LOUIS ERARD – EXCELLENCE AUTOMATIC REGULATOR

“Regulator” replica watches, featuring a single central hand on the dial to show the minutes, are not a new phenomenon, but are now more and more fashionable. While you do need to get used to telling the time in a “different” way than on a traditional replica watch, where the hours and the minutes are in the centre, a regulator is still easy to use. The proof is the new Excellence Automatic Regulator made by Louis Erard, dressed in black and lit up by a few light touches of beige.

louis erard regulator closeup

Far from the rather traditional style imposed by the Excellence collection, this model features a black dial adorned with an engraved Clous de Paris pattern crossed by two finely grained metal stripes, set between 10 and 2 o’clock, and 8 and 4 o’clock. At the heart of this dark, highly structured setting is a long red-coated minute hand pointing to sand-coloured figures on the chapter ring. Two secondary counters display the hours (at 12 o’clock) and the seconds (at 6 o’clock), respectively. The hour markers are shown as Roman numerals, while the second counter is encircled by Arabic numerals, and all in a yellow ochre tone. A window at 3 o’clock with a triangular marker shows the date in beige with a black background, and with a decorative beige border.

The new Excellence Automatic Regulator is powered by an automatic mechanical movement, the Sellita SW200 calibre, together with a module designed by Dubois-Dépraz. The calibre drives the time functions – the minutes in the centre and the offset hours and seconds – and calendar functions, while providing some 38 hours of power reserve.

The Louis Erard watch comes with a ochre yellow nubuck strap fitted with a black PVD-coated folding clasp.

Price: 2 950 CHF

By Sharmila Bertin