Louis Erard Gravée Main

Gravée Main marks a new milestone in Louis Erard’s Métiers d’Art series. Hand engraving takes center stage in a limited series of 99 unique timepieces. From case to bezel and from lugs and crown to buckle, every metal element is fully hand-engraved and finished in a demanding process taking more than 50 hours. Hand engraving brings something machines can’t: uniqueness. Each cut, each curve is done by hand. No two are alike. Just one artist, one piece of steel. The Gravée Main is art.isanship on the wrist. Tradition, with bite. Craft, with character. Centuries-old craftsmanship, made wearable and collectible. A timepiece for the few and for those in the know.

What I love most about these collaborations is how a minimalist watch becomes something completely different at the artist’s hand. Starting from the clean lines of the Noirmont, baroque floral motifs take over the entire object. It’s steel, yet it feels alive. Gravée Main is all about contrast: lavish ornamentation clashing beautifully with pure design. This watch is unique, not just in what it shows, but in what it says. It speaks of time, art, legacy, as well as resilience, the duty to protect and transmit rare crafts. Artistic crafts should be worn, live, and passed on. That’s our mission.” Manuel Emch

Mission to art

Since 2021, Louis Erard has been pushing the boundaries of Métiers d’Art: Grand Feu enamel, guilloché, wood marquetry, and soon-to-be-launched gold wire inlay. Gravée Main opens a new chapter. A tribute to one of the oldest crafts in watchmaking: hand engraving. Engraving came before watches, born with goldsmiths. By the 18th century, it adorned anything from pocket watches to comtoise clocks. Almost at the same time, swirling Baroque floral motifs flourished. Gravée Main brings both traditions together.

Hand Engraving: the art of depth

The core: the 42mm Noirmont case in stainless steel.

The metal: steel, a material more difficult to engrave by hand due to its greater hardness, its resistance to scratching and deformation.

The process: 50 hours from first pencil stroke to final polish.

The result: a singular object, impossible to replicate and far beyond what any machine can achieve. Each surface, case, bezel, lugs, crown, buckle, shaped and decorated through a precise multi-step engraving process.

It all begins with design: the artist sketches and refines the pattern, then transfers it freehand or with a stencil. Tools are chosen with care, different burins for different depths. The surface is first drypoint-etched to guide the engraving. Then comes the carving, line by line, millimeter by millimeter, adapting each movement to the shape and contours of the watch.

Once engraved, details, shading and textures are added by hand and eye. The case is cleaned and polished to bring out contrast and depth. Finally, quality control: visual balance is checked, structural integrity tested.

The minimalist architecture of Louis Erard becomes a canvas for centuries-old ornamentation, extending even to the dial. Inspired by baroque clocks, it pairs Roman numerals and pear-shaped rhodium-plated hands in a modern reinterpretation. Intentionally understated, the dial features a glossy black lacquer finish with anthracite and black transferred prints.

The artist behind the metal

Each Gravée Main is engraved by hand in Ukraine by Maksym Shavlak, a watchmaker and artist known for transforming antique timepieces into modern hybrids. Using his tools, he gives new life to steel.

Case engraving is more than decoration, it’s a way to make metal speak. What began as a series of design exchanges over a year ago became a full creative partnership. Gravée Main is the result. It all started with a meeting, a conversation, a spark of shared vision. I showed Louis Erard what I was doing. They saw something raw and real in my work. They didn’t just want to use engraving as a visual decoration, they wanted to rethink the entire watch around it. Give it space. Let the steel speak.” Maksym Shavlak

Métiers d’Art. Made accessible

With Gravée Main, Louis Erard once again expands its Métiers d’Art series, following launches in Grand Feu enamel, wood marquetry and guilloché. Two new techniques now make their debut at Geneva Watch Days: Gravée Main (hand engraved) and Fil d’Or (gold wire inlay). In a world where such skills are often reserved for collectors of inaccessible timepieces, Louis Erard continues to build bridges between craft and wearability, tradition and modernity, rarity and reach.

Maksym Shavlak - Watchmaker. Engraver. Revivalist. B. 1976

Maksym Shavlak is a Ukrainian watchmaker and artist, born and trained in Ukraine, acclaimed for his exceptional talent in hand engraving. He began his journey by reviving old pocket watches, transforming them into unique hybrid creations. His work is defined by rare patience, emotionally charged precision, and a deep respect for traditional craftsmanship. Each case he engraves, crafted entirely in Ukraine, is a quiet yet powerful tribute to cultural resilience and artistic rebirth. Steel becomes memory. Craftsmanship becomes resistance. At a time when his country faces one of its greatest challenges, Maksym’s work transcends ornamentation. It becomes a message of identity, dignity, and hope, etched in metal.

Technical specifications

Louis Erard Gravée Main

Reference: 34237GA82.BVAG170

Limited edition of 99 pieces

Case

• Material: Polished stainless steel entirely hand engraved
• Diameter: 42 mm
• Lug width: 22 mm
• Lug to lug: 49.90 mm
• Thickness: 12.25 mm
• Domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides
• Hand-engraved fluted crown
• Movement visible through the transparent back caseback
• Water-resistant up to a pressure of 5 bars (50 m/165 ft)

Dial and hands

• Black polished lacquer with shiny anthracite and black transfers
• Rhodium-plated pear-shaped hands

Movement

• Automatic, Sellita SW261-1 calibre, 3 hands with small seconds at 6 o’clock
• Diameter: 11 ½ lignes, 25.60 mm
• Height: 5.60 mm
• Number of jewels: 31
• Frequency: 28,800 VpH (4Hz)
• élaboré grade movement
• Special openworked oscillating weight with black lacquered Louis Erard symbol
• Approx. 38 hours of power reserve

Functions/Indications

• Central hour and minute hands, second hand at 6 o’clock

Strap and buckle

• Black grained calf leather strap with tone-on-tone stitching
• Black lining grained calf leather, polished stainless steel pin buckle, ergot bars for quick strap change
• Dimensions: 22/20mm width, 80/115 mm length

MSRP: CHF 5'450

For more information, please visit louiserard.com