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Louis Erard Le Régulateur x Seconde/Seconde/ Limited Edition 42mm Unisex Watch Silver
Ref. 85237AA61.BVA31
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Stepping up in Louis Erard's range
Louis Erard has made a habit of handing its regulator layout to outside voices, and the results are consistently stranger and better than the house would produce alone. This piece, one of 178, comes from Romaric André, who works as seconde/seconde/, and his brief seems to have been to introduce a genuine mistake into fine watchmaking. The minute hand carries the text "404 Error" in bright orange-red, and a small blue plate sits at three o'clock blocking out the brand name with the word "ERROR" — a deliberate act of self-sabotage that is funnier the more you know about what it cost to put there. The regulator format already separates hours, minutes and seconds onto independent subdials rather than stacking them on a shared centre, so the dial has an inherent asymmetry before the joke even lands. That asymmetry, combined with the silver ground and the graphic interruption of the blue blocker plate, means the dial reads differently depending on where your eye rests. On the wrist, 42mm across and only 12.25mm deep, it sits without bulk. The chocolate brown calf nubuck strap, stitched tone-on-tone, keeps the whole thing from reading as a novelty by staying quietly correct while everything above the spring bars is quietly wrong.
- Reference
- 85237AA61.BVA31
- Brand
- Louis Erard
- Collection
- Excellence
- Case size
- 42mm
- Case thickness
- 12.25mm
- Lug width
- 22mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Silver
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- Sellita SW266-1
- Water resistance
- 50m
- Bracelet / strap
- Leather strap
- Strap colour
- Brown
- Clasp
- Buckle
- Lume
- Luminous
- Retailer
- Mappin & Webb
Additional specifications
- Lug-to-lug
- 49.60mm
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 the Louis Erard Excellence range (5), Stainless Steel Watches (3,241), Automatic Watches (1,645), Leather Strap Watches (1,065), Silver Dial Watches (730) and Limited Edition Watches (194).
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What the specifications mean
A mechanical watch for everyday wear.
Strengths
- Sapphire crystal, which resists scratching
- Luminous hands and markers for low light
- Sits in the lower half of Louis Erard's range as we list it
Worth knowing
- 50m suits rain and handwashing, not swimming
Louis Erard Le Régulateur x Seconde/Seconde/ alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | 85237AA61.BVA31 | 128681 | BM0A10522 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £2,500 | £2,780 | £2,575 |
| Case size | 42mm | 42mm | 43mm |
| Water resistance | 50m | 50m | 50m |
| Movement | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Strap | Leather strap | Leather strap | Leather strap |
| Power reserve | — | 38 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 comparedWhat 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.
Will it fit my wrist?
Lug-to-lug is 49.60mm, which suits wrists from roughly 16.5cm (6½ inches) upward.
Lug-to-lug decides fit more than case diameter does.
How to size a watch to your wristIs 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 Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths list it at £2,500, so choose on delivery and warranty rather than price.
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