blued screws, gold-coloured wheels, whatever the Chinese equivalent of Geneva stripes is (Beijing stripes?) and a custom engraved LORESUM gold-coloured rotor. The power reserve is 42-hours and you can hand wind the movement, but you can’t hack the seconds hand. The beat rate of 28,800 VPH / 4 Hz ensures a smooth sweep to the seconds hand.
Anecdotally I’ve heard people complain that Hangzhou movements are not all that reliable or accurate. However, I’ve had no such issues with the one watch I own that is fitted with the HZ5015A, a very similar movement to the HZ5000a. And to be honest, for microbrands wanting to use a micro-rotor movement in an affordable watch, there really is no alternative. Plus, it’s great that LORESUM go the extra mile and test the accuracy before shipping watches. Yes, it’s a shame that the 5000a has a ghost date position, but I’m glad that LORESUM didn’t include a date on the dial as it would throw it off balance.
The Stone Dial, Hands and Indices
I think LORESUM has chosen dial materials and colours very well as there’s something to suit most people and three out of four have lots of detail, tonal variance and inclusions due to the materials used. It’s therefore good that nothing else about the dial is complicated, which suits this style of watch perfectly. The dial is all on one level, there is no rehaut or minute track, just hour indices, a sub-seconds indicator and hands. However, whilst there’s no doubt that the dial is where the action is at, it’s a mixed bag for me. In some lighting conditions the expansive dial looks spectacular, like looking into a galaxy set against the saturated deep blue of the sky at night, with silver and gold tone inclusions adding a hint of warmth and sparkle. But in more direct light the impact of the dial is lost completely. Instead, it looks milky and washed-out, obscured beneath strong reflections due to poor or non-existent anti-reflective coating on the sapphire crystal.
The polished hour indices comprise bevelled and pointed batons for the 3, 6 and 9 indicators, a double baton for the 12 o’clock marker, and small round blobs for the remaining hours. The polished dauphine hands also have bevels down the centre which help with light reflectivity. Seconds are counted via the sub-dial which is located between 8 and 9 o’clock. Here, a simple baton seconds hand passes over a track printed with simple white hash marks at five second intervals. The only other dial printing is the brand name printed in white at 12 o’clock above the main pinion.
Overall, the dial is attractive and really works with this style of watch, but I do wonder if using baton indices throughout might have helped bring the dial in a bit to create the illusion of it being smaller.
Final Thoughts
I admire what LORESUM is trying to do here. I like the intention behind the design and the price point at launch is keen. The combination of its main three selling points, the dial, the attractive micro-rotor movement and the case shape are ultimately what sets this watch apart. It’s an interesting combination that makes for a good-looking watch and with four different looks to choose from you can either go all-in on the 70s look with Tiger Eye, go more subtle with Onyx or somewhere in-between with the Lapis. However, in its prototype form there is room for improvement. The most obvious criticism is the lack of AR coating on the sapphire crystal. Frequently this detracts from the dial. However, Jason from LORESUM has confirmed that this will be improved for the production watches, which is great to hear and will make a huge difference to the perception of quality. Other more minor moans are the ghost date position, the free play in the crown and minor tool marks on the indices. But again, I’m keen to stress that my watch was a prototype and Jason assures me that QC on production models will be better (but I wouldn’t be doing my job as reviewer not to give it a mention).
On a subjective note, I’d like the watch to be more akin to vintage proportions or at least reduced in thickness, but for other people the ‘vintage-plus’ proportions will be a big positive, so each to their own here! My second subjective criticism is the strap. Besides not being a fan of imitation alligator (Yes, I know it’s era-appropriate), I didn’t feel that the purplish-blue colour was quite the right match for the dial. Thankfully, Epsom straps will also be offered at time of ordering and with the lug width being 18mm it will be easy to find aftermarket alternatives that suit your style.
Provided QC is top notch for production models and the AR coating is strong and effective, the LORESUM will be an attractive proposition for those after something unique, but reasonably priced. It will have strong appeal for enthusiasts who like vintage style watches upsized for modern wrists, or those searching for a wild card in their collection. Overall, I’d say the Royal Ellipse is definitely more Arctic Roll than Blancmange, more cheese and pineapple on a stick than Ham and Bananas Hollandaise (Yes, apparently that was a thing in the 70s!). Sorry (not sorry) if you actually like Blancmange or Ham and Bananas Hollandaise!
