Introducing the new Louis Erard Excellence Guilloche Main Watch
Friday - 30 April 2021
The new limited-to-99-pieces Louis Erard Excellence Guilloche Main watch showcases the traditional fir tree-inspired blue hands driven by a trusty Sellita movement and features an extraordinary 3D-effect dial
Since 1931 Louis Erard has been astounding us with its beautiful mechanical timepieces. No other Louis Erard watches, however, are as luxurious and as exquisite as those from the Excellence collection – like the new Excellence Guilloche Main watch, officially released today. Now based in Le Noirmont, Switzerland - the authentic watchmaker develops accessible luxury Swiss watches with a twist, having collaborated with designers such as Alain Silberstein and Eric Giroud in the past, as well as indie watchmaker, Vianney Halter. Some mechanical timepieces created by Louis Erard show a playful and whimsical side to the company’s spin on unique watchmaking. Others are more artistic, as is the case with the new Louis Erard Excellence Guilloché Main watch. The limited edition watch, exclusive to just 99 pieces worldwide, is a continuation of Louis Erard’s “odyssey in artistic craftwork” as the company likes to word it. The new Excellence Guilloche Main flaunts a unique-looking 3D dial design, comes equipped with a see-through caseback and is driven by a self-winding Sellita movement.
Over its almost-100-year-old heritage, Louis Erard has focussed on creating timepieces inspired by 18th-century master clocks, which featured the minute hand as the dominant function on the dial – the hours and seconds relegated to smaller displays - hence the inspiration behind many of Louis Erard’s regulator watches. Some of the most recent additions to the Excellence watch collection are the Louis Erard Excellence Triptych Monopoussoir and the Excellence Triptych Small Seconds – both of which perpetuate the brand’s passion for creating sublime, handsome and functional Swiss timepieces. This new addition to the Excellence watch collection, however, is a simple two-handed model. The mastery and workmanship behind the making of the dial is the dominant feature in this watch, and it’s not the first time the company has created sole focus around a watch’s display.
The dial of the new Louis Erard Excellence Guilloche Main
Common to the Excellence watch collection is the blued central hands, which are seen in the dial of the new Louis Erard Excellence Guilloché Main watch. These elements are inspired by the “magical blue hour” – a point at which the sun swiftly dips behind the horizon, casting a rich blanket of deep blue across the sky as it does. Furthermore, the shape of the hands is also borrowed from the tall, elegant fir trees of the Jura Mountains, which create a rich green canopy of forestry – a backdrop that has become the inspiration behind many of Louis Erard’s watches.
The two-handed Excellence Guilloche Main watch may look straightforward in its design, yet its dial is anything but simple. Displaying multiple layers of shades and textures and thus adding depth to its structure, the dial gives an insight into the many demands expected of the craftsmen based at the prestigious watchmaking facilities when creating artisan timepieces like this. Each of the 99 Excellence Guilloche Main watches must be executed to the same exacting standards, yet no two watch dials are ever the same, given that each dial is painstakingly crafted piece-by-piece by hand guilloche experts located deep in the heart of Jura. The dial of the new Louis Erard watch is executed in a trompe-l’oeil technique. Its surface works a little like an optical illusion, creating the impression of a three-dimensional effect when, in fact, the dial’s surface is actually flat. To reinforce the effect on the dial, the surface is coated with a black varnish before the guilloche work is carried out. The last process for the dial is a rhodium plating, which gives the dial a lustrous, silvery patina, creating pockets of light as the watch moves with the wrist.
The new Louis Erard Excellence Guilloche Main watch is a 42mm stainless steel model integrated with 50-meter water resistance. The top of the watch features a domed sapphire crystal glass lens with anti-reflective treatment on both sides, as well as the Louis Erard lettering that has been emblazoned onto the surface of the glass from the underside. The back of the case is also fitted with a sapphire glass exhibition feature for admiring the self-winding movement at work. The Sellita SW261-1 offers around a 38-hour power reserve, comprises 31 jewels and performs at a rate of 28,800 vibrations per hour.
The Louis Erard Excellence Guilloche Main watch is completed on a black calf nubuck leather strap with a functional catch and springs bars that enable the quick and effortless swapping over of straps when desired. The strap secures to the wrist with a traditional stainless steel pin buckle. For more information on the new Louis Erard watch, you can call our Jura Watches sales team today on 01335 453453
Technical Specifications of the Louis Erard Excellence Guilloché Main watch
- Case: 42mm – stainless steel – 50-meter water resistance – anti-reflective sapphire crystal glass printed with the Louis Erard lettering on the underside – see-through sapphire crystal glass caseback
- Dial: matt black varnished – rhodium coated – a trompe-l’oeil 3D effect – hand guilloche - “Swiss Guilloché Main” transferred in powdered silver – signature blue fir tree hour and minute hands
- Movement: Sellita SW261-1 – self-winding – 38-hour power reserve – 28,800 v.h.p – 31 jewels
- Strap: black calf nubuck leather – stainless steel pin buckle – functional catch and spring bars for quick strap changeover
- Price: £3,400
- Availability: limited to 99 pieces worldwide
- Reference: 66237AA52.BVA34
