Louis Erard Excellence Le Regulateur Vianney Halter Limited Edition Revealed
Monday - 30 November 2020
For the first time ever, extraordinary watchmaker Vianney Halter has created a timepiece for the everyday man: the Louis Erard Excellence Le Regulateur Vianney Halter Limited Edition. Working in collaboration with Swiss watch brand Louis Erard, Halter has combined his expressive creativity and unique horological prowess to create a rare watch retailing at only £2,300 – a mind blowing figure compared to his other entry level pieces that rarely retail less than £40k.
This once-in-a-lifetime timepiece marks the meeting of two very different worlds. While Louis Erard focuses on creating classic and traditional Swiss timepieces at an affordable price, Vianney Halter lives his life outside of the box creating extravagant, avant-garde watches for the likes of Harry Winston, Breguet and Audemars Piguet. Since 1984, he has created high horology pieces that have instigated a new shift in the watchmaking world, using unique materials, constructions and his own technical patents. He has designed over 500 pieces and earned nine awards for his contribution to the modern horological landscape, a feat that has secured him a place among the figures selected to appear in the official White Paper (the Livre Blanc) of the Foundation de la Haute Horologerie.
Initiating the collaboration with Louis Erard, Vianney Halter was asked to create an affordable watch for the general public, a design which would allow him to rediscover the roots of his own style and the quintessential aspects of traditional watchmaking. With the Louis Erard Excellence Le Regulateur Vianney Halter Limited Edition, we are presented to something completely extraordinary and entirely new to the Louis Erard Excellence family. It’s special openwork oscillating rotor, free-flowing dial and élaborégrade movement is truly one-of-a-kind and it seems most of the 175 limited edition pieces have already sold out.
For Vianney Halter, moving out of his usual creative zone was a major challenge: “I wanted to see if I was capable of reaching all those who love my watches but are not able to buy them. Louis Erard has allowed me to do that while staying true to myself”.
Characteristic of some of Vianney Halter’s previous designs, the Louis Erard Excellence Le Regulateur Vianney Halter Limited Edition features his signature blue steel hands, traditional Arabic numerals and the Vianney Halter distinctive crenelated crown. As expected, the dial is mesmerising and features an upper plate adorned with satin-finished silver and a matte grey lower plated decorated with microbead-blasted silver counters. The counters read the hour at 12:00, the seconds at 6:00 while the minutes are displayed separately through the central hand. To plaques at 3:00 and 9:00 honour the collaboration with Louis Erard and Vianney Halter logos.
The case of the Louis Erard Excellence Le Regulateur Vianney Halter Limited Edition is kept handsomely simple, engineered from polished stainless steel and measuring to 42mm in diameter and 12.25mm thick. It promises a water resistant rating of 50 metres, domed sapphire crystal glass with anti-reflective treatment on both sides and a screw down case exhibition case back engraved with the limited edition number out of 178 pieces. According to Louis Erard, this limited edition number was carefully chosen to signify “that we are stronger together”.
Beneath the transparent glass back, you can enjoy the intricate artistry of the Sellita SW266-1 automatic regulator movement with its power reserve of 38 hours. The calibre is described as a “élaborégrade movement” for its additional decoration paired with a special openwork oscillating rotor adorned with the iconic Louis Erard symbol. The same motif can be found on the stainless steel pin buckle used to fit the Oceania calfskin nubuck leather strap to the wrist. The strap also features functional catch spring bars so you can swap the strap around with ease.
As we previously mentioned, the Louis Erard Excellence Le Regulateur Vianney Halter Limited Edition is already nearly sold out but if you’re interested in getting your hands on your own, please get in touch with the Jura Watches team on 01335 453453 or at help@jurawatches.co.uk as soon as possible. You can also view the watch in all its glory on the Jura Watches website here.
Specifications: Louis Erard Excellence Le Regulateur Vianney Halter Limited Edition (85237AA51.BVA35)
- Case Size: 42mm
- Case Material: Stainless steel
- Bezel: Fixed
- Glass: Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment
- Case Back: Exhibition
- Water Resistance: 50 metres
- Movement: SW266-1 automatic winding
- Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
- Power Reserve: 38 hours
- Jewels: 25
- Frequency: 28,800vph
- Dial: Silver with Vianney Halter signature blued steel hands
- Strap: "Oceania" blue calf nubuck leather
- Buckle: Pin
- RRP: £2,300
- Limited Edition: 178 pieces
