Louis Erard and Alain Silberstein Collaborate Again on a Pair of Colorful Limited Editions

Louis Erard has once again collaborated with Alain Silberstein, this time on a pair of watches that recall one of last year’s best limited edition drops. It’s no secret that we’re pretty big fans of both Louis Erard and Silberstein around here, so anytime the brand and this wholly original watch designer get together, we think it’s worth highlighting. This release is essentially a new colorway for two of the watches in last year’s triptych linked above, with white dialed versions of the La Semaine and Le Régulateur being offered separately and in a collector’s edition box set (no monopusher chronograph this time around, unfortunately). The new watches will likely feel familiar to Silberstein admirers, while also providing a completely different visual impression than last year’s black dials. 

Right off the bat, we’ll point out that the case used for these watches is exactly the same as last year’s limited edition series, which is to say it’s highly distinctive and quite unlike anything else Louis Erard produces. The 40mm case is cylindrical, but instead of having lugs protruding from the corners, it’s framed by sidebars that attach to a strap at terminating points at each end. It’s made of titanium, and features brushed finishing on the cylindrical portion and high polish on the sidebars.

For the Le Régulateur Blanc, the black dial has been replaced with a sharp white, giving the entire watch a cleaner, and more minimalistic appearance. Many of the other color choices have been held over from last year’s collaboration, but the minute markers have notably shifted from yellow to blue, which is a great decision that complements the rest of the dial extremely well. The regulator format is still a great fit for Silberstein’s design language, which prominently features playful shapes and colors that don’t normally find their way into a watch design. Because the minutes, hours, and seconds are naturally decoupled from one another on a regulator dial, it gives the wearer of the watch an opportunity to really focus on Silberstein’s choices, and in the process likely aids in overall legibility and coherence as well. 

The La Semaine Blanche remains the most whimsical of the Louis Erard x Silberstein designs, featuring a unique interpretation of a very traditional calendar complication. The colors here match the regulator and unsurprisingly have a similar impact, making the watch feel lighter and perhaps marginally less serious than the black version, but the real draw of the La Semaine is the day of the week indicator, which has been replaced with a rotation of smileys, which can be selected, if one chooses, to match the mood of the wearer, rather than the actual day. This method of attributing a graphic smiley face to a day of the week is borrowed from a prior Silberstein design for a daily planner, and along with last year’s La Semaine represents the first time we know of that this unique feature has made it into a watch. 

At press time, it appears that the collector’s box set is currently sold out on the Louis Erard website, but both the La Semaine and La Régulateur are still available. Each is limited to 178 pieces, with retail pricing set at CHF 4,000. Louis Erard