t took several months for great lacquer craftsmen to perfect the exclusive technique that Awake is the first to use in watchmaking: sanded lacquer and silver leaf gilding combined with natural pigments. This technique, which Awake calls “Frosted Leaf”, is complex, demanding and entirely handcrafted, offering a unique, organic, deep, and mysterious finish with frosted reflections. Each dial requires no less than 15 hours of artisanal work.

The three versions of the Sơn Mài – Frosted Leaf collection, Moka, Blue and Green, are limited to 50 pieces each and combine traditional Vietnamese techniques with modern aesthetics to poetically and artistically evoke Earth’s textures and colours seen from space.

“Observing nature is a way to escape and dream. We wanted the dials in our Frosted Leaf collection to encourage a visual and sensory letting-go, away from urban hustle and bustle and modern distractions,” stated Awake founder Lilian Thibault. Every watch in the Frosted Leaf collection also features an innovative and distinctive luminous signature inspired by Japanese chiaroscuro. It took a full year of research and development to master this new expression of luminescence.

The collection is equipped with the La Joux-Perret G101 automatic unidirectional winding calibre. Elegantly encircled by a textured Clous de Paris motif ring, this renowned calibre offers 68 hours of power reserve and features a tungsten rotor which has been specially designed for Awake, with elegant contrasts of relief and recess, further enhanced by refined finishing techniques.

Price: € 2,150 (tax excluded)

www.awakewatches.com