Last year Louis Erard launched the first Excellence Guilloché Main, an exploration into the realms of hand-made guilloché and traditional metiers d’art. Now though, almost a complete calendar year later, Louis Erard have released a second watch in the collection, the Excellence Guilloché Main II. Once again, it’s an ode to traditional watchmaking hand crafts.
The case and movement are identical to the 2021 version, which is to be expected as the dial is where the party is happening. Specifically, the case has a 42mm diameter in polished stainless steel with 50m water resistance. Then, the movement is the Sellita SW261-1 automatic, which has a 38-hour power reserve and features hours and minutes by way of two blued fir hands.
Now that the numbers are out of the way, let’s get stuck into that dial. The Excellence Guilloché Main II is substantially more experimental than the original. Guilloché is typically defined as a pattern of engraving featuring repetition. There are approximately 80 patterns in watchmaking that fulfil this criterion, including patterns similar to the one Louis Erard used in 2021. However, the new watch does not feature any of those 80 patterns, making it entirely original.
It’s a large diamond of alternating linework and flat, black areas, all contained within circular arcs around the diamond’s periphery. As a design, it has more structure and impact than other types of guilloché. I described the 2021 design as M. C. Escher-esque because it had a mesmeric quality, the new pattern on the other hand is substantially less hypnotic. But that’s not a criticism, the design is just doing something else. The geometric elements of the diamond give it a quasi-three dimensional aspect, resembling a pyramid or ziggurat from a bird’s eye perspective.
In order to produce the new Excellence Guilloché Main II, Louis Erard has employed the same techniques as last time. A single artisan hand crafted each of the dials that will form part of the limited edition of 99 pieces. They used a traditional manual guilloché rose engine lathe with newly designed cams (large metal stencils used in the production of manual guilloché) to account for the modern pattern.
As mentioned, the Excellence Guilloché Main II is a limited edition of 99 pieces, making it pretty exclusive. When it comes to the price though, it’s not as high as you might expect at just CHF 3,900 (approx. £3,170). That’s due to the case and movement being on the simpler side of horology, providing a counterbalance to the centrepiece dial.
Price & Specs:
Model: Louis Erard Excellence Guilloché Main II
Reference: 34237AA95
Case/Dial: 40mm diameter x 12.25mm height, stainless steel case, matte black varnish with interlocking square pattern made by hand guilloché by Fehr & Cie SA (La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland)
Movement: Sellita SW261-1 calibre, automatic, 31 jewels
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 38h
Functions: Hours, minutes
Strap: Black grained calf leather with tone-on-tone stitching
Price/availability: CHF 3,900, limited edition of 99 pieces
More details at Louis Erard.
