Whether you see it as William Massena’s Massena LAB teaming up with yet another brand, or Louis Erard teaming up with yet another designer, the result is the same: the new Excellence Le Régulateur Louis Erard X Massena LAB.
The Release
The new collaboration brings a classic aesthetic to the existing Excellence Le Régulateur model. The 42mm steel case is polished throughout with a convex bezel and caseback. The 22mm lugs curve down slightly and thin out towards their ends. The pull-out crown is well-proportioned, with the watch having 50m of water resistance. The watch is 12.25mm tall, which shouldn’t cause many problems on the wrist, especially with the curved lugs. The caseback features a sapphire crystal with the Swiss automatic Sellita SW266-1 on display; the movement has a frequency of 4hz and a power reserve of around 38 hours. The watch is affixed with a black leather strap with matched stitching, quick-release spring bars, and a polished steel pin buckle.
Under the domed sapphire crystal is where this model diverges from its Le Régulateur siblings. It first replaces the typical Louis Erard lance hands with more traditional blued leaf hands. Then, it swaps in external flanges and subdials that are all rhodium plated with circular brushing. The flange features a simple minute track with small numerals at the quarter hours, the hour subdial prominent cardinal roman numerals, and the seconds subdial 10-second indications and a railroad track around the periphery. The star of the show, it could be argued, is the grained lower plate, offered in gold or silver, with the brands’ names at 6 and 9.
Our Thoughts
If you’ve lost count of the number of collaborations that each of Louis Erard and Massena LAB have done, you can’t be blamed. William Massena’s watch design firm has created timepieces with Ming, MB&F, Unimatic, and Habring, as well as releasing its own vintage-inspired Uni-Racer (to some minor consternation). For Louis Erard’s part, the brand has seen extremely successful collaborations with Alain Silberstein, Vianney Halter, and Romaric André of Seconde/Seconde/. That’s all to say, these brands know how to play well with others, and the new iteration of the Excellence Le Régulateur is proof of that.
Like King Midas, Massena seems to have the golden touch, with almost all of his collaborations including the warm gold tone you see here. The dial texture is lovely, especially in contrast with the soft silver of the chapter ring and subdials. Massena said he took inspiration from French clockmaking wizard Antide Janvier, and it’s true that this is the most classical take on this model we’ve seen, though I’m not sure how it specifically links to Janvier aside from the Frenchman also having used elements of silver and roman numerals. In any case, this watch is a stark contrast to some of the more modern interpretations of the Excellence Le Régulateur and is sure to please fans of regulator watches that have been looking for a more traditional design.
Availability
The Excellence Le Régulateur Louis Erard X Massena LAB is limited to 178 pieces and is priced at CHF 3,600 (inlcuding VAT). You can find out more and order directly from Louis Erard.