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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.
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, an independent platform, launched in 2018, 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 quest 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 opaline silver-plated centres. 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 crow.
June 30, 2022