New
Timekeepers Club / June 30, 2021

Le Triptyque Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein

In 2019, Alain Silberstein revisited ‘Le Régulateur’ from Louis Erard, a historic, emblematic model produced by the Jura brand. This collaboration resulted in an exceptional model: two series of 178 models which sold in just a few hours and were immediately extremely sought after on the secondary market. And all this even before it was selected for Geneva's Grand Prix d'Horlogerie and it received an award in the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2021.

2021 marks a new frontier in the collaboration between Louis Erard and Alain Silberstein, with the launch of this triptych. Three watches as work of art; three family members able to shed new light on Alain Silberstein's artistic approach, as well as Louis Erard's watchmaking mastery. Each item is limited to 178 models, 78 of which are to be sold in a collector's box containing the entire capsule as well as a digital artwork signed by the artist. The retail price makes a very strong statement: an entry price of CHF 3,500 and the collector's box at CHF 11,111.

By purchasing Le Triptyque Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein collector’s box set, the 78 privileged owners will also be able to enjoy a personal, non-fungible token linked exclusively to their triptych. This guarantees and protects the authenticity of the limited edition, as well as containing all its technical specifications. In addition, collectors will have the opportunity to customise their digital token with a private message, making it even more unique and timeless. Louis Erard is one of the first in Swiss watchmaking to offer such a technology, and this can only be offered thanks to Qiibee, which already partners with the brand for its loyalty program.

The triptych brings together three different timepieces – three signature models, each with its own unique features: La Semaine, Le Régulateur II, and Le Chrono Monopoussoir.

Everything begins with the case, a blank canvas for the artist. It consists of a frame with vertical sidebars called “brancards”, flanked by a conical crown. This is architecture in pure form, each element perfectly held, resulting in geometric simplicity and effects created by contrasts, shapes, materials (grade 2 and grade 5 titanium) and finishes (microblasted and polished).

Water-resistant to 100 meters, the case is further complemented by a nylon strap with a flap, guaranteeing uncompromising comfort. Soft, breathable and lightweight, the strap features a quick-fit closure, while the tight mesh of the double-layer nylon forms a surface that won’t retain moisture. Against this canvas, the designer offers his exercises in style: three movements, three functions, three stories.

The triptych begins with a reference to the artist with the La Semaine Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein. With its three hands, date and day, this model features the exquisite weekly planner developed by Alain Silberstein, easily recognisable as his work: the days do not have names, but rather playful smileys – small, stylised faces symbolising different moods and reminding us that time is a flow, an experience, an emotion evolving through the days. From grey Monday to radiant Sunday (or vice versa), depending on the mood of the wearer!

La Semaine Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Ref. 75357TT02.BTT88

The central piece is a new variation on the regulator: Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein II. Once again, the designer's signature touch is instantly visible: a large blue arrow hand for the minutes, a red triangle for the hours, and a small yellow serpentine hand for the seconds. Telling the time becomes separated into its different parts in a joyful language, sophisticated and childlike at the same time, with the artistic and philosophical depth that characterises all Silberstein’s work: it is a game of proportions, with references ranging from Bauhaus to the rich history of watchmaking.

Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein II Ref. 85358TT02.BTT88

The third part of the triptych is an all-new chronograph design from the guest artist: Le Chrono Monopoussoir Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein. It features centrally placed hour and minute hands, with the chronograph seconds hand at the centre and a 30-minute counter at 12 o'clock. As on the La Semaine model, the monopusher chronograph incorporates the designer’s new signature hour hand: a red circle pinned with a triangle.

Le Chrono Monopoussoir Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Ref. 74359TT02.BTT88

A watch is a search for harmony,” says Alain Silberstein. “Just like a choir or philharmonic orchestra, where you rehearse until you find that certain something, the crystallisation. These watches are made to awake the inner child within all of us, and my work is only really finished when they make someone smile. Without carte blanche from Louis Erard, it would have been impossible to succeed in this goal.”

More creations will follow with other guest creators, each produced in a limited series of 178 pieces, a symbolic number which signifies that we are stronger together.

Technical specifications:

La Semaine Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein 

Reference: 75357TT02.BTT88

Limited edition of 178 pieces

Case

  • Material: Microblasted grade 2 titanium & polished grade 5 titanium
  • Diameter: 40 mm
  • Thickness: 11.60
  • Lug width: 22 mm
  • Lug to lug: 47 mm
  • Glass: Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides
  • Movement visible through the transparent caseback
  • Alain Silberstein red lacquered signature crown with Louis Erard symbol
  • Caseback engraved "Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein 1 of 178"
  • Water-resistant to 100 meters (10 bar/330 ft)

Dial and hands

  • Matte black, white transfers
  • Alain Silberstein signature days disc ("smiledays") and date at 6 o'clock, flange featuring yellow and red indexes
  • Alain Silberstein signature hands: red lacquered hour hand, blue lacquered minute hand and yellow lacquered second hand

Movement

  • Automatic, ETA 2836-2 calibre
  • Day/date at 6 o'clock
  • Diameter: 11½’’’, 25.60 mm
  • Height: 5.05 mm
  • Number of jewels: 25
  • Frequency: 28.800 VpH (4Hz)
  • Standard grade movement, meticulously decorated
  • Special openworked oscillating weight with Louis Erard symbol
  • Power reserve of 38 hours

Functions

  • Hours, minutes, seconds
  • Mood of the day/date
  • 3 central hands

Strap and buckle

  • Black nylon and microblasted grade 2 titanium, hook-and-loop fastener system for quick adjustment, functional catch spring bars allowing the strap to be changed quickly
  • Dimensions: 22.70 mm width, 225 mm length, suitable for a wrist circumference of 140 to 200 mm

MSRP: CHF 3'500

Technical specifications

Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein II 

Reference: 85358TT02.BTT88

Limited edition of 178 pieces

Case

  • Material: Microblasted grade 2 titanium & polished grade 5 titanium
  • Diameter: 40 mm
  • Thickness: 11.60 mm
  • Lug width: 22 mm
  • Lug to lug: 47 mm
  • Glass: Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides
  • Alain Silberstein red lacquered signature crown with Louis Erard symbol
  • Movement visible through the transparent caseback
  • Caseback engraved "Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein 1 of 178"
  • Water-resistant to 100 meters (10 bar/330 ft)

Dial and hands

  • Matte black with opaline (matte silver) counter at 12 o'clock, white transfers, flange featuring yellow and red indexes
  • Alain Silberstein signature hands: red lacquered hour hand, blue lacquered minute hand and yellow lacquered second hand

Movement

  • Automatic regulator, Sellita SW266-1 calibre
  • Diameter: 11½’’’, 25.60 mm
  • Height: 5.60 mm
  • Number of jewels: 31
  • Frequency: 28.800 VpH (4Hz)
  • élaboré grade movement, meticulously decorated
  • Special openworked oscillating weight with Louis Erard symbol 
  • Power reserve of 38 hours

Functions

  • Hours, minutes, seconds
  • Hour hand in a counter at 12 o'clock, central minute hand, second hand in a counter at 6 o'clock

Strap and buckle

  • Black nylon and microblasted grade 2 titanium, hook-and-loop fastener system for quick adjustment, functional catch spring bars allowing the strap to be changed quickly
  • Dimensions: 22.70 mm width, 225 mm length, suitable for a wrist circumference of 140 to 200 mm

MSRP: CHF 3'500

Technical specifications:

Le Chrono Monopoussoir Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein

Reference: 74359TT02.BTT88

Limited edition of 178 pieces

Case

  • Material: Microblasted grade 2 titanium & polished grade 5 titanium
  • Diameter: 40 mm
  • Thickness: 13.90 mm
  • Lug width: 22 mm
  • Lug to lug: 47 mm
  • Glass: Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides
  • Movement visible through the transparent caseback
  • Alain Silberstein signature crown with pusher in red ABS and Louis Erard symbol
  • Caseback engraved "Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein 1 of 178"
  • Water-resistant to 100 meters (10 bar/330 ft)

Dial and hands

  • Matte black with opaline (matte silver) counter at 12 o'clock, white transfers, flange featuring yellow and red indexes
  • Alain Silberstein signature hands: red lacquered hour hand, blue lacquered minute hand, yellow lacquered chronograph second hand and red lacquered counter hand

Movement

  • Automatic monopusher chronograph, calibre Sellita SW500MPCa
  • Diameter: 13¼’’’, 30.00 mm
  • Height: 7.90 mm
  • Number of jewels: 25
  • Frequency: 28.800 vph (4Hz)
  • élaboré grade movement, meticulously decorated
  • Special openworked oscillating weight with Louis Erard symbol
  • Power reserve of 48 hours

Functions

  • Hours, minutes + chronograph
  • Time: central hour and minute hands
  • Chronograph: central second hand, 30-minute counter at 12 o'clock

Strap and buckle

  • Black nylon and microblasted grade 2 titanium, hook and loop folding strap system for quick adjustment, functional catch spring bars allowing the strap to be changed quickly
  • Dimensions: 22.70 mm width, 225 mm length, suitable for a wrist circumference of 140 to 200 mm

MSRP: CHF 4'500

Le Triptyque Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein

Reference: 11111TT02 (special box set)

Limited edition of 78 pieces

MSRP: CHF 11'111

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About Alain Silberstein

“Real happiness is being passionate about one’s work.”

Alain Silberstein was born in 1950. He has had a rather unusual career, beginning as an interior architect and designer in Paris before becoming a watchmaker in Besançon, France, at the end of the 1980s, when he set up his own company. At a time when the disappearance of mechanical watchmaking seemed almost inevitable, he joined the narrow circle of Swiss watchmakers behind a renaissance in mechanical watches with innovative features.

His work pays tribute to the Bauhaus art movement, which traces its roots to Germany in 1919, and to major artists such as Gropius, Itten, MoholyNagy, Kandinsky, Klee, Albers, Bayer and Mies van der Rohe, all of whose works continue to influence graphic design, architecture and design in general.

Alain Silberstein

Alain Silberstein has developed a unique style where the geometrical rigour of shapes and mechanical movements play mischievously with a rainbow of evocative colours and innovative materials. It is an artistic and playful approach to high-end watchmaking which sometimes surprises and often beguiles. It is the original approach of a watchmaker and artist who creates singular watches, taking on the challenge of offering a poetic approach to the passing of time and the emotions found in personal and shared times.

Every year for twenty-five years, Alain Silberstein designed and created around a thousand exceptional watches, all made in limited series and numbered, in his workshop at the heart of French-Swiss watchmaking country. Since the closure of his company in 2012, he has turned his talent to working with other watchmaking brands such as MB&F, Romain Jerome and now Louis Erard.

Alain Silberstein continues to explore a watchmaking universe which is somewhere between art and craft, where strict shapes, innovative materials and evocative colours harmoniously come together.

About Louis Erard

Based in the Jura mountains, the birthplace of watchmaking, Louis Erard embodies the values of Swiss mechanics, the tradition that keeps its promises. Combining luxury, timelessness and elegance, this independent brand is renowned for its mechanical watches and, in particular, its iconic regulators. A collection on which the brand, founded by Mr. Louis Erard in 1929, built its reputation. Today, continuing the work of its founder and honouring watchmaking tradition, the Maison is reinterpreting the codes in a contemporary language. Louis Erard continues to set itself apart from mass-market brands. Inspired by high-end watchmaking, the brand draws on its values to enhance its mechanical timepieces.

For more information, please visit louiserard.com

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