From the Jura village of Le Noirmont, Louis Erard, independent since 1929, has turned one complication, the regulator, into a canvas for guest designers and watchmakers.
How it began
Louis Erard tells its beginning briefly. The house was founded by a visionary in 1929, and independence has driven it ever since.
It is based in Le Noirmont, a small village in the Jura mountains, surrounded by pastures and fir trees. The trees shaped the hands of its Excellence line, in reference to Art Sapin, a Jura variation of Art Nouveau. The village’s postal code, 2340, later gave a collection its name.
The modern chapter began in 2003. That year the regulator became the star of a major relaunch, and Alain Spinedi took the helm.
The regulator
A regulator separates the hours, minutes and seconds. Traditionally, the point was chronometric precision. Louis Erard’s version keeps a central minute hand, with the hour at noon and the seconds at six o’clock.
The regulator has been at the heart of the collections since 2003. In 2019 the house began to treat it as an artistic canvas. The designer Eric Giroud drew the first three versions, shown in Basel that spring.
That autumn came the first collaboration with Alain Silberstein, in two limited editions of 178 watches. The brand called it a double first. In 90 years it had never given a designer carte blanche, and Silberstein had never designed a regulator. His minute hand became an arrow and his hour hand a red triangle, in the blue, red and yellow of the Bauhaus.
The guests
In 2020 Vianney Halter followed. Louis Erard challenged him to design a watch for the general public, for the first time in his career. He sculpted the dial to give depth to each counter and cut the hands from blued steel, a first for the brand.
Each guest edition is limited to 178 pieces, a number the brand says stands for being stronger together. In 2023 Konstantin Chaykin turned the regulator into Likho, a one-eyed creature from Slavic tales. The hour became a single large round eye, and the seconds at six o’clock a disc with pointed teeth.
Under the direction of Manuel Emch, the circle widened. The brand describes itself as a mentor for cross-disciplinary collaborations. They run from crafts such as guillochage, marquetry and enamel to creators such as atelier oï and Massena Lab. Its Métiers d’Art watches bring in ancestral handcrafts made by Swiss artisans.
The house today
In 2021 three Louis Erard watches were nominated for the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. All three came from its work with Silberstein and Halter.
In October 2025 the house introduced the 2340, its first watch with an integrated bracelet. A slim automatic calibre, 3.60mm thick, keeps the titanium and steel case to 8.95mm. The brand says it exceeds the 60% requirement for Swiss made.
In 2026 two new 2340 dials, Mauve and Forest, left the case and bracelet untouched and changed only the dial. Manuel Emch explains the choice. “That is where Louis Erard likes to work: in the detail that changes everything.”
At a glance
- Founded: 1929
- Founder: Not named on the brand’s site (“founded by a visionary”)
- Based in: Le Noirmont, Swiss Jura
- Known for: The regulator; limited collaborations of 178 pieces with Alain Silberstein, Vianney Halter and Konstantin Chaykin; Métiers d’Art; the 2340
- Independent: Yes, by its own account
Sources: Louis Erard’s own website (La Maison, and news pages on the 2019 relaunch, the Alain Silberstein, Vianney Halter and Konstantin Chaykin collaborations, the Excellence line, the GPHG 2021 nominations and the 2340 Mauve and Forest).