Hat tip to Jorge Merino of Timezone.com
I will ask for the reader’s indulgence: I have yet failed to present the young Swiss brand Louis Erard, which features stylish and very competitively-priced collections. The thing is that the band’s first collections used to seem a little bit “gimmicky” to me. By that I mean that it seemed like the developpers had tried to make 3-zero figures designs inspired by 5-zero figures watchs from prominent brands.
That was then. After three years, Louis Erard seems to have finally found its own style, although some might find stylistic similarities with Maurice Lacroix. This year, the brand is unveiling the Excellence collection, which features a very nice Power Reserve and a Regulator.
Powered by a Peseux 7001, the 40mm watch pictured below features a retrograde power reserve indication. The Peseux 7001 is a 10 ½ French lines hand-wound movement designed in 1971 for wrist watches. The construction has allowed to modify it for various purposes.Eberhard still relies upon it to built their 8-days reserve calibre, Revue Thommen is known for having adapted a barometer on it, and Ghashütte-based Nomos improved on its construction to create their in-house calibres. Nouvelle Horlogerie brand Hautlence also based their first in-house movement on the Peseux 7001.
Using the same case design, the Régulateur also comes in 40 mm of diameter, and uses a module on top of the calibre Peseux 7001. I personally like how the subdial are recessed, and the minimalistic dial shares similarities with the work of Jaquet Droz.
No information on pricing yet, but considering the record track of Louis Erard, these watches should be available under USD 2,500.
