SƠN MÀI – FRAGMENTS: When material becomes light…
Since its inception, AWAKE has explored the paths of conscious and poetic watchmaking, where the craftsman’s hand becomes an extension of time itself.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!With the Sơn Mài – FRAGMENTS collection, the brand takes a new step in its creative adventure, combining Vietnamese lacquer, natural mother-of-pearl and the ancient Japanese art of Raden in a mesmerizing, luminous harmony.
Three limited editions combining exceptional craftsmanship, creative poetry and Swiss watchmaking precision, each dial becoming a work of art in itself: a handcrafted iridescent mosaic that captures and diffracts light, transforming every second into a suspended moment.
An invitation to slow down, to contemplate, to remember that the beauty of the world lies in the most subtle details — those that only the human hand can reveal.
KEY FEATURES OF THE FRAGMENTS COLLECTION
• A new exclusive technique. One year after the launch of the Sơn Mài collection, whose first iteration combines the purity of traditional Vietnamese lacquer with the subtlety of silver leaf, the artistic exploration of Hanoi’s craftsmanship of excellence continues with mother-of-pearl, prized for its multiple colors and iridescent beauty – the embodiment of mystery and elegance.
• Three versions, each limited to 100 pieces. Three poetic interpretations of light and time.
• Exceptional craftsmanship. Each dial requires nearly 15 hours of manual work, combining precision, patience and emotion.
• A unique luminous signature. Inspired by Japanese chiaroscuro. The hour markers and hands reveal a poetic and hypnotic depth in the night.
• Swiss precision. La Joux-Perret G101 automatic movement, 68-hour power reserve, high-end finishes.
• Sensory elegance. Jean Rousseau – Paris straps, handcrafted in black calfskin and lined with Alcantara.
EXCEPTIONAL CRAFTSMANSHIP TO TRANSCEND BORDERS
The starting point for the FRAGMENTS collection lies in our fascination with the Japanese art of Raden: a refined technique dating back several centuries, consisting of inlaying fragments of mother-of-pearl, ivory or shell into lacquered objects to enhance their iridescent reflections and create a hypnotic sense of depth.
AWAKE offers a free and contemporary interpretation of this technique, blending different cultures and skills. In their workshops in Hanoi, master lacquerers have developed a unique method that combines natural Vietnamese Sơn Mài lacquer, renowned for its purity and brilliance, with mother-of-pearl, a universal symbol of light and elegance. Each dial is the result of a long, meticulous and entirely handmade process, demonstrating rare mastery and a true passion for the art of lacquer.
This new collection becomes a true dialogue between Japan, Vietnam, France and Switzerland: four territories, four craft traditions united by the same quest for beauty, poetry and meaning.
“We aim to transcend borders and bring different know-how together. The FRAGMENTS collection was born from this idea: uniting cultures in the tiny space of a watch dial.” – Lilian THIBAULT – Founder of AWAKE
FROM SAP TO LIGHT
The creative process begins long before the first brushstroke… The lacquer used for the FRAGMENTS collection comes from the sap of the Rhus verniciflua, a tree native to northern Vietnam. It takes ten years of growth for a tree to produce just 200 ml of sap per year, harvested only in the early morning in June and July. Purified and dehydrated, this sap becomes a lacquer of incomparable transparency and brilliance, renowned for its protective properties.
Next, fragments of mother-of-pearl are selected one by one according to their color, fineness and reflections, then sprinkled delicately over the dial and adjusted one by one by hand to create a mosaic of light. The Mother-of-pearl is distinguished by its ability to capture and transform light: depending on the angle and the moment, it changes color, density and depth, evoking sometimes the calm sea, sometimes the sky at dusk.
This alchemy between organic matter and living light makes the dial a miniature landscape in constant evolution — a silent scene where time seems to stand still.
THE CREATING RITUAL: A WORK OF PATIENCE
Each dial in the FRAGMENTS collection requires nearly fifteen hours of manual work and a level of precision that only a mastered technique, repeated thousands of times, can provide.
The metal base of the dial is first prepared, then coated with a first layer of black lacquer with natural pigments, and polished to a perfect mirror finish. The mother-of-pearl fragments are then sprinkled and adjusted one by one with tweezers, according to a process that is both instinctive and skillful: the smallest ones first, to create the background, then the larger ones to create texture and relief.
Then comes the pigment phase: blue, green and pink, obtained from organic materials. These shades, sprayed on in a light veil, color the mother-of-pearl without masking its light, allowing each dial to express its personality.
Finally, around a dozen layers of pure lacquer are applied, dried, sanded and polished one by one. This is an extremely patient task, where each step reveals a new shine, sealing the fragments in an invisible case and revealing an almost infinite depth.
“Each dial then becomes a fragment of the universe, capturing the changing beauty of the world in the transparency of time” – Lilian THIBAULT – Founder of AWAKE
THREE INTERPRETATIONS OF LIGHT
Three unique expressions, each conveying its own emotion and atmosphere, created by the craftsman’s hand.
• FRAGMENTS – Green
Soothing and organic, green evokes the serenity of forests, light filtering through foliage, the murmur of nature in motion. The mother-of-pearl fragments, worked in a gradient, diffuse reflections of an almost meditative softness. An ode to slowness and harmony.
• FRAGMENTS – Blue
Inspired by the depths of the sea, the blue of this dial encapsulates the silent poetry of the ocean. Under the light, the iridescent fragments seem to come to life: blues turn silvery, grays take on azure hues. A living, changing dial that captures the fluid essence of time.
• FRAGMENTS – Pink
The most enigmatic of the three. Its pink and pearly shades embody the dialogue between matter and emotion, the visible and the invisible. From some angles, it evokes the softness of twilight; from others, the stellar reflections of the cosmos. A dial of light and mystery.
LUMINOUS SIGNATURE: CHIAROSCURO BY AWAKE
True to its unique aesthetic, AWAKE enhances the FRAGMENTS dials with an exclusive luminous signature inspired by the Japanese poetic concept of chiaroscuro, dear to Jun’ichirō Tanizaki. The hands and hour markers, crafted from a Super LumiNova® BGW9 base, are clad in faceted polished steel: discreet in daylight, they glow softly and mesmerizingly at night, revealing the hypnotic depth of the dial. The hands and hour markers, crafted from a Super LumiNova® BGW9 base, are clad in faceted polished steel: discreet in daylight, they glow softly and mesmerizingly at night, revealing the hypnotic depth of the dial.
SWISS PRECISION
This visual poetry is matched by the precision of the movement. FRAGMENTS watches are powered by the G101 La Joux-Perret movement, a symbol of excellence and reliability. With its 68-hour power reserve and meticulous finishes visible through the sapphire crystal case back, this movement echoes the craftsmanship of the dials. Its oscillating weight, machined from a block of tungsten and delicately engraved with the brand’s emblem and the words ‘La Joux-Perret for AWAKE’, also plays with light thanks to the alternation of sandblasted, polished and micro-beaded surfaces.
THE ELEGANCE OF DETAIL, BY MAISON JEAN ROUSSEAU
To extend the sensory dimension of the watch, AWAKE has partnered with Maison Jean Rousseau, an iconic figure in French leather goods. Each strap is handmade from calfskin leather and lined with Alcantara in colors that match the dials: forest green, midnight blue or purple. Suppleness, a velvety feel and tone-on-tone finishes are the hallmarks of the discreet elegance of an object designed to last. The straps are equipped with quick-release buckles and a recycled steel pin buckle, the result of complex machining. Because every detail counts, right down to the way the watch sits on the wrist.
A WATCHMAKING JOURNEY BETWEEN VALUE AND EMOTION
With Sơn Mài – FRAGMENTS, AWAKE continues its exploration of the link between art, culture and watchmaking. A collection born from the encounter between Asian traditions and Swiss excellence, between slow gestures and mechanical precision, between light and time.
In this tiny canvas, composed of fragments of mother-of-pearl, lacquer and light, a whole world comes to life: that of craftsmanship, transmission and pure beauty. A true distillation of excellence, passion and creativity, available at a price of €2,250 excluding tax.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Case: Recycled 316L stainless steel
Diameter: 39mm
Dimensions ‘Lug to lug’: 45.6mm
Lug width: 20mm
Thickness: 11.80mm including glass / 10.90mm excluding glass
Entirely handcrafted Métiers d’Art dials: Reinterpretation of the ancient Japanese technique of Raden using a mosaic of fragments of mother-of-pearl, Vietnamese lacquer and natural pigments.
– Sơn Mài – Fragments – Green : Limited Edition of 100.
– Sơn Mài – Fragments – Blue : Limited Edition of 100.
– Sơn Mài – Fragments – Pink : Limited Edition of 100.
Indexes and hands: Super LumiNova® BGW9, AWAKE luminous ‘coiffe’ signature
Water resistance: 5 ATM (50m)
Glass: Anti-reflective sapphire crystal
Case back: Screw-down case back, sapphire crystal
Movement: Automatic La Joux-Perret G101, 68-hour power reserve
Decoration: Personalized tungsten rotor, alternating concave and convex surfaces with brushed, micro-beaded and polished finishes. Micro-beaded bezel engraved with laser inscriptions specific to each version.
JEAN ROUSSEAU strap: Matte black calfskin leather lined with colored Alcantara, tone-on-tone topstitching, equipped with ‘presto’ pumps and mounted on a hollowed-out pin buckle. 115×75 – 20-16mm.
Warranty: 3-year international warranty
Price: €2,250 excluding tax
Distribution: https://awakewatches.com
Retailers: https://awakewatches.com/pages/points-of-sale
