Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. Round Two of Le Régulateur Louis Erard x atelier oï
A second collaboration with Swiss design atelier oï results in a kinetic golden sundial radiating light.
Manuel Emch, the head of Louis Erard, is on a mission to democratise watchmaking. By inviting watchmakers, designers and artists to collaborate on different projects and offering traditional métiers d’art dials to a broader audience at accessible prices, Louis Erard fills a big gap in the watchmaking scene. Once again, the brand’s versatile Regulator watch is the recipient of a makeover by Swiss architecture and design studio atelier oï, flaunting a hypnotic dial engraved with golden asymmetrical rays. Beautiful and beguiling, the Regulator evokes its original 18th-century function as a master clock with its separation of minutes, hours and seconds, but with no numerals or indices, it transcends the merely functional aspect of timekeeping to become a contemporary wearable art object.
This new Regulator is atelier oï’s second collaboration watch with Louis Erard and is identical to the first but with a different colour scheme. Founded by three partners in 1991, the multidisciplinary, award-winning design studio works in architecture, scenography and product design. Since the original timekeeping functions of a regulator clock have been eclipsed by hyper-precision digital technology, Atelier oï believes that watches today have “another meaning”, open to manifest interpretations.
One of the most abstract interpretations of the Louis Erard Régulateur – barring the almost cryptic and minimalist black dial created by artist Oliver Mosset earlier this year – atelier oï’s design brief for the watch was to evoke the shape of a sundial, one of the earliest timekeeping devices invented by man. To recreate the markings of a sundial, the golden 2N dial features a series of engraved asymmetrical rays.
The three blue baton hands corresponding to the Regulator are aligned on a central vertical axis with a small hand for the hours at noon, a longer hand for the all-important minutes in the centre and a small hand for the seconds at 6 o’clock. The 60 engraved lines or rays emanate from beneath the hour and small seconds hands, producing a fantastic 2D kinetic spectacle. With their matte-finished surfaces and brightly polished bevels, the golden rays capture the (sun)light to produce reflections and cast shadows. Picking up on the colour of the hands, the blue grained calfskin strap has tone-on-tone stitching and a polished steel buckle.
While it might take some time to get used to the layout and decipher the time, there is a method in the madness: the sixty segments on the periphery form a minutes track, and there is a pronounced line every five minutes to fine-tune time consultations.
Like other Regulator models, the 50m water-resistant polished stainless steel case has a diameter of 42mm and a case thickness of 12.25mm. The movement is a Sellita SW266-1 élaboré-grade automatic with a modest 38-hour power reserve and beats at 28,800 vibrations/hour.
Availability & Price
A limited edition of 18 pieces, the new golden Le Régulateur Louis Erard x atelier oï will retail for CHF 3,750. For more information, please consult louiserard.com.
