Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. Louis Erard Brings Three New Colours To The Excellence Petite Seconde (Live Pics & Price)
Eye-popping colours enliven the dials of three classic Petite Seconde models presented in a more compact 39mm case size.
Proving that a small brand can have big dreams and still maintain accessible prices, Louis Erard is enjoying its time in the limelight. One of the brand’s flagship models is the Excellence Petite Seconde, a small seconds dress watch sharing space with Le Régulateur in the Excellence collection. With its time-only canvas and classic small seconds layout, the Excellence Petite Seconde has been the recipient of various dial colours, materials and stones in the past and now embraces even bolder, more eye-catching colours. Who said dress watches were boring?
The Excellence Petite Seconde
The Petite Seconde joined the Louis Erard Excellence collection as part of a trilogy of watches introduced in 2020 with a classic silver dial and a 42mm case size. The most straightforward model in the Excellence family, the uncluttered dial of the Petite Seconde has proved an ideal candidate for the brand’s foray into traditional enamel dials, appearing in a 42mm and a 39mm model with Grand Feu enamel dials. No stranger to colour, the Petite Seconde has also been presented with a warm terracotta dial and alluring stone dials.
As a brand that enjoys producing trilogies, the latest threesome of Petite Seconde watches strolls in with attractive Midnight Blue, Purple and Ice Blue dials and matching straps. The case size for all three models is the more compact 39mm diameter. Like almost all Louis Erard watches – barring the titanium Alain Silberstein Le Triptyque and Le Dyptique collaboration watches – it is made of stainless steel. The classic round design and polished finishings throughout the case hark back to yesteryear pocket watches, while the large knurled crown is engraved with triangular shapes to evoke the fir and spruce trees of the region. Water-resistant to 50mm, the caseback is transparent, and a domed sapphire crystal protects the dial with anti-reflective treatment on both sides.
Attractive colours
Fair enough, Midnight Blue might not be the most novel colour in the trilogy, but it is a classic and, for many, the perfect background colour for a daily dress watch. The Purple and Ice Blue dials are far more exciting and, given the 39mm case size, are designed to catch the eye of both sexes.
The dials are treated to different finishings to delineate the different functions. The wide chapter ring, for example, has a circular-brushed finishing, while the recessed and framed small seconds counter at 6 o’clock displays vivid, diamond-cut snailing. The centre of the dial and the peripheral minutes track are matte.
For contrast, the slim tapering indices and Arabic numerals applied to the Midnight Blue and Purple dials are shiny silver, matching the fir-tree style hands. However, the Ice Blue model uses a darker shade of blue for the indices, numerals and hands.
Matching straps
As we mentioned, the Petite Seconde models come with matching-coloured grained calfskin straps. Revealing the care that has gone into the design, the straps have a blue grained calfskin lining and tone-on-tone stitching near the lugs – except in the case of the Ice Blue model, which uses a darker shade of blue for the stitches. Another welcome detail is the presence of quick-release spring bars that allow you to change the strap in a jiffy.
Automatic Sellita Movement
Beneath the sapphire caseback is the automatic elaboré grade Sellita SW261-1 with an openworked rotor and LE logo. As an offspring of the tried-and-tested SW-200 family (Sellita’s version of the ETA-2824), the movement has a frequency of 28,800vph/4Hz, a power reserve of 38 hours when fully wound and features a stop-seconds mechanism. The finishing is elaboré grade, and its rotor is openworked with the Louis Erard logo.
Availability & Price
The 39mm Louis Erard Petite Seconde models will be produced in series of 100 to 150 pieces a year and retail for CHF 2,222. For more information, please visit Louiserard.com.
4 responses
Lovely.
While the dial colors add a refreshing change of pace for a somewhat pedestrian watch design by now, and the hands are well designed and configured, along with a serviceable but run of the mill Sellita movement, the asking price ruins the whole affair. It’s overpriced, admittedly like a lot of brands are overcooking their pricing, and this one is about $1,000 overcooked! Another missed opportunity! Knuckleheads!
Yep, overpriced, ordinary Sellita movement. Changing dial colors, & appearance to an otherwise unchanged ordinary commodity. Like changing a wardrobe to someone who never changed his/her inner being. All superficial
CHF 2,222 for what?? for a dial color change and darker blue Arabic screened numbers? This is like changing a shirt the next day & making a claim that somehow the entire person has undergone a metamorphosis. Far too many watch companies do little other than make silly superficial upgrades to otherwise pedestrian products to stay afloat. May the buyer beware.