New: Louis Erard x Massena LAB Le Régulateur

Louis Erard is at it again! This time a new collacoration with Massena LAB to ceware a new Le Régulateur. Available n two dial options, each limited to 178 pieces.

Press Release information with commentary in italics.

New: Louis Erard x Massena LAB Le Régulateur

Retail price of both models is CHF 3,600 before taxes. Each variant is limited to 178 pieces.

Commentary

We were told by Manuel Emch, CEO and artistic director of Louis Erard, that they well release 10 new modes this year. The following have been released earlier in 2022, and we are barely into the second quarter!

• Louis Erard Excellence Petite Seconde Terracotta
• Louis Erard Excellence Guilloché Main II
• Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Le Diptyque

All the releases have been well thought through, and certainly very beautiful watches. and all targetted at a very reasonable pricing point. This new collaboration is no different. Made as a joint effort between two industry veterans – bith Manuel Emch and Massena LAB founder William Massena have in the scene for several decades. i have known both men personally for almost as long.

The execution of the two novelties is in the dial which is made up in two levels. The two flanges on the hour and seconds sub-dials are rhodium-plated with circular satin finish, with centres in silver-plated opaline. The minutes chapter ring at the dial periphery is rhodium- plated flange with circular satin finish. The lower plate is either rhodium-plated or gold-plated, with a grained textured finish to further increase the contrast with the counters and enhance the readability of the blued steel leaf hands.

Though Louis Erard does not state how this texture is achieved, we think it is most certainly stamped. The final result looks like the tremblage textured finish found in some German dials, for example the Moritz Grossmann Tremblage or on the A. Lange & Söhne Handwerkskundst models. These are which is achieved by painstakingly hand hammering the divots into the metal.

The polished steel case is fitted with a signature Massena LAB crown. The movement fitted is the standard Louis Erard regulator go-to Sellita SW266-1.

Press Release Details

Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Massena LAB. A new collaboration. A meeting of minds in the world of classic watchmaking. A dash of Antide Janvier; a touch of 19th century marine chronometry. A concentrate of fine watchmaking references brought together in one affordable design: CHF 3,600, with two variations in a limited series of 178 pieces each.

This is not a watch, it is a meeting place. A centre of gravity. Louis Erard production, Massena LAB co-production, against a backdrop of classic chronometry with the Régulateur Louis Erard as the training ground for this new collaboration, adding to an already impressive list of names: Alain Silberstein, Vianney Halter, Atelier OÏ, Seconde/Seconde/, Eric Giroud.

The result, Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Massena LAB, comes in two variations. The only defining element between the two is the dial: on one, the lower plate is plated in 2N gold, while the other is rhodium-plated. Both models come in a limited edition of 178 pieces—a symbolic number meaning “together we are stronger”, a principle dear to Louis Erard’s work—and are available at the same price: CHF 3,600.

This new achievement is the result of dedicated energy. It stems from a meeting between Manuel Emch, CEO and artistic director of Louis Erard, and William Massena, founder of Massena LAB, former CEO of Antiquorum, and known collector. Launched in 2018, Massena LAB is an independent platform centred around watchmaking collaborations and experimentation. It is a little-used approach in the field of watchmaking, closer to the profession of an independent producer in the film industry, for example. And that is what this is all about: production or, more precisely, co-production.

The Régulateur Louis Erard x Massena LAB was designed to put on a show. Louis Erard provided the setting, set the stage and directed the theatre of operations, always with the same goal: to offer fine watchmaking quality at an affordable price. Massena LAB wrote the dialogue between a contemporary watch and a 19th century marine chronometer with its own guiding principle, as William Massena explains: “A successful collaboration is one that makes sense. Louis Erard allowed me to mix codes, to cite the classicism of a master watchmaker like Antide Janvier, and to democratise a style that’s usually reserved for wealthy collectors”.

The meeting place is the regulator: a mechanical complication linked to the history of chronometry and to Louis Erard’s history. The reference to the marine chronometer results in an even more advanced search for readability than usual. The result is an unusually sophisticated dial for a watch in this price category.

The dial is made up of two levels. The two flanges on the hour and seconds counters (at 12 and 6 o’clock) are rhodium-plated with circular satin finish, with centres in silver-plated opaline. The large central minute hand points towards the outer rhodium- plated flange with circular satin finish. The lower plate is rhodium- or gold-plated, with a grained finish to further increase the contrast with the counters and enhance the readability of the blued steel leaf hands. The polished steel case is fitted with a signature Massena LAB crown.

Other collaborations are still to come.

Louis Erard x Massena LAB Le Régulateur specifications

Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Massena LAB ref. 85237AA75 / ref. 85237AA76 Limited edition of 178 pieces
Recommended retail price: CHF 3,600

Movement

Automatic regulator, Sellita SW266-1 calibre, 111⁄2’’’, Ø25.60 mm, height: 5.60 mm, 31 jewels, 28,800 VpH (4Hz), élaboré grade movement, meticulously decorated, special openworked oscillating weight with black lacquered Louis Erard symbol, approx. 38 hours of power reserve

Functions

HMS
Hour hand in a counter at 12 o’clock, central minute hand, second hand in a counter at 6 o’clock

Case

Polished stainless steel, Ø42 mm, lug width: 22 mm, lug to lug: 49.60 mm, thickness: 12.25 mm, 3 pieces, domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides, movement visible through the transparent caseback, water resistant up to a pressure of 5 bars (50 m/165 ft), signature Massena LAB crown, caseback engraved with “Limited Edition 1 of 178”

Dial

External flange and double counters rhodium-plated with circular satin finish and diamond-cut corners, 2N grained finish lower plate with opaline centre counters (matt silver), black transfers, Louis Erard logo at 3 o’clock and Massena logo at 9 o’clock

or

External flange and double counters rhodium-plated with circular satin finish and diamond-cut corners, rhodium-plated grained finish lower plate with opaline centre counters (matt silver), black transfers, Louis Erard logo at 3 o’clock and Massena logo at 9 o’clock

Hands

Leaf shaped hands in blued steel

Strap

Black grained calf leather with tone-on-tone stitching, blue grained calf leather lining, polished stainless steel pin buckle, functional catch spring bars enabling the strap to be changed quickly
Dimensions: 22/20mm width, 80/115mm length

Collaboration

Watch developed in collaboration with Massena LAB in a limited edition of 178 pieces