The Excellence Émail Grand Feu – Great Fire Enamel – small seconds is the latest stunning creation from Louis Erard. It is the coming-together of the most exquisite traditional ‘Grand Feu’ enamel craftsmanship and fine contemporary watchmaking.
For the first time, Louis Erard is incorporating an artistic craftwork. This is an achievement which comes with a message: making one of the most exclusive traditional crafts of all time accessible.
The traditional Grand Feu enamel method required the dials to be built up little by little, with thin layers of silica, metallic oxide and potassium, combined for eternity in the alchemy of a succession of rounds of firing at more than 800°C.
Everything happens in the oven, where the material, left to itself, is not easily tamed, as evidenced by the high and incompressible level of waste.
This new model issued in a limited series of just 99 pieces, celebrates the essence of this ancient profession. The process complies with the purest traditions, using a copper base, a ductile and temperamental metal, subjected to enamelling and counter-enamelling.
This is in exactly the same manner as the days before industrial technology existed, when synthetic varnishes had not even been imagined and Grand Feu enamel was the only way to provide watches with a face.
A face for which centuries have slipped by without leaving a wrinkle. A face which modern watchmaking reserves only for its ever-smaller number of high end, elite pieces.
Every dial is made by hand, a thousand leagues from any industrial logic, with the result being subtle and sensual. The colour, a delicate cream. The softness of the texture, as fine as skin. The harmony of the ecru and blue, that of the signature fir tree hands in blued steel and enamel-transferred indexes. The design of the dial features a small-seconds sub-dial at six o’clock, the ultimate signature of tradition.
The case, modern, sleek, polished steel, 42 millimetres, water-resistant to 50 metres. The coffee-coloured strap in calf nubuck leather. The Sellita SW261-1 automatic movement, visible through the open caseback.
Technical Specifications:
Excellence Émail Grand Feu ref. 34237AA54
Recommended retail price: CHF 3,900
Movement: Automatic, Sellita SW261-1 calibre, three hands with small seconds at 6 o’clock, 11½”’, Ø25.60 mm, height: 5.60 mm, 31 jewels, 28,800 VpH (4Hz), élaboré grade movement, special openworked oscillating weight with Louis Erard symbol, approx. 38 hours of power reserve
Functions: HMS – Central hour and minute hands, second hand 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 fir tree crown, case back engraved ’Limited Edition 1 of 99’
Dial: Cream colour, in traditional Grand Feu enamel made by Donzé Cadrans S.A., counter at 6 o’clock, blue and beige enamelled transfers
Hands: Signature fir tree hands in blued steel
Strap: Coffee-coloured calf nubuck leather with tone-on-tone stitching, polished stainless steel pin buckle, functional catch spring bars enabling strap to be changed quickly
Dimensions: width 22/20 mm, length 80/115 mm
For more information please visit https://www.louiserard.com