When at the end of 2020 a collaboration was announced between Louis Erard and Vianney Halter, I was super excited to see what the result would be. I had been developing a more serious interest in independent watchmaking for about 12 months or so by this point, and so was aware of Vianney Halter – and also aware of just how rare his watches are, and the substantial price tag that comes with them!
Vianney Halter’s watches are different from anything else I’ve seen and are pretty much instantly recognisable as a Vianney Halter creation thanks to their “steampunk” designs; his watches can be described as what might be considered futuristic if they were designed in the era of watchmakers such as Antide Janvier, Abraham-Louis Breguet, or John Arnold. (If you’re interested, be sure to check out my interview with Vianney Halter here).
Vianney Halter's Antiqua, photo - Vianney Halter
This idea of “steampunk” isn’t normally something I would go for personally, however nor is the well-trodden path, and so this collaboration certainly piqued my interest. If I liked the look of it, my thinking was that it might be a unique opportunity to own a watch by Vianney Halter and bearing his name, and without the aforementioned substantial price tag.
Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Vianney Halter
Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Vianney Halter
I had been keeping an eye on the announcements, and when the launch date came, I along with many other collectors were super excited to see what would come of this collaboration, and the 178 piece limited edition Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Vianney Halter sold out within just a few hours – I was gutted that I had missed the boat.
So, what did we get? As with earlier Louis Erard collaborations, this piece is based off of their regulator watches – a display where the hours and seconds are displayed by a smaller subdial, and the minutes indicated by a large hand around the circumference. Vianney Halter did a spectacular job adding his spin to the dial, which includes a figure 8 setup with the hours and seconds subdials at the top and bottom of the dial respectively. This is framed by two miniature plaques bearing the names of the collaborators – Louis Erard at 3 o’clock and Vianney Halter at 9 o’clock.
Combined with multiple layers which are finished with differing yet complementary techniques, the overall look creates a tremendous sense of visual depth, and Vianney Halter adds his own touches using the same distinctive fountain-pen style, blued hands, the same font used on his Antiqua watches, with a studded crown.
The regulator layout of the dial can be seen here in a figure 8 setup
Macro of the studded crown
All this is packed into a round 42mm stainless steel case with sapphire caseback, showcasing the Sellita SW266-1 movement driving the watch, which offers around 38 hours power reserve when fully wound. The watch is rated to 50m water resistance, ensuring it is more than suitable for general everyday wear.
Having missed out on the watch, what made matters worse for me is that I actually really liked the look of it – more so than I thought I would do, and seeing a fair few appear online with significant premiums attached was disheartening. However, luckily for me I was able to acquire one several months later (oddly enough through Pietro at The Limited Edition, and this was way before we started working together!) and so for this article I thought I would do something a little different and chart my personal journey with this piece.
My Journey with Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Vianney Halter
The day the watch arrived I was absolutely over the moon with it. It was everything that I had hoped for, and more. With it on my wrist, I kept finding myself bringing it closer to my face and slowly rolling it in the light, catching all of the detail on the dial and – of course – the incredible blued hands.
The blued, fountain pen style hands synonymous with Vianney Halter
Of course, the regulator layout dial is the star of the show, but the quality of the polished Louis Erard case was impressive, and the crown is adorned with the same studded effect used on Vianney Halter’s watches, which I particularly enjoyed, too.
My honeymoon period with the watch continued for a few weeks, after which the sparks seemed to stop flying so much and I really couldn’t figure out why. I thought on it a lot (possibly to the point of overthinking it), and I could only really come up with a few reasons that it might be that had caused it to happen.
Initially I thought that the regulator layout might be something that was off-putting. Sure, it isn’t the easiest layout to read intuitively having spent my entire life reading the time from a “normal” three handed watch or clock. After I while, I started to get used to this, and whilst it still takes me marginally longer to interpret the time than with a “normal” display, it really doesn’t bother me to the point of not enjoying the watch – indeed it actually offers a nice excuse to spend more time focusing on the beauty of the dial!
I then started questioning whether it might be the size – it is a 42mm diameter which is a little larger than most would choose, however not exactly what I would determine as too large for my own 17cm circumference wrist. The thickness, too, isn’t exactly cumbersome at 12.25mm. However, in looking at the thickness of the watch, I found another candidate reason.
Through the sapphire caseback you can see the Sellita movement beating away. I have no issue with it being a Sellita movement, however looking at the movement and its finishing seemed to present somewhat of a stark contrast to the Vianney Halter design on the dial-side. It almost has two distinct characters in the Vianney Halter dial and crown, with the Louis Erard finished Sellita movement.
Sellita SW266-1 movement
At this point, it occurred to me that (at least to my eye) there were two options that might have been worth considering: either a bit more decorative finishing and visual intrigue be added to the movement such that it is more comparable to the dial; or consider a closed caseback which would present an opportunity for Vianney Halter to have presented a unique caseback inscription or design, and also facilitate the watch being a little thinner – although as I have mentioned, the depth isn’t really an issue for me personally.
Both of these options I do think would potentially elevate the watch, and at least in my opinion would constitute valid constructive criticisms.
That said, despite my endeavours to understand why the sparks had stopped flying so much, I could come up with no other objective reasons why it might be the case than these. Being honest, I did after a few months of ownership start to question whether the watch was right for me and considered moving it along for someone else to enjoy.
But then, seemingly out of nowhere, I started to notice that I was gradually picking this watch more and more frequently to wear above any other – I had started to naturally gravitate to choosing this for days out or going to visit family, and it was becoming my go-to daily watch much to even my own surprise!
Why? Honestly, I don’t know.
What I do know is that over the course of the next few months, I really started to forge a bond with this watch and enjoyed wearing it on my wrist even more than I had done during the honeymoon phase. Even today, I constantly find myself rolling my wrist to deliberately catch the light on the blued hands, or just to enjoy the multiple layers of depth on the dial, content in my mind that this design was born of the hands and mind of one of the greatest watchmakers of our generation.
I think the final affirmation of this watch being right for me came during my recent trip to Geneva, I was fortunate enough to be able to unexpectedly experience a couple of Vianney Halter watches in the metal. Being able to handle these, it was immediately obvious to me the similarities between these and my watch (which I unfortunately wasn’t wearing at the time).
Being able to instantly recognise the same distinctive fountain-pen style, blued hands, the font and the studded crown as is on my own watch, served to close the circle for me. The result is that now, whenever I glance down at it on my wrist, it evokes memories of being able to handle those incredibly special Vianney Halter watches in Geneva and reiterate just what this watch is intended to be, what it represents, and how special a piece it really is.
In Summary
There are some watches that as a collector you’re able to forge a well-founded opinion pretty quickly – it might be the equivalent of love at first sight, or conversely something which you know straight away aren’t for you. For me, this watch has been a journey. I absolutely love what it is, and what it represents in an opportunity for collectors to own something from Vianney Halter that is far more accessible than his own pieces.
However, the journey with the watch itself has been a little up and down. I still don’t really know quite what prompted me to cool my interest on it in those early days; being able to handle some Vianney Halter watches in Geneva certainly served to help me better understand the watch with a far greater depth of appreciation. Perhaps if I had handled some Vianney Halter watches prior to owning this watch I might not have wavered? I guess we will never know.
One thing I can say for certain is that I’m very glad any consideration of moving it on was short-lived, as given a little bit of time this watch has certainly grown to become one of my favourites to wear and enjoy.
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:
- In Conversation with Vianney Halter
- Collaboration Watches
- Independent Watchmaking – An Ode to the Indies
- 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
