Louis Erard Teams Up with Independent Watchmaker Konstantin Chaykin for their Latest Limited Edition

Louis Erard is continuing their run of impressive and whimsical limited editions with a pair of regulators made in collaboration with none other than Konstantin Chaykin, the AHCI member and independent watchmaker known primarily for his Wristmons series of character watches. With this collaboration, Louis Erard returns to working with a member of the independent watchmaking community (they have previously collaborated with Alain Silberstein and Vianney Halter) after a series of watches made with less likely partners, including an architecture firm (atelier oï) and a miniature marquetry specialist. Like the other collaborative watches before it, the new watch with Chaykin has the bones of a Louis Erard, but has been left with an unmistakable signature by the collaborator. 

Looking back, a collaboration between Louis Erard and Chaykin seems meant to be. After all, Chaykin’s signature Wristmons series of watches are basically regulators already, featuring separate hour and minute discs representing the “eyes” of the character being portrayed in the watch (personally, I’m partial to the Minion). For this limited edition, Chaykin was inspired Likho, a cyclops figure from Slavic folklore. Likho’s eye is the dial’s focal point, acting as the hour “hand” at the 12:00 position. At 6:00, running seconds are represented by a wheel decorated with pointy teeth, so it serves as a constantly moving mouth, which is both quite clever and a little disconcerting. The extra long central minute hand is Likho’s arm, reading the minutes via a chapter ring at the dial’s perimeter. 

It’s remarkable how well Chaykin’s unique aesthetic translates to Louis Erard’s format. If you’re familiar with Chaykin’s Wristmons series, you will immediately recognize a certain lack of pretension and sense of humor here that is just incredibly charming. I’ve always admired the Wristmons watches, but the high prices of those pieces made them a tough target, even in a theoretical way. At around $4,000 for a Louis Erard x Chaykin collaboration though, you get a lot of Chaykin for the money, even more than you might have gotten with Vianney Halter a few years ago with that LE that seemed to spawn so much of what’s come after. 

Collectors can choose from two versions of the Louis Erard x Chaykin collaboration. First, as is typical for the brand, Louis Erard is releasing a 178 piece limited edition in their 42mm case. This version has a bright green outer register, and the main dial is finished with a sunray weave pattern that is actually quite complex and complements the playful tone of the piece very well. In what is a bit of a surprise, though, we’re also getting a limited edition of the same number in a more wearable 39mm case that Louis Erard has (thankfully) been deploying more frequently. This edition is accented with a purple outer ring, and has the same dial finishing as the larger model. Both run on the same Sellita SW266-1 automatic caliber, and come mounted on toad straps with the same accent color seen on the dial.

Furthermore, in addition to the option to purchase these watches individually, Louis Erard is offering both together in a limited edition box set. This set is limited to 28 pieces, and is priced at CHF 7,900. The individual watches each carry a retail price of CHF 4,000, and are available as of this morning. Louis Erard