Louis Erard x Vianney Halter Le Régulateur Edition

Louis Erard – Exceptional Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Vianney Halter Automatic Limited Edition 2020

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 TRAVEL TO THE END OF STYLE

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Technique, meaning and style. Louis Erard continues to partner with watchmaking creators, and builds another bridge with high-end watchmaking by working alongside Vianney Halter, an artist whose every creation is a collector's item. Automatic regulator, limited edition of 178 pieces, price CHF 3,500.

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Louis Erard has done the impossible once again: a collector's automatic regulator in a limited edition of 178 watches, priced at CHF 3,500. This new creation is part of a series of collaborations with watchmaking creators which began with Alain Silberstein; this time, the result bears the dual signature Louis Erard by Vianney Halter.

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This exceptional watch is a quintessence born of the meeting of two worlds. The first is that of Vianney Halter, who has rediscovered the roots of his own style, both classic and ultra-contemporary, and retained the essential. 

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The second is that of Louis Erard, who offered his services to the watchmaker and challenged him to design a model for the general public, for the first time in his career. 

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The piece should be a genuine reinterpretation of Vianney Halter's philosophy of watchmaking, and not merely a reduction or simplification of his very sophisticated style. 

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For Vianney Halter, moving out of his usual creative zone was a major challenge: "I wanted to see if I was capable of reaching all those who love my watches but are not able to buy them. Louis Erard has allowed me to do that while staying true to myself."

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He envisaged this creation as a return to basics – both in relation to his own style and the history of watchmaking. 

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His starting point was in the mechanics and the regulator, the complication which is central to the history of Louis Erard and invariably leads back to the precision clocks of the 19th century, the master clocks of observatories, and to a time when watches had to not only be beautiful, but fulfil their fundamental function: to tell the time.

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In his own unique style, which Vianney Halter calls "future past" (in other words: how would 19th century watches have been if they had been created in the future?), he began by sculpting the dial in order to give depth to each of the three counters. 

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He then cut the hands from blued steel, a first for Louis Erard. The minutes are indicated by a long fountain-pen-shaped hand, giving subtlety to the final indication, but with a good presence in the centre. 

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The hours are also indicated by a fountain-pen-shaped hand, but this one is thickset so as to catch the eye before the others. The second hand is simply balanced, with a counterweight to avoid disrupting its operation.

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If the final result appears very classic, this is not the case: it is very much a contemporary watch which could never have existed in the past. 

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And it possesses the inimitable hallmark of the unrivalled designer Vianney Halter, who added a crenellated crown like that from his "Antiqua" model as a final nod to his designs.

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Louis Erard demonstrates once again that it is possible to translate the rules and craftsmanship of high-end watchmaking into an accessible watch.

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Further creations will follow with other guest creators, each produced in a limited series of 178 pieces, a symbolic number which signifies that we are stronger together.

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ABOUT VIANNEY HALTER

Vianney Halter was born in 1963 on the outskirts of Paris, the son of an engine driver on the French railways. He remembers being fascinated by the old machines and mechanical objects that his father brought home. Perhaps this early contact with powerful locomotives, steam engines and other measuring instruments is the reason why he was attracted to technology and mechanics.

At 14 years of age, Vianney Halter made the decision to broaden his interest in mechanics, and took the train to the capital to enrol at the École Horlogère de Paris (Paris Watchmaking School). He qualified in 1980 and spent his first ten years in the profession restoring antique watches and clocks, experience which gave him in-depth knowledge of the art of watchmaking. 

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Self-employed since 1984, he then went on to create a variety of timepieces for well-known manufacturers including Harry Winston, Breguet, and Audemars Piguet. He has also invented and developed his own collection of wristwatches since 1998.

His designs have been regarded as avant-garde pieces and are considered to have instigated a new shift in the watchmaking world. Vianney Halter makes unusual watches in the traditional method of the master watchmakers of the past, while using singular aesthetics, his own technical patents and unique constructions. All of this is illustrated in his first model, the “Antiqua”, a perpetual calendar presented in 1998. This watch was instantly regarded as a "relic of the future", reinforcing Halter's creativity and allowing him to enter the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI).

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His years as an independent watchmaker continuing the art of watchmaking and his contribution to the modern horological landscape have already earned him nine awards. He has created around ten models of wristwatches, but the high level of workmanship they demand means their production is confidential. Indeed, under 500 pieces created by Vianney Halter have been produced to this day.

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ABOUT LOUIS ERARD

Based in the Jura mountains, the birthplace of watchmaking, Louis Erard embodies the values of Swiss mechanics, the tradition that keeps its promises. Combining luxury, timelessness and elegance, this independent brand is renowned for its mechanical watches and, in particular, its iconic regulators. A collection on which the brand, founded by Mr. Louis Erard in 1929, built its reputation.

Continuing the work of its founder and honouring watchmaking tradition, the Maison is reinterpreting the codes in a contemporary language. Louis Erard is now writing the next chapter of the brand’s story. Inspired by high-end watchmaking, the brand is strengthening its collection of mechanical timepieces with complications.

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TECHNICAL DETAILS

Collection: Exceptional

Model: Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Vianney Halter

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Ref. 85237AA51.BVA35

Movement
Automatic regulator, Sellita SW266-1 calibre,
11½ ''', Ø25.60 mm, height: 5.60 mm, 31 jewels,
28,800 VpH (4 Hz), élaboré grade movement, meticulously decorated,
special openwork oscillating weight with Louis Erard symbol), approx.
38 hours of power reserve
Functions
HMS
Hour hand on counter at 12 o'clock, central minute hand,
second hand on counter at 6 o'clock
Case
Polished stainless steel, Ø42 mm, thickness: 12.25 mm,
3 pieces, domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides,
movement visible through the transparent back,
water-resistant up to a pressure of 5 bars (50 m/165 ft),
Vianney Halter signature crenellated crown
Case back engraved “Limited Edition 1 of 178”
Dial
Upper plate in circular satin-finished silver,
matt grey lower plate with microbead-blasted silver counters, black transfers,
horizontal satin-finished appliques featuring Louis Erard logo at 3 o'clock and Vianney Halter logo at 9 o'clock
Hands
Vianney Halter signature blued steel hands
Strap
"Oceania" blue calf nubuck leather with tone-on-tone stitching,
polished stainless steel pin buckle, functional catch spring bars enabling strap to be changed quickly

Collaboration
Watch developed in association with Vianney Halter in a limited edition of 178 pieces

Recommended retail price: CHF 3,500.00
 

Edition
Limited edition of 178 timepieces

 
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Press release - 2020
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www.Vianney-Halter.com
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CONTACT:

LOUIS ERARD
Rue de l’Ouest 2
CH–2340 Le Noirmont
Suisse

info@louiserard.com
+41 (0) 32 957 65 30 

Mélanie Kilcher-Berberat, Marketing Manager
Tel. +41 32 957 66 45, Melanie.Berberat @louiserard.com

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