When was the last time you heard the words ‘baroque floral motifs’ and ‘watchmaking’ strung together in the same sentence? Louis Erard turns this tantalizing verbal tango into solid reality with their new Gravée Main collection. Imagine 99 unique timepieces dancing their way into your heart, each piece taking a staggering 50 hours – yes, that’s more time than it takes to binge-watch a season of your favorite show – of hand engraving artistry to complete.
The Gravée Main is more than a watch; it’s a movable artistic canvas. And this canvas doesn’t just settle for ordinary street art. It features intricate 18th-century, inspired designs carved lovingly into its stainless steel form by a lone artisan with the patience of a saint. Imagine a virtuoso wielding tools like burins, drypoints, and hand shading to craft each watch; it’s basically the watch equivalent of creating Michelangelo’s David, but, on steel and meant for your wrist.
The 42mm Noirmont case showcases its appeal, demanding presence as it’s engulfed in shiny black lacquer, glossy anthracite, and elegantly shaped rhodium-finished hands. The contrast of darkness and luminous highlights is perfect, reflecting a symphony of a time long gone with a modern twist.
Helming the creative force behind the project is talented metal mage, Maksym Shavlak. He describes the journey of turning metal into something that doesn’t just tell time, but speaks to the soul. Louis Erard has struck magic once again by collaborating with Shavlak who not only wanted to fit engraving into the watch but to revolve the entirety of the design around it. If time is money, then this watch is a whole bank’s worth of pure artistry.
Since 2021, Louis Erard has made many strides in redefining Métiers d’Art, with forays into Grand Feu enamel and wood marquetry, and now, having a hand at engraving. Gravée Main stands as a tribute to one of watchmaking’s oldest crafts, proving once and for all that in the world of horology, there’s still a place for tradition among modernity, offering wearability and accessibility where it might never have been before.
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