Once again, Louis Erard has called upon the watchmaking artist Alain Silberstein, and has reached a new summit: the tourbillon. Not just any tourbillon. A tourbillon coupled with a regulator display.
This latest new edition between Louis Erard and Alain Silberstein, is no longer just the result of a meeting, a moment of friendship or a flash of creativity. It is a manifest of work. The story of their collaboration, which has already seen three episodes, the first edition in 2021, followed by a first triptych with a day/date, a regulator and a mono-pusher chronograph, and then a diptych with a day/date hand and a regulator.
The Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Khaki Triptych is a set of three watches (above). Two of them are available for purchase individually, in a limited edition of 178 pieces – a number that Louis Erard has embraced as a mantra, meaning that together we are stronger – 78 of which are reserved for the triptych set: La Semaine Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Khaki; Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Khaki. The third is an edition that is even more special and unique in many ways: Le Régulateur Tourbillon Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Khaki, available only in a triptych box, limited to 78 pieces.
A tourbillon is seen as the pinnacle of fine mechanical watchmaking, the summit of watchmaking, according to Alain Silberstein. Breguet had developed the tourbillon to defy the laws of terrestrial gravitation with the watch’s regulating mechanism housed in a cage that rotates around itself and distributes the oscillations of the balance wheel over 360 degrees; Louis Erard and Alain Silberstein have now put it into orbit.
This is the first time that Louis Erard has presented a tourbillon, and it is perfectly in line with the positioning of the brand from the Franches-Montagnes region, which aims to make the inaccessible accessible. The gesture does not stop there, as the Tourbillon is paired with a Regulator, symbolising the chronometric science that Louis Erard has made its own signature.
“The time that never stops.”
Alain Silberstein, Master Watchmaker, speaking about the tourbillon
The manufacturer of the tourbillon was Olivier Mory, BCP Tourbillons, in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Olivier Mory is a behind-the-scenes personality who trained in mass production watchmaking before becoming interested in fine watchmaking. He has built a bridge between the two worlds, making the inaccessible accessible.
The Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Khaki Triptych (of which the tourbillon is a part) retails for 22,222 Swiss francs, a fraction of what tourbillon watches normally cost on the market. This new trilogy says it all. It comes in khaki, khaki on the dials, khaki on the straps. The underlying message is summed up in two words: modern watchmaking.
Technical Specifications:
La Semaine Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Khaki réf. 75357TT06.BTT89
Limited edition of 178 pieces
Price excl. tax: CHF 4,000.—
Movement: Automatic, Sellita SW220-1 calibre, day/date at 6 o’clock, 11½’’’, Ø25.60 mm, height: 5.05 mm, 26 jewels, 28,800 VpH (4Hz), élaboré grade movement, meticulously decorated, special openworked oscillating weight with black lacquered Louis Erard symbol, approx. 38 hours of power reserve
Functions: HMS, mood of the day/date. 3 central hands
Case: Microblasted grade 2 titanium & polished grade 5 titanium, Ø40 mm, lug width: 22 mm, lug to lug: 47 mm, thickness: 11.80 mm, 2 pieces, sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides, movement visible through the transparent caseback, water resistant up to a pressure of 10 bars (100 m/330 ft), Alain Silberstein red lacquered signature crown with Louis Erard symbol, caseback engraved with “Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein 1 of 178”
Dial: Matt khaki, while transfers, signature Alain Silberstein day disc (“smiledays”) and date at 6 o’clock, flange featuring blue and red indexes
Hands: Alain Silberstein signature hands: red lacquered hour hand, white lacquered minute hand and yellow lacquered second hand
Strap: Khaki nylon and microblasted grade 2 titanium, hook-and-loop fastener system for quick adjustment, functional catch spring bars allowing the strap to be changed quickly
Dimensions: 22.70 mm width, 225 mm length, suitable for a wrist circumference of 140 to 200 mm
Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Khaki réf. 85358TT06.BTT89
Limited edition of 178 pieces
Price excl. tax: CHF 4,000.—
Movement: Automatic regulator, Sellita SW266-1 calibre, 11½’’’, Ø25.60 mm, height: 5.60 mm, 31 jewels, 28,800 VpH (4Hz), élaboré grade movement, meticulously decorated, special openworked oscillating weight with black lacquered Louis Erard symbol, approx. 38 hours of power reserve
Functions: HMS. Hour hand in a counter at 12 o’clock, central minute hand, seconds hand in a counter at 6 o’clock
Case: Microblasted grade 2 titanium & polished grade 5 titanium, Ø40 mm, lug width: 22 mm, lug to lug: 47 mm, thickness: 11.80 mm, 2 pieces, sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides, movement visible through the transparent caseback, water resistant up to a pressure of 10 bars (100 m/330 ft), Alain Silberstein red lacquered signature crown with Louis Erard symbol, caseback engraved with “Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein 1 of 178”
Dial: Matt khaki with white transfers, black counter at 12 o’clock, white and red transfers, black flange featuring white and red indexes
Hands: Alain Silberstein signature hands: red lacquered hour hand, white lacquered minute hand and yellow lacquered second hand
Strap: Khaki nylon and microblasted grade 2 titanium, hook-and-loop fastener system for quick adjustment, functional catch spring bars allowing the strap to be changed quickly
Dimensions: 22.70 mm width, 225 mm length, suitable for a wrist circumference of 140 to 200 mm
Le Régulateur Tourbillon Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Khaki réf. 89356TT06.BTT89
Only available in the special 78-piece limited edition box.
Movement: Tourbillon régulateur mechanical hand-wound, BCP T02 calibre, Ø31.80 mm, height: 6.50 mm, 19 jewels, 21,600 VpH (3Hz), circular decoration on the movement, approx. 100 hours of power reserve, tourbillon cage makes a complete rotation every 60 seconds
Functions: Tourbillon HMS. Hour hand in a counter at 12 o’clock, central minute hand, seconds hand in a counter at 6 o’clock
Case: Microblasted grade 2 titanium & polished grade 5 titanium, Ø40 mm, lug width: 22 mm, lug to lug: 47 mm, thickness: 11.80 mm, 2 pieces, sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides, movement visible through the transparent caseback, water resistant up to a pressure of 10 bars (100 m/330 ft), Alain Silberstein red lacquered signature crown with Louis Erard symbol, caseback engraved with “Louis Erard x AS 1 of 78”
Dial: Matt khaki with white transfers, black counter at 12 o’clock, white and red transfers, cut out at 6 o’clock to see the tourbillon, black flange featuring white and red indexes
Hands: Alain Silberstein signature hands: red lacquered hour hand, white lacquered minute hand and yellow lacquered second hand
Strap: Khaki nylon and microblasted grade 2 titanium, hook-and-loop fastener system for quick adjustment, functional catch spring bars allowing the strap to be changed quickly
Dimensions: 22.70 mm width, 225 mm length, suitable for a wrist circumference of 140 to 200 mm
Le Triptyque Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Khaki réf. 33333TT06 (spécial box)
Limited edition of 78 pieces
Price excl. tax: CHF 22,222.—
For more information please visit Louis Erard