The new La Petite Seconde Metropolis Louis Erard x The Horophile watches
Wednesday - 30 August 2023
The new La Petite Seconde Metropolis Louis Erard x The Horophile watches in salmon, tobacco and slate are each limited to 59 pieces, bringing a New York state of mind to the wrist with their building-inspired skeletonised handsets and evoking a 1920’s Art Deco-inspired style.
If there is one brand associated with its excellent collaborative work in the field of horology, it’s Louis Erard. In the past, the brand has worked with several watchmakers, watch designers and artists. This time, however, the company lends its latest horological canvas to The Horophile with the new La Petite Seconde Metropolis Louis Erard x The Horophile. The idea to design a watch was sparked by a friendship that has lasted 15 years between Manual Emch and Amr Sindi. The design of the new Louis Erard x The Horophile watch connects the Art Deco style of the roaring twenties with the modern aesthetics of the 2020s, capturing an entire century within its design.
Over the last few years, Louis Erard has ascended from being a brand that not many had heard of to a well-recognised and well-respected luxury watch manufacturer that fosters partnerships with leading practitioners of meters d’art and horology to create affordable yet exclusive timepieces. It has developed collaborative watches that are unlike anything else on the market.
Some of the brand’s unique collaborations include its work with Massena Lab to produce the Louis Erard Le Chronographe Monopoussoire, which came in two colour variations and required the work of Konstantin Chaykin, based on a mythical saw-mouthed cyclops. There is also the Louis Erard watches designed in partnership with Alain Silberstein, incorporating elementary forms and primary colours. One of the most striking collaborative creations, however, was the La Petite Seconde/Seconde/. Its tongue and cheek design hints to a ghost with its striking spirit. One other collectable design was the La Regulateur Louis Erard x Label Noir, which featured four hands and a beautiful composition of nuances across its dial.
An era with personal meaning
Perhaps a watch with Art Deco-inspired touches couldn’t be more fitting for a brand like Louis Erard. The company was founded in 1929 after all, and was first formed as a watchmaking school before it began producing its own timepieces. The company was producing luxury watches at La Chaux de Fonds for 60 years before relocating to La Noirmont in Franches-Montanges in the Swiss Jura. The idea behind the design of this latest timepiece is to form a foundation for other models one day to be built upon – a rather sub-collection within a collection. The three models to form this base have stunning tobacco, slate and salmon dials.
The design of the new Louis Erard x The Horophile watches use the tried and tested Petite Seconde watch as its base, although one may not recognise it so easily. That’s because several Art Deco-inspired features have been pulled into the design, creating a language known as Neo-Deco, thanks to the watch’s modern flair. Sure, each dial has the small seconds sub-dial at 6 o’clock, but there is so much more to admire in the finer details of this watch. The tobacco dial is rich and warming, whilst the slate is cool and understated. The salmon is a great middle ground, with a sense of depth and dimension afforded in all three models by the refined dial textures that play with different nuances under the light.
A New York state of mind
When creating the tobacco dial, Louis Erard and Sindu worked closely together to develop something that would capture a new York state of mind whilst also celebrating the era of the 1920s faithfully. The handset is skeletonised to evoke iconic buildings such as the New York Empire State building, whilst the font of the hour markers were designed solely for this watch and set beautifully against the section of gadrooned grooves in each design. The azurage small second dial at 6 o’clock has a fine dot to mark its 0 position, evoking a sense of singular elegance and simplicity. The slate and salmon dials follow in the same footsteps as the tobacco dial – all of which are set inside a beautifully proportioned 39mm stainless steel case.
The fully polished case of each of the new La Petite Seconde Metropolis Louis Erard x The Horophile watch certainly elevates the design towards a dressy feel. To the side of the case at 3 o’clock is the faithful fir tree crown, engraved with the LE logo. Each 50-meter water resistant watch is fitted with a domed sapphire crystal glass front and is equipped with a dark brown leather strap. The leather band secures to the wrist with a stainless steel custom-branded buckle and also features quick release spring bars that enable you to easily change the strap over whenever desired.
Inside each case of the new La Petite Seconde Metropolis Louis Erard x The Horophile watch is a Sellita movement. The less commonly known SW261 is as reliable as ever, with its accuracy rating of - /+ 7 seconds per day. The movement sits behind a polished steel caseback, finished with a special engraving of “The Horophile” lettering upon its surface and a limited edition numbering between 1 and 178 pieces (59 pieces for each colour option).
If you would like to get your hands on one of the limited edition Louis Erard x The Horophile watches, whether in salmon, tobacco or slate, you can check the watch out here in more detail or call and speak to a member of our sales team here at Jura Watches today on 01335 453453.
