Spotlight: Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Konstantin Chaykin

I have written previously about how much I like and appreciate the concept of a collaboration watch. There have been many in recent years, with a not insignificant amount having been released in the last few years by the brand Louis Erard. Collaborators have included master watchmaker Vianney Halter, artists such as Alain Silberstein and Seconde Seconde, and other notables such as Eric Giroud and even William Massena of Massena Lab.

This has very much been a deliberate strategy on the part of Manuel Emch.

Well known in the watch industry, between 2001 and 2007 Emch was the youngest CEO in the Swatch Group heading up Jaquet Droz, before becoming CEO of independent brand Romain Jerome in 2009. He ultimately went on to set up his own consultancy business Le Büro in 2019, and through this he now sits on the board at Louis Erard, and also Raketa.

After joining Louis Erard, Emch had pinpointed that there was no clear identity or direction with the brand (with a vast catalogue of well over 300 references at the time) and sought to remedy this. A big part of that strategy has been the series of collaboration watches that the brand has produced.

Personally, I am a big fan of these primarily because each collaboration serves to make something that is, generally speaking, very difficult or expensive to obtain, more accessible.

For example, Vianney Halter makes perhaps fewer than 10 watches per year, at a cost of well into 6 figures. With Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Vianney Halter, 178 collectors had the chance to own a watch bearing Halter’s name for around £4000. Sure, it might not have one of his own movements inside, but sit this watch alongside another of Halter’s pieces, and there is absolutely no mistaking the steampunk design being born of the same watchmaker.

With this latest collaboration, another master watchmaker joins the esteemed ranks of Louis Erard collaborations in the form of Konstantin Chaykin. Chaykin is a master watchmaker and clockmaker, as well as serial innovator who today has an astonishing 94 patents to his name (this number continues to grow and I’m sure will soon be out of date!)

Where Chaykin is perhaps best known for his now iconic Joker watches, and his ‘Wristmons’ creations, to ignore his other work would be a mistake. Take for example the Levitas watch with its hands which appear to float and not be attached to any part of the movement, the Carpe Diem with the passage of each minute indicated by sand moving from one side to the other within an hour-glass on the dial, or the Cinema watch with working zoopraxiscope – a working animation of a galloping horse on the dial.

I mean, just watch this:

Anyway, not too long ago, Chaykin’s Joker watches were obtainable for several thousand pounds, however now they trade at several times that price, with the waiting list for a now markedly more expensive Joker watch meaning they are to all intents and purposes no longer accessible to acquire.

This is where Louis Erard steps in, and I’m really glad that they did. Whilst collaborating with artists and brands is one thing, personally these collaborations resonate far better when they are with a master watchmaker coveted by far more collectors than the watchmaker can satisfy the demand for, or who simply cannot afford them. Or indeed, both.

So, let’s take a look at the ‘Time Eater’ from Louis Erard and Konstantin Chaykin.

Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Konstantin Chaykin

Similarly, as with many other of Louis Erard’s collaborations, Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Konstantin Chaykin is a regulator display watch although it might not look like it (at least initially, given the watch is based on Konstantin Chaykin’s ‘Wristmons’ collection).

Chaykin’s Joker watches and other ‘Wristmons’ all portray the design of a face, and cleverly hide the time indications accordingly – the “eyes” of the Joker watches are in fact the hours and minutes indications, and the tongue within the smiling mouth is a moon-phase complication.

With the ‘Time Eater’, the ‘Wristmon’ character is a cyclops monster (owing to the regulator display layout) with a single “eye” displaying the hour at the 12 o’clock position on the dial. The character has two “arms” which are the minute hand, one end with a middle finger pointing to the minute markers on the chapter ring, and the other a crescent shape, and finally the monster has a “saw mouth” which is the regulator display small seconds at 6 o’clock. With this, there is no functional way to indicate the seconds per se, and the saw mouth instead rotates once per minute presumably devouring the passage of time and lending itself to the name ‘Time Eater’!

This is all set against an almost subtle background, with wavy lines emanating from the centre of the dial, almost like a bolder and more playful sunburst design, which I think works well with the playful nature of this watch. The dial signatures of both Konstantin Chaykin and Louis Erard feature on the dial but discreetly, with the crown of the watch embellished with Konstantin Chaykin’s logo.

Interestingly, this is the first time that I can tell that a Louis Erard collaboration launch has comprised more than one size of watch – Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Konstantin Chaykin has been made in both a 42mm size and 39mm size, in 178 pieces each, plus an additional 28 box sets of both pieces together. I wonder if this was a conscious choice in anticipation of such a successful launch (indeed the watches sold out rather rapidly to some very lucky collectors)?

The only real differences between the 42mm and 39mm are the colour of chapter rings, which are green and purple respectively, with the only other difference being that on the smaller 39mm piece, the signatures of both Konstantin Chaykin and Louis Erard on the dial are embedded in the purple chapter ring, whereas on the 42mm piece there is enough room to have them between the chapter ring and sub-dials.

With each of the two pieces, the case is polished stainless steel with a sapphire caseback, and is rated to 50m water resistance, so is more than suitable for general everyday wear.

The caseback reveals the Sellita SW266-1 movement inside which offers around 38 hours power reserve when fully wound. One thought did occur to me with the movement; not that it isn’t cool to see, but a part of me does wonder whether the movement decoration could be elevated somewhat for these collaborations, given what they represent? Perhaps this is all part of keeping the cost down, or another option might be to have a covered caseback and perhaps decorate this with a design by the collaborator? Or perhaps I am in the minority…!

Each watch is presented on – and this is a first for me – black toad leather(!) with a rabbit leather lining, and depending on which size piece you have, the stitching will either be green or purple to match the chapter ring of each size respectively.

Toad leather is an odd one for sure, however when the watch is supposed to be, in essence, a cyclops monster, the shiny black and nobbly texture really gives the watch a warty, almost grotesque vibe which I think actually works really well, especially given the context of this being a monster!

With quick-release spring bars, it could also be swapped out easily enough if it wasn’t something you liked, but I do think if the strap was wart free, it might detract from the overall monstrousness of this piece a little. But to each their own!

In Summary

I have really enjoyed seeing Louis Erard develop their catalogue of collaboration watches, and as I said earlier I think this is especially fun when they do so with a master watchmaker. I think that both Louis Erard and Konstantin Chaykin has knocked it out the park with this release, and I have no doubt that if you placed this next to one of Chaykin’s Joker watches, or any other ‘Wristmons’ it would not look remotely out of place.

This watch is certainly not going to be to everyone’s liking, but I think it is fun, it is playful, and most importantly it makes the inimitable work of a master watchmaker accessible to 356 collectors (plus 28 more if you count the box sets of both) who might not otherwise have ever been able to enjoy a Konstantin Chaykin watch for CHF 4000.

And for that, I think both Louis Erard and Konstantin Chaykin should be applauded, and I look forward to seeing who is next!

If you have any questions, or want to share your thoughts, please get in touch via our Contact page, or via our Instagram.

You might also be interested in:

• My Collecting Journey: Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Vianney Halter
• Collaboration Watches
• Spotlight: Regulator Watches
• Watch Stationery and Gift Ideas
• Watch Books, Watch Boxes and more at the Watch Affinity Shop on Amazon (commissions earned)

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases – thank you for your support