Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. The New Awake Son Mai Guilloché Main, a Dazzling Display of Craftsmanship
Two ancestral decorative techniques from two continents embellish the dials of these eye-catching editions.
After moving on from its space-themed watches, Awake – the French indie brand founded by Lilian Thibault in 2019 – celebrated its fifth anniversary with the Son Mai, a permanent collection built around craftsmanship. The collection, which features richly decorated dials created using the ancient Vietnamese lacquering technique of Son Mai, now grows with the introduction of the Son Mai Guilloché Main. Uniting two ancestral techniques from two continents in a single watch, the trilogy of limited editions pairs striking lacquered dials with hand-guilloché motifs. The new models also debut in redesigned, more compact cases.
Although lacquered dials are not rare in the watch world, Lilian Thibault discovered the ancient Vietnamese art of Son Mai lacquer on a trip to the country in 2008 and is credited as the first to introduce this technique in watchmaking. The spectacular new dials are also created by master lacquerers from Hanoia, a prestigious Vietnamese atelier, but further enhanced with refined hand-guilloché. Executed in Italy by the Renzetti family using 19th-century lathes, the patterns add additional texture, depth and light play.
The purple Sunset dial displays an elegant drape-moiré guilloché pattern from the 1930s, crafted using a straight-line engine lathe. Rippling across the dial in vertical waves, the guilloché background is covered by layers of natural lacquer with pink, violet and blue pigments to create a gradient inspired by a sunset. The fiery orange Alba dial, inspired by the colours of a sunrise, has a helical guilloché pattern emanating from the centre. Once the animated rays are engraved into the base, the dial is sent to Hanoi to receive the Son Mai lacquer. The third edition, known as the Borealis, captures the neon green colours of the Northern Lights with a radiant yet complex guilloché pattern composed of fluid, vibrant lines covered in multiple layers of acid green, light green and yellow lacquer.
Shared by all three editions is Awake’s hallmark luminous signature. Instead of applying Super-LumiNova to the top surfaces of the hands and indices, these are made from a thin yet robust SLN BGW9 base, machined and then capped with a faceted, polished steel overlay, allowing the light to emerge like a halo from beneath.
Another novelty is the redesigned stainless steel case. Compared to the earlier 39mm x 11.8mm editions, the new case has a more compact 38mm diameter and a thickness of 11.5mm (10mm without crystal). With its more rounded, concave bezel and shorter lugs, the case alternates polished surfaces with brushed flanks, and the redesigned screw-down crown ensures a higher depth rating of 100 metres.
The new Son Mai Guilloché trilogy is equipped with a La Joux-Perret G101 automatic three-hand movement beating at 4Hz with a 68-hour power reserve and a customised tungsten rotor.
Colour-coordinated Alcantara straps by Jean Rousseau complete the lineup. Yet another novelty, the straps are fitted with Awake’s new micro-adjustable pin buckle, allowing on-the-fly 3mm adjustments. The Sunset, Alba and Borealis are limited editions of 200 pieces each and retail for EUR 2,650 (excl. tax). More information at awake-watches.com.
