Artisanship, Awakened.
Son Mài - Fragments
The Fragments collection marks a new step in our creative adventure, combining Vietnamese lacquer, natural mother-of-pearl and the ancient Japanese art of Raden in a mesmerizing, luminous harmony.
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.
A trio of stunning dials mark a strong release from the young French brand.
These watches showcase Awake’s mission to make metiers d’art available in more accessible segments.
Awake has built a clear identity around thoughtful materials and craft.
The result is deliberately kinetic on the wrist, more miniature landscape than static pattern.
The Art of Lacquerwork.
Vietnamese lacquer, known as Sơn Mài, is a complex and exacting technique perfected over centuries. 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.
Mother-of-Pearl Fragments.
The mother-of-pearl fragments are selected one by one according to their color, fineness and reflections, and then placed by hand to create a mosaic of light. The ‘mother of pearls’, 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.
Handmade Métier d'Art Dials.
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.
Finally, 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.
