Tap the image to enlarge
Louis Erard Métiers d'art Guilloché Main II Limited Edition 42mm Unisex Watch Grey
Ref. 34237AA95.BVA103
Sits in Louis Erard’s upper tier here — more premium than three quarters of the Louis Erard watches we list, which start at £1,975.
Price range £1,975 to £17,500 across 31 Louis Erard watches in stock.The first Guilloché Main established that hand-engraved dials could carry genuine artistic weight at Louis Erard; this second edition pushes further, asking the craftspeople at Fehr & Cie in La Chaux-de-Fonds to cut a pattern that had never been attempted before. The interlocking square motif — executed piece by piece on a manual rose engine lathe, each dial taking several hours — required engineers to design and manufacture entirely new cams to make it possible at all. Ninety-nine dials exist in the world, and the constraint is not marketing: it is the pace at which a single guillocheuse can work. On the wrist, the matte black varnish beneath the engraving creates a depth that shifts with the angle of light — the pattern reads as flat in shadow and almost three-dimensional in direct sun. Blued steel fir-tree hands sit cleanly against it without competing. At 12.25mm the case wears closer to a dressed automatic than the 42mm diameter alone suggests, and the domed sapphire treated on both sides contributes to that without adding unwanted glare. Turn it over and the openworked rotor, lacquered with the Louis Erard emblem, makes the exhibition caseback worth opening. The blue lining on the calf strap is a quiet echo of the hands — visible only when the watch is off the wrist, but consistent enough to feel deliberate rather than incidental.
- Reference
- 34237AA95.BVA103
- Brand
- Louis Erard
- Case size
- 42mm
- Case thickness
- 12.25mm
- Lug width
- 22mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Black
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- SW261-1
- Functions
- Skeleton dial
- Water resistance
- 50m
- Bracelet / strap
- Leather strap
- Strap colour
- Black
- Clasp
- Buckle
- Retailer
- Goldsmiths
Additional specifications
- Power reserve
- 38 hours
Learn more about Louis Erard
Louis Erard was born in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1893, into a town then producing a large share of the world's watches. He worked in its workshops, founded a watchmaking school in 1929, and set up a casing and assembly business with André Perret the same year. The first watches under his own name followed in 1931.
Assembly was the trade at the time: components came from independent artisans and the assembler built, adjusted and finished the watch. By 1937 Erard employed more than sixty people and was selling internationally.
The quartz crisis did its usual damage. The company was sold in 1991 and production moved to Le Noirmont in the Jura, then sold again in 2003 to a group led by Alain Spinedi, who refocused it on mechanical watches at prices that undercut everyone doing similar work.
The regulator became the signature — the dial layout that separates hours, minutes and seconds onto their own axes, borrowed from precision reference clocks, and rarely seen at this price.
What has made the brand's recent reputation is collaboration: limited editions with independent watchmakers whose own work is unobtainable, among them Vianney Halter, Konstantin Chaykin and Alain Silberstein, on Sellita and Valjoux movements.
- 1929
- Founds a watchmaking school and a casing business with André Perret.
- 1931
- The first watches carry the Louis Erard name.
- 1991
- Sold, with production moving to Le Noirmont.
- 2003
- Relaunched under Alain Spinedi around mechanical watches.
- 2020
- Collaborations with independent watchmakers define the brand.
Also in 6 collections
This watch appears in Back in Stock (3,714), Stainless Steel Watches (2,629), Automatic Watches (1,627), Leather Strap Watches (857), Skeleton Watches (260) and Limited Edition Watches (187).
Manufacturer’s guarantee
Best of 2 retailers
What the specifications mean
A mechanical watch for everyday wear.
Strengths
- Sapphire crystal, which resists scratching
- One of Louis Erard's more premium watches
Worth knowing
- 50m suits rain and handwashing, not swimming
- 38-hour reserve means winding it after a day off
Louis Erard Métiers d'art Guilloché Main alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | 34237AA95.BVA103 | 128677 | FC-718NWM4H6 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £4,500 | £4,500 | £3,995 |
| Case size | 42mm | 42mm | 42mm |
| Water resistance | 50m | 50m | 50m |
| Movement | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Strap | Leather strap | Stainless steel bracelet | Leather strap |
| Power reserve | 38 hours | 50 hours | 38 hours |
| This watch | Closely matched | Closely matched |
Your new watch
Frequently asked questions, and things you should know about this watch
Can I swim with it?
Showering yes, swimming no. 50m covers splashes and brief immersion, but a swimming stroke generates well above the pressure that figure describes.
Water resistance explainedWill the glass scratch?
Unlikely. Sapphire is second only to diamond in hardness and shrugs off everyday marking.
Sapphire, mineral and acrylic comparedDoes it need a battery?
No. It is automatic — the motion of your wrist winds it, and there is no cell to replace.
Quartz, automatic and solar comparedHow long does it run for when it's not worn?
About 38 hours fully wound — so it will usually stop if you leave it off overnight.
What size strap does it take?
22mm. Any strap of that width will fit, and on most modern watches quick-release bars make the swap a two-minute job with no tools.
Is it a men's or women's watch?
Listed as unisex, and at this size it suits any wrist that takes the dimensions.
Cheapest place to buy
Both Goldsmiths and Mappin & Webb list it at £4,500, so choose on delivery and warranty rather than price.
More Louis Erard watches like the Métiers d'art Guilloché Main
In stock, and close on style and price
