Louis Erard continues its odyssey in artistic craftwork with the Excellence Guilloché Main. This stunning new limited edition has a contemporary take on the tradition of artistic craftwork. Each dial is made by hand with an attention to detail normally reserved for the absolute top of the range timepieces.
The 3D checked pattern catches the eye like a trompe-l’oeil: an unusual pattern on this type of finish, somewhat breaking the codes of the hand-guilloché dial. The unique dials are made individually by hand guilloché – one of the most traditional artisanal crafts. It is one of the rarer artistic crafts that can be traced back through the entire history of watchmaking and continues to this day.
In this way, Louis Erard continues its journey through artistic craft. Hand guilloché is a new step, after Grand Feu enamel and before other artistic crafts that are still to come. Always with the same objective: making the exclusivity of traditional skills accessible.
It takes several hours of work to complete just one of the dials of the Excellence Guilloché Main. They are made by the dial maker Fehr in La Chaux-de-Fonds, which regards its guilloché workshop as a precious treasure, and where each of these dials is manufactured, one by one, patiently, always by the same artisan.
The pattern is carried out on a manual guilloché rose engine lathe: a century-old machine made of cams, feelers, cranks and chisels. Here, everything is operated by eye and by hand. The artisan depends on their dexterity to create a pattern that is even, lively and harmonious. The demands are extreme: a single deviation in the pressure exerted on the chisel, a single broken line, and everything has to be redone.
In this model, a limited edition of 99 pieces, Louis Erard combines tradition and contemporary watchmaking, as is to be expected. The case: modern, sleek in polished steel, 42 millimetres, water-resistant to 50 metres and with a signature fir tree crown. The strap: black calf nubuck leather with pin buckle. The movement: automatic Sellita SW261-1 with hour and minute function, visible from the open caseback. The dial: hand guilloché and signature fir tree hands in blued steel.
Technical Specifications:
Excellence Guilloché Main ref. 66237AA52
Limited edition of 99 pieces
Recommended retail price: CHF 3,900
Movement:
Automatic, Sellita SW261-1 calibre, 2 hands, 11½’’’, Ø25.60 mm, height: 5.60 mm, 31 jewels, 28,800 VpH (4Hz), élaboré grade movement, special openworked oscillating weight with Louis Erard symbol, approx. 38 hours of power reserve
Functions:
Hours, Minutes
Central hour and minute hands
Case:
Polished stainless steel, Ø42 mm, lug width: 22 mm, lug to lug: 49.60 mm, thickness: 12.25 mm, 3 pieces, domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides and Louis Erard logo transferred in black under the glass, movement visible through the transparent caseback, water-resistant up to a pressure of 5 bars (50 m/165 ft), signature fir tree crown, caseback engraved with “Limited Edition 1 of 99”
Dial:
Matt black varnish, checked pattern made by hand guilloché in the traditional way by Fehr & Cie SA (La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland), rhodium-plated, hour circle and “Swiss Guilloché Main” transferred in powdered silver
Hands:
Signature fir tree hands in blued steel
Strap:
Black calf nubuck leather with tone-on-tone stitching, polished stainless steel pin buckle, functional catch spring bars enabling the strap to be changed quickly
Dimensions: 22/20mm width, 80/115mm length
For more information please visit https://www.louiserard.com