Within the world of horology, many talented watch designers have made a huge impact on the industry. At the forefront are the acclaimed architect and interior designer Alain Silberstein who is one of my personal favourites. For over 25-years Alain manufactured around 1,000 limited timepieces under his own label. His main influences were artists like Gropius, Itten, Moholy-Nagy, Kandinsky, Klee, Albers, Bayer and Mies van der Rohe. Certainly, his style is eclectic and won’t appeal to traditionalists. However, since the closure of the company in 2002, his distinctive colourful timepieces seem to be experiencing a renaissance period. So much so that brands like MB & F, RJ Romain Jerome and Louis Erard have collaborated with him.
Several months Louis Erard released the magnificent Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein. This amazing timepiece sold out very quickly and subsequently won a prestigious Red Dot Award for product design. Following on the success of this watch, Louis Erard has just unveiled ‘Le Triptyque Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein’. In my opinion, these are some of the finest watches the company have ever produced. All three timepieces have an exciting new architectural 40mm titanium case, which is a departure for Louis Erard. Here are the specifics about the La Semaine (3,500CHF) Le Régulateur (3,500CHF) and Le Chrono Monopoussoir (4,500CHF).
La Semaine Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein
La Semaine Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein has a very enticing and very lighthearted appearance. Key features include a refined matt black dial with Alain Silberstein signature lacquered hands (red hours, blue minutes hand and yellow seconds). Other features include red, yellow indexes, date window (located at 6 o’clock) and “smiledays” indication. Beneath the modernistic façade lies a Swiss made ETA 2836-2 mechanical automatic movement.
Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein II
Within the range is Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein II. This second incarnation is a fusion of both variants of the original Régulateur’s with red (hours), blue (minutes) and yellow (seconds) lacquered hands. Other fine details include a matte black dial with a matte silver counter (at 12 o’clock) and red/yellow indexes. Powering the watch is a Swiss Sellita SW266-1 mechanical self-winding movement.
Le Chrono Monopoussoir Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein
Le Chrono Monopoussoir Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein is the flagship model within the range. This stylish continues the theme of the other models with integral features like the designer’s distinctive signature hour hand (red circle pinned with a triangle), blue arrow minutes and curvaceous yellow seconds. Other fine details include a matte black dial with a matte silver counter (at 12 o’clock) and red/white/yellow indexes. At the heart of the watch is a Swiss Sellita SW500 MPCa automatic chronograph movement.
