Latest Review
December 3, 2025 
Watches are multitudes. They are often considered tools and accessories for lifestyles and attire. They are associated with specific tasks and activities, yet are often used for others. They can be humble or ostentatious: practical products, or status symbols. They can speak to the past, the present, and sometimes the future. They are collected, used, stored, coveted, worn, bought, sold, broken, fixed, adored, and even despised. They are objects of utility, they are objects of joy, and they are objects of art. Aesthetic experiences that enlighten.
When designing a concept for the Louis Erard x Worn & Wound limited edition, whose exceptional and unexpected creations have been made with icons like Vianney Halter, Alain Silberstein, and Konstantin Chaykin, the goal wasn’t to create another everyday watch. It wasn’t to riff on a theme, or a historical period, or make a watch that solved a problem. It wasn’t to create something you could find anywhere else.
Instead, it was to utilize Louis Erard’s willingness to push creative boundaries to create a moment of unique beauty that happens to be strapped to your wrist. A watch that, while telling the time, was also a composition, combining textures, colors, and dimensionality. We wanted to watch which was distinct, not just from Louis Erard’s catalog and our archive of collaborations, but from everything else as well.
As Louis Erard is known for its regulators, the uncommon layout served as a starting point. Having hours, minutes, and seconds on separate axes immediately presents both challenges and unique opportunities. Are there three indices? What is most important: hours, minutes, or seconds? Is the focus legibility, aesthetics, or functionality?
Together, we landed on a concept that merged classical and contemporary elements to create a unique and provocative aesthetic that didn’t sacrifice legibility. A dial in three layers, it features a palette of subtle blue hues. On the lowest layer of the dial, a backdrop just a touch cooler than white offsets skeletonized hour and seconds disks. The middle layer, which is typically the main surface of a dial, is an expanse of light blue with deep fluting that cleverly aligns with typical minute marks. With no printing, there are no distractions from this soothing expanse of blue.
Sitting on top is the third layer, held within a metal frame. Rendered in rich, cobalt blue, the deep-lacquered hue is intensified through additional fluting that aligns with the layer below, creating an expressive sense of motion. Here, the minutes index is presented in crisp white, combining sans-serif numerals with hash marks for a moment of legible clarity. Compositionally, this elevated dial acts as a center point, drawing focus like an iris.
As the only true hand on the dial, the minute hand is large and thoughtfully designed. A stylized arrow, it plays off of Louis Erard’s signature “fir tree” hands that speak to the Jura region in which the company is based. It’s fully polished and has 3-dimensionality from a crease down its center. Tapering down to a fine point, it indicates the minute at a glance.
Partially obscured beneath the minutes dial, the hour and minute disks rotate, seemingly floating without attachment. An engineering challenge, the discs are composed of fully skeletonized material, leaving only numerals, a few hash marks, and what is needed to maintain structural integrity. As though they are typography that has come to life, their motion seems magical. Time is read via pointed extrusions coming off the frame of the minute dial above, combining ornament and function.
A whimsical take on the regulator, it is housed in Louis Erard’s 39mm polished steel case. Featuring a bowl-shaped midcase and straight lugs, the design is refined and handsome, complementing the dial well. With a large dial opening and a 45mm length, it’s sized to fit a wide variety of wrists while having a bold presence. We paired the dial with a 20mm pebbled taupe leather strap. A subtle choice, it enhances the tonal blues without drawing attention.
Powering the Louis Erard x Worn & Wound limited edition is a Swiss-made Sellita SW266-1 automatic movement. From Sellita’s well-regarded 200 series, the 266 features 31-jewels, hacking, hand winding, a frequency of 28,800 beats per hour, and the distinctive regulator layout. The movement features a customized rotor with a Louis Erard logo mark.
The Louis Erard x Worn & Wound is a project nearly three years in the making (the first pitch was in December 2022). During that time, designs evolved, and challenges were encountered. Only the best would be accepted. It was worth the wait, as the final product achieves what we set out to accomplish. The Louis Erard x Worn & Wound regulator is not quite like any other watch we’ve encountered. It doesn’t fit neatly into any category and is sublimely beautiful.
A limited edition of up to 99 pieces, the Louis Erard x Worn & Wound Regulator is priced at $4,990. The first 50 are available now through the Windup Watch Shop, online and in the Brooklyn showroom. Depending on demand, the remaining will be assembled, but no more.
