BY JOVAN KRSTEVSKI
Continuing with its endeavor to offer consumers a taste of luxury at an approachable price point Louis Erard recently released a trio of colorful and quirky watches in collaboration with famous designer Alain Silberstein. Comprising a regulator, a simple date and time model, and a mono-pusher chronograph, this new collection exhibits Silberstein’s playful touches packed inside a new peculiar case design.
Before we look at the individual references, let’s address the case first, as that is the common thread between all three watches. Measuring 40mm in diameter with a lug to lug distance of around 47 mm, the case on these watches is well proportioned. Furthermore, to enhance wrist comfort, the case is made using micro-blasted grade 2 and polished grade 5 titanium to keep the overall weight of the watch in check. And while wearability is important, what makes this case stand out from the crowd is its unique design. The main case that houses the dial has a conventional round shape. However, the lugs are not traditional and have been created by attaching two sidebars to the case, giving an impression that the lugs are floating. Another nice detail is the crown, which has a conical shape instead of the more common round shape. Finally, the case is water-resistant to a healthy 100 meters
La Semaine
The La Semaine is the most basic of the three watches and comes with only a date and time capability. But in the world of Alain Silberstein, even the most basic watch can not be boring. The black base provides the perfect backdrop for all colorful elements. The handset comprises a large circular triangle tipped hour hand, an extra-long minute hand blue arrow tipped minute hand and an S-shaped yellow seconds hand. The outer periphery of the dial features a raised chapter ring with white printed minutes and yellow and red rounded hour markers. There is a date window at 6 and right above it is a small oval-shaped aperture, which in my opinion, is the highlight of this watch. It displays a host of different faces (from Sad to smiley) that correspond to the seven days of the week. Cool, isn’t it. The watch is powered by the 4 Hz ETA 2836-2 movement and the retail price has been set at CHF 3,500.
Le Regulateur II
Like the previously released Alain Silberstein and Louis Erard Regulateur watch, the Regulateur II continues to focus on extreme legibility with a few noteworthy differences. You still get three separate tracks for hours, seconds, and minutes at 12, 6, and the outer periphery. However, this time around, the minute track is slightly raised from the deep black base to add more depth to the dial. Secondly, this time around, there is no power reserve indicator at 9, giving the dial a clear and more balanced outlook. Apart from this, the color play continues with yellow, blue, and red spread all over the dial. Driving this watch is the Sellita SW266-1 automatic movement that operates at 28,800 BPH and offers an autonomy of around 38 hours. This watch would also retail for CHF 3,500, like its three-hand cousin.
Le Chrono Monopoussoir
The most complicated of the three, the Le Chrono Monopoussoir maintains the overall design DNA of the collection intact, adding the chronograph capability without compromising the legibility and balance of the dial. In this instance, the running second’s hand replaces the chronograph seconds hand, a 30-minute counter at 12 tracks the chronograph minutes using a red baton. Regular timekeeping is taken care of by the red circular triangle tipped hand and an elongated blue arrow tipped hand. The most interesting bit about this watch, as its name suggests, is that the chronograph functions (start, stop, and reset) are all performed using just one red pusher. This is a nifty feature, that not only helps in making the case look cleaner but is also a rare sight in the world of chronograph watches. At the helm of this watch is the Sellita SW 500MPCa automatic chronograph movement that ticks at 4 Hz and offers an autonomy of around 48 hours. This watch will retail for CHF 4,500.
Louis Erard seems to have hit another home run with their second Alan Silberstein outing. All watches would come attached to a black nylon strap.
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