Founded in 1929, Louis Erard is a brand full of heritage and history and has sold watches under their own banner from 1931 onwards. Like so many brands coming back to the modern era, Louis Erard was acquired in the 1990s and was eventually relaunched in 2003. Now established as a unique independent brand with solid design language and well-priced high-quality offerings, Louis Erard has built up a passionate customer base that continues to grow on the back of their incredible offerings, much like the Vianney Halter collaboration I have here, the Le Régulateur.
Released in 2020 as Louis Erard's second-ever collaboration, the Le Régulateur was designed by Vianney Halter as a reworked version of Louis Erard's Excellence Régulateur and made in Louis Erard's watchmaking workshop in the Jura mountains. With Vianney Halter's steampunk-inspired design language shining through, the Le Régulateur features a multi-tiered dial sporting an upper plate with a circular-brushed finish along the minute track, a matte grey mid-plate with microbead-blasted silver counters and lower dark grey sections that feature a grainy texture throughout. Additionally, with Vianney Halter style blued steel plume hands and Louis Erard's signature typography for the inscriptions, the Louis Erard x Vianney Halter Le Régulateur retains Louis Erard's spirit while still making balanced concessions that denote it as a collaborative project.
Using the same steel case and Sellita SW266-1 movement as the stock version of the Excellence Régulateur that it is based on, the Le Régulateur is a familiar watch on the wrist for Louis Erard's collectors with comfortable 42mm x 12.25mm proportions and a familiar set of functions that any collector who enjoys a regulator clock or timepiece will appreciate. Featuring an exhibition caseback, the Le Régulateur's movement is proudly on display as it drives this wonderful collaborative timepiece forward and reminds us just how far independent watchmaking has come in recent years.
