Louis Erard

Louis Erard
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryLuxury Watches
Founded1929
FounderLouis Erard and André Perret
Headquarters
Le Noirmont (JU)
,
Switzerland
Key people
Manuel Emch
ProductsWristwatches, accessories
Revenueunknown
Websitelouiserard.com

Louis Erard is an independent Swiss watch manufacturer that was founded in 1929. The company was founded by Louis Erard and André Perret and produced its first watches in 1931.[1]

History

Founded in La Chaux-de-Fonds as a watchmaking school[2] in 1929, Louis Erard first sold watches under its brand in 1931l.[3] In 1991, the company was sold and production moved to Le Noirmont. By 2003,[4] the company was sold again and relaunched. Using mechanical movements from Sellita and Valjoux, Louis Erard has shipped over 200,000 watches from Le Noirmont,[5] including collaborations with Leeds United Football Club[6] and Ultima Sports sports cars. Louis Erard continues to make watches with a regulator layout.[7] In this layout, the hour, minute and second hand all pivot around different points. This layout was designed in mid-18th century for master clocks to offer the most accurate time readings available. In 2020 the brand contracted high-end watchmaker Vianney Halter who then designed "Le Regulateur" complication piece, which features amongst Louis Erard 'Excellence' watch collection.


Strategy

LOUIS ERARD, the Gallerist of Time.

The Journey. Born in 1929, as a traditional Swiss brand from Le Noirmont, in the Jura valley, which is one of the cradles of watch-making. The best part of the journey is our recent reinvention. We stopped trying to compete with industrial watchmaking and embraced who we truly are, a small, independent house, with full freedom to create. We shape the future of accessible independent watchmaking, while preserving our roots.

The Regulator is our DNA, our manifesto. It’s unconventional, asymmetric, rebellious — exactly the kind of canvas we need and our collectors want. By putting it at the center of the brand, we claim a territory that no one else owns. With the regulator, every designer we partner with can rethink time, from scratch. That’s where creativity starts.

Collaborations are our engine. The luxury industry is very predictable. We always look for fresh blood and new ideas. Collaborating with the likes of Silberstein, Halter, Chaykin or contemporary artists injects cultural electricity into our brand. Our creators don’t play it safe. Neither do we. It is not a marketing strategy. It is a creative journey.

Identity amid chaos. We recruit strong personalities, on purpose. We give them a framework and a canvas. Coherence, proportions, respect for craft, and a philosophy of accessibility. Inside that frame, anything can happen. If a collaboration doesn’t challenge us, it’s pointless. The tension between worlds is the true magic.

Balancing limits, prices, and accessibility. Limited to 178 pieces, or even less, priced accessibly. This is our way of proving that independent watchmaking doesn’t need to hide behind artificial elitism. We absorb the development risk, so that collectors don’t have to. It’s not the easiest business model, but it’s the most honest one.

The role of humor and storytelling. Humor is part of our creative language. Watchmaking takes itself too seriously; we don’t. A watch can be poetic, absurd, mythical. Why limit ourselves? Time is heavy enough; we give it some oxygen.

Mixing Swiss mechanics with the digital culture. Bringing the internet culture into mechanical watchmaking is not “risky”; it’s reality. The world has changed. The conversation happens online. If Swiss watchmaking wants to stay relevant, it must speak today’s language. We’re not afraid of getting it wrong. We are afraid of becoming boring and obsolete. This industry cannot lose relevance. It must be where its new fans are. And talk to them with their language and codes.

How Collectors see Louis Erard. Collectors understand that Louis Erard is not playing by the old rules. We are serious about watchmaking and craft, but fearless about creativity. Our positioning — independent, accessible, culturally sharp — is deliberate. If people call us the “gateway to indie horology,” that’s fine. Fans stick around because our voice is unique.

Our role in the Indies’ pack. We are building a new category: creative, qualitative, yet accessible independent watchmaking. We want to open the door for the next generations but also give seasoned collectors something unexpected. We are a gateway, but also a destination.

THE FUTURE. More regulators, pushed even further in their execution. More collaborations, and more surprising ones. New complications, new materials, new cultural crossovers. We are carving out a space where creativity leads, not hierarchy. Five years from now, Louis Erard will still be small and independent, but with an even louder voice.


Watches

2026, January.

  • Louis Erard x Monica Bonvicini NOT FOR YOU

https://www.louiserard.com/products/louis-erard-x-monica-bonvicini-not-for-you

Case: 39mm diameter x 12.82mm height x 45.9mm lug-to-lug - stainless steel, polished - domed sapphire crystal with AR treatment over dial, transparent caseback with NOT FOR YOU in mirror-polished metallic letters, caseback engraved with Louis Erard x Monica Bonvicini, Limited Edition of 178 - signature fir tree crown - 50m water-resistance Dial: black Clous de Paris guilloché background with Bonvicini's NOT FOR YOU appliqué with mirror-polished letters - rhodium-plated hour and minute hands Movement: Sellita SW 261-1 automatic - 25.6mm x 5.6mm - 31 jewels - 28,800vph - 38h power reserve - hours and minutes (small seconds repressed) - bespoke black lacquered rotor with Louis Erard symbol Strap: black Baranil calfskin strap with tone-on-tone stitching, black grained calfskin lining and steel pin buckle - available in 2 sizes: 20/18mm and 65/105mm - quick-release spring bars - supplied with an additional leather strap Reference: 34242AA02.BVAS28. Availability: limited edition of 178 pieces. Price: CHF 3,900


Awards

  • 2020: GPHG Challenge (nominated) Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein[8]

References

  1. ^ "Monochrome Watches".
  2. ^ "Our story". www.louiserard.com/.
  3. ^ "A brief history of Louis Erard watches". fluxmagazine.com.
  4. ^ "Alain Spinedi and Manuel Emch, Louis Erard". escapementmagazine.com.
  5. ^ "Our story". www.louiserard.com/our-story.
  6. ^ "All in all it's just another brick in the watch". watchpro.com.
  7. ^ "Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Regulator". deployant.com.
  8. ^ "Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein". gphg.org.
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