Louis Erard – Excellence Marqueterie Edition

 

Louis Erard – Excellence Marqueterie 42 mm Automatic Limited Edition 2023

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 CRAFTSMANSHIP FROM WOOD TO WRIST

Louis Erard continues to enliven métiers d’art with a contemporary perspective and an impossible challenge: to make the most exclusive craftsmanship accessible, this time with the extreme practice of miniature marquetry featured on the dial. Each dial is handmade, piece by piece, by an independent artisan, Bastien Chevalier, based in Sainte-Croix.

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Bastien Chevalier

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At such a size, marquetry is pushing the boundaries of its own discipline. With such a pattern, marquetry becomes madness. And at this price, this watch should not even exist.

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 Everything in this achievement comes cubed in geometry, technique, and aesthetic and commercial innovation. Because everything is new. The artisan has never produced such a large series: 99 pieces. No wood marquetry dial has ever been available in a watch for less than 4,000 Swiss francs. The pattern alone is an unthinkable challenge.

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The watch would not exist without a certain timely meeting between Manuel Emch, director of Louis Erard, and Bastien Chevalier, specialist in miniature marquetry in Sainte-Croix.

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For Louis Erard, the goal is always the same: to make the delights and deliriums so exclusive to métiers d’art of high-end watchmaking accessible. And not only in terms of price, but culture, with an irrefutably contemporary spirit. 

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The checkerboard expresses the spirit of the times: aesthetic, playful and eye-catching, with a trompe-l'oeil pattern that protrudes and hollows out under the light.

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 Louis Erard has borrowed the motif once before, in a series of 99 watches dedicated to hand guilloché. On this marquetry dial, the challenge is intensified. Bastien Chevalier himself — one of the few, if not only, Swiss experts in this art — recognises that taking up such a challenge is pure madness: “Geometric design is the hardest thing to do. You have to be totally precise. The pattern won’t permit any error — the slightest deviation is visible.”

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Each facet is cut into the wood by hand with a saw. Each colour is in a different wood: three shades of blue-tinted tulip tree, and grey-tinted willow burl, cut in the direction of the grain. 

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The cut must be of surgical precision to a tenth of a millimetre, if the pieces are to be assembled without the slightest gap appearing in this surgical-level jigsaw. Bastien Chevalier has developed his own technique to achieve this remarkable feat: conscious breathing, in the style of yoga masters.

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 The dial incorporates more than 70 elements. The series is made up of 99 pieces. The patience required of this work is extreme, and the production time exceeds the normal budgetary limits for a dial at this price.

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Once cut, the tiny pieces are meticulously sorted and deposited with the tip of a scalpel under a binocular microscope, then fixed on the first mount. The assembly is then glued on the appropriate side. 

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The back is prepared so that it can be attached to the dial’s metal base, and then the outward face is delicately taken again to be sanded to the correct thickness: it’s almost imperceptible, a few hairs’ breadth. Each step is decisive; there’s no going back. Time passes. The first dial is complete… 98 to go.

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In this highly exclusive model, Louis Erard brings a rare craft to the fore — a craft that business logic would normally reserve for discerning collectors — and combines it with fine watchmaking. A modern case with precise shapes in polished steel, 42 millimetres in diameter, with domed sapphire crystal, water-resistant to 50 metres and bearing the signature fir tree crown. 

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The blue grained calf leather strap features tone-on-tone attachment points, Louis Erard blue lining and a pin buckle. The movement is an automatic Sellita SW261-1 with hour and minute function, visible from the open caseback.

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Finally, the shock price: less than 4,000 Swiss francs. Again, completely unheard of on this type of finish and at this level of exclusivity: Louis Erard’s way and art of taking on the challenge of contemporary watchmaking. More métiers d’art will follow.

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TECHNICAL DETAILS

Collection: Excellence

Model: Excellence Marqueterie 42mm

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Ref. 34237AA58  

🔰Limited edition of 99 pieces

Movement
Automatic, Sellita SW261-1 calibre,
3 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, meticulously decorated,
special openworked oscillating weight with black lacquered Louis Erard symbol, approx.
38 hours of power reserve
Functions
HM
Central hour and minute hands
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 and Louis Erard logo transferred in black under the glass, movement visible
through the transparent blue caseback, water resistant up to a pressure of 5 bars (50 m/165 ft),
signature fir tree crown, caseback engraved with “Limited Edition 1 of 99”
Dial
Cubed pattern made of wood marquetry, entirely handmade in the traditional way by Bastien Chevalier (Mbch), composed of more than 70 pieces in 2 wood species, 
stained in 4 different colours (grey-stained willow burl and tulip tree stained in 3 different blues for the cubes)
Hands Signature fir tree hands in blued steel
Strap
Blue grained calf leather with tone-on-tone attachment points, blue grained calf leather lining, 
polished stainless steel pin buckle, functional catch spring bars enabling the strap to be changed quickly
Dimensions: 22/20mm width, 80/115mm length

🔴 Recommended retail price: CHF 3,900💰

3 YEARS WARRANTY

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ABOUT BASTIEN CHEVALIER, MBCH

After completing an apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker, Bastien Chevalier perfected his skills in marquetry under the guidance of the former winner of the prestigious competition for the best craftsperson in France: Jérome Boutteçon. The latter taught Bastien Chevalier the art of marquetry for nearly six years at cabinetmaker's Philippe Monti in Sainte-Croix, Switzerland.

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Specialising, among other things, in cigar boxes for Davidoff & Cie, as well as Reuge SA music boxes, in 2003, the company experienced financial difficulties. That year, Bastien Chevalier made the decision to create his artistic marquetry workshop, producing various fine pieces and commissions for clients such as François Junod (automaton manufacturer), Vianney Halter (watchmaker) and Reuge SA (music boxes).

Bastien Chevalier was born in the graffiti years, and he lays claim to this. Bastien Chevalier’s highly contemporary style is a radical departure from the often old-fashioned perception of marquetry and its "Belle Époque" style images.
Winning international prizes and exhibitions in trade fairs and art galleries, his work is becoming increasingly renowned day by day.

Sainte-Croix, Switzerland

Tel +41 (0) 79 944 59 08 

 info@bastienchevalier.ch Rue du Jura, n 7
1450 Sainte-Croix
Switzerland  

www.bastienchevalier.ch

 
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Press release - 2023
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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
+41 32 957 66 45, Melanie.Berberat@louiserard.com

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MB&F – Legacy Machine Perpetual 44 mm

MB&F – Legacy Machine Perpetual Steel 44 mm 2023

Reinventing the perpetual calendar

First launched in 2015, the LM Perpetual has been since crafted in red gold, platinum, white gold, titanium, yellow gold and palladium. In 2023, a new variation joins the family – the LM Perpetual Stainless Steel, carrying a rich salmon-coloured plate. The steel and salmon combination being a first for MB&F. The new edition also inherits the ergonomic corrector pushers first seen on the LM Perpetual EVO editions.

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Beginning with a blank sheet of paper, MB&F and independent Irish watchmaker Stephen McDonnell have completely reinvented that most traditional of horological complications: the perpetual calendar. The result is Legacy Machine Perpetual, featuring a visually stunning in-house movement – developed from the ground up to eliminate the drawbacks of conventional perpetual calendars.

The fact that the new complication looks sensational and can be fully appreciated dial-side is just one of the many benefits offered by the new movement, controlled by a mechanical processor.

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LM Perpetual features a fully integrated 581-component calibre − no module, no base movement − with a revolutionary new system for calculating the number of days in each month. And it holistically reinterprets the aesthetics of the perpetual calendar by placing the full complication on dial-free display underneath a spectacular suspended balance.

The perpetual calendar is one of the great traditional complications, calculating the apparently random complexity of the varying numbers of days in each month − including the 29 days in February during leap years. But traditional perpetual calendars do have a few drawbacks: dates can skip; they are relatively easy to damage if adjusted while the date is changing; and the complications are usually compromises of modules powered by base movements.

The fully integrated, purpose-built movement of Legacy Machine Perpetual has been designed from scratch for trouble-free use: no more skipping dates or jamming gears, and the adjuster pushers automatically deactivate when the calendar changes, so no problems there either!

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Traditional perpetual calendar mechanisms use a 31-day month as the default and basically "delete" superfluous dates for the months with fewer days – by fast-forwarding through the redundant dates during changeover. A traditional perpetual calendar changing from February 28 to March 1 scrolls quickly through the 29th, 30th and 31st to arrive at the 1st.

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LM Perpetual turns the traditional perpetual calendar system on its head by using a “mechanical processor” instead of the conventional space-consuming grand levier (big lever) system architecture. The mechanical processor utilises a default 28-day month and adds extra days as required. This means that each month always has the exact number of days required; there is no fast-forwarding or skipping redundant days. And while the leap year can only be set on traditional perpetual calendars by scrolling through up to 47 months, LM Perpetual has a dedicated quickset pusher to adjust the year.

With its open dial revealing the full complication and suspended balance, it's the harmonious mechanical beauty of LM Perpetual that really steals the show. And in an interesting technical twist, that eye-catching balance hovering on high is connected to the escapement on the back of the movement by what is likely to be the world's longest balance staff.

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Using an innovative system developed especially for Legacy Machine Perpetual, the subdials appear to "float" above the movement with no visible attachments. The skeletonised subdials rest on hidden studs, which is technically impossible with traditional perpetual calendar mechanisms because they would block the movement of the grand levier.

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Taking a clockwise tour of the dial, at 12 o'clock we see the hours and minutes nestled between the elegant arches of the balance; day of the week at 3 o'clock, power reserve indicator at 4 o'clock, month at 6 o'clock, retrograde leap year indicator at 7 o'clock, and date at 9 o'clock.

The Legacy Machine Perpetual won the Best Calendar Watch Prize at the GPHG (Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève) in 2016.

INSPIRATION AND REALISATION

The Legacy Machine collection was conceived when MB&F owner and creative director Maximilian Büsser started fantasising. "What would have happened if I had been born in 1867 instead of 1967? In the early 1900s the first wristwatches appear, and I would want to create three-dimensional machines for the wrist, but Grendizers, Star Wars, and fighter jets would not have been around for my inspiration. But I do have pocket watches, the Eiffel Tower, and Jules Verne, so what might my 1900s machine look like? It has to be round and it has to be three-dimensional." The result of this was Legacy Machine No.1, first launched in 2011 – followed later by LM2 and LM101.

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The LM Perpetual project began with a meeting between Maximilian Büsser and Northern Irish watchmaker Stephen McDonnell. McDonnell had been a long-time Friend of the brand and played an instrumental role in the realisation of MB&F's very first timepiece, Horological Machine No.1. As Büsser was thinking of developing a perpetual calendar for the fourth watch in the Legacy Machine collection, McDonnell replied that he had an idea for a perpetual calendar that addresses many of the drawbacks associated with conventional examples.

Three years and a great many sleepless nights later, Legacy Machine Perpetual was born.

CONVENTIONAL PERPETUAL CALENDARS

Conventional perpetual calendars are generally modules comprising the complication, which is fitted on top of an existing movement. The calendar indications are synchronised by a long lever (in French: grand levier) running across the top of the complication and passing through the centre. As the date changes, this long lever transmits information to the appropriate components and mechanisms by moving backwards and forwards.

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The existence of the grand levier means that there can be nothing in the centre of the complication that might impede it – like a suspended balance with its staff running right down through the centre of the movement to an escapement on the back.

This lever also means that perpetual calendars require a full dial, which may have cut-outs or windows, as it is impossible to support subdials with studs because they would block the motion of the big lever mechanism.

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In the traditional grand levier system, perpetual calendars assume that, by default, all months have 31 days. At the end of months with less than 31 days, the mechanism quickly skips through the superfluous dates before arriving at the 1st of the new month. Any manipulation or adjustment of the date during changeover can result in damage to the mechanism, requiring expensive repairs by the manufacturer. The dates can also jump or skip during changeover, negating the whole point of the perpetual calendar in the first place, which is not requiring adjustment for years. Or decades.

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"I call perpetual calendars boomerang watches because they come back for repair so often,” says Maximilian Büsser. “The mechanisms jam, block, break, or jump days when they shouldn't."

MECHANICAL PROCESSOR

Legacy Machine Perpetual uses a “mechanical processor” consisting of a series of superimposed disks. This revolutionary processor takes the default number of days in the month at 28 – because, logically, all months have at least 28 days – and then adds the extra days as required by each individual month. This ensures that each month has exactly the right number of days. There is no "skipping over" redundant days, so there is no possibility of the date jumping incorrectly.

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Using a planetary cam, the mechanical processor also enables a quick setting of the year so that it displays correctly in the four-year leap year cycle, whereas traditional perpetual calendar mechanisms require the user to scroll through up to 47 months to arrive at the right month and year.
 

The mechanical processor also enables an inbuilt safety feature that disconnects the quickset pushers during the date changeover, eliminating any risk of damage while the date is changing.

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While the conception and development of this mechanical processor-controlled perpetual calendar complication is a noteworthy achievement in itself, Stephen McDonnell went even further by managing to place all 581 components of the movement in virtually the same-sized case as LM1.

OPENING UP A NEW WORLD OF PERPETUAL CALENDAR AESTHETICS

Doing away with the calendar’s big lever has allowed for completely new aesthetics not possible when conventional systems are in use. MB&F’s mechanical processor enables the centre of the complication to be used, thereby saving space and allowing design freedom as the full dial is no longer necessary.

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Legacy Machine Perpetual takes advantage of its fully integrated movement to place the perpetual calendar mechanism on top of the movement main plate so that it can be appreciated from above. Legibility is often an issue with perpetual calendars due to the sheer number of indications, and LM Perpetual addresses this by using skeletonised subdials (except for the time indication) that appear to float above the complication with no apparent support from below.

BALANCE ABOVE, ESCAPEMENT BELOW

In yet another innovation, Legacy Machine Perpetual uses what is likely to be the world's longest balance wheel pinion to connect that elegantly suspended balance, hovering above the top of the movement, to the escapement on the back of the movement. Ensuring the practicality and reliability of this approach was essential before any other development work began.

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While the view through the display back is animated by the escapement, it's the spectacular hand-finishing of the bridges and plates that really captivates the eye.

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TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Model: Legacy Machine Perpetual 

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- Stainless steel with salmon face.

 
Legacy Machine Perpetual is available in three variations:

- in platinum 950 with blue face (limited to 25 pieces);
- in 18k red gold with grey face (limited to 25 pieces);
- in 18k white gold with purple face (limited to 25 pieces);
- in 18k white gold with dark grey face;
- in grade 5 titanium with green face (limited to 50 pieces);
- in 18k yellow gold with blue face (limited to 25 pieces);
- in palladium 950 with aquamarine face (limited to 25 pieces);
- in stainless steel with salmon face.

Engine
Fully integrated perpetual calendar developed for MB&F by Stephen McDonnell, featuring dial-side complication and mechanical processor system architecture with inbuilt safety mechanism. Manual winding with double mainspring barrels. Bespoke 14 mm balance wheel with traditional regulating screws visible on top of the movement. Superlative hand finishing throughout respecting 19th century style; internal bevel angles highlighting hand craft; polished bevels; Geneva waves; hand-made engravings.
Screw down crown
Power reserve: 72 hours
Balance frequency: 18,000 bph / 2.5Hz
Number of components: 581
Number of jewels: 41
Functions/indications
Hours, minutes, day, date, month, retrograde leap year and power reserve indicator
Case
Material: Stainless steel 

Available in three variations:  

18k 5N+ red gold, 18k white gold, 18k 3N yellow gold,  

Platinum 950, grade 5 Titanium  or Palladium 950.
Dimensions: 44 mm x 17.5 mm
Number of components: 70 components
Water resistance: 30 m / 90' / 3 atm
Sapphire crystals
Sapphire crystals on top and display back treated with anti-reflective coating on both faces.
Strap & buckle
Black, grey, brown or blue hand-stitched alligator strap with gold / platinum / titanium or stainless steel folding buckle matching case material.


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Press release - 2023
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For more information, please contact
MB&F SA, Rue Verdaine 11, CH-1204 Genève, Switzerland
Charris Yadigaroglou  cy@mbandf.com +41 22 508 10 33.
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