Son Mài - Frosted Leaf “Ultraviolet”
TIME+TIDE STUDIO EDITION
Created for FounderFest, this Time+Tide Edition is inspired by the emotions generated by Music. It explores how colors, atmosphere and memories can be conveyed by the age-old Vietnamese art of Sơn Mài lacquerwork. We imagined a multi-layered dial, both literally and metaphorically. Like a track that gives itself away a bit more with every listening.
The process used to create the dial requires a high level of skill, only reached by our Master Lacquerers. It is a long and complex handicraft. Each movement is of paramount importance, as for a musical composition—both craftsmen and musicians aim at perfection
Sơn Mài - Frosted Leaf “Ultraviolet” - Time+Tide Studio Edition will be available worldwide through a limited online purchasing window beginning 22 September 2026.
Following the online release, the watch will become available exclusively in Time+Tide’s Watch Discovery Studios in Melbourne, London and New York.
For further information and availability, visit: www.thefounderfest.com & www.timeandtidewatches.com
Sơn Mài - Frosted Leaf “Ultraviolet” - Time+Tide Studio Edition will be available worldwide through a limited online purchasing window beginning 22 September 2026.
Following the online release, the watch will become available exclusively in Time+Tide’s Watch Discovery Studios in Melbourne, London and New York.
UK: Time & Tide London
Portland House 1st Floor (West), Portland House, 4 Great Portland Street
London, W1W 8QJ
sales@timeandtidewatches.co.uk
+44 7888863230
USA: Time & Tide New York
460 Broome St 2nd Level
New York - NY 10013
United States
sales@timeandtidewatches.com
+1 (332) 777-7305
AUSTRALIA: Time & Tide Melbourne
Level 1 178 Collins Street Melbourne Victoria
Australia 3004
sean@timeandtidewatches.com
+61 4422 2044
Founded in Melbourne in 2014 by Andrew McUtchen, Time+Tide is the world’s leading alternative watch media and retail platforms. It combines original journalism, video, social media, collaborative watchmaking and physical retail. Time+Tide operates Watch Discovery Studios in Melbourne, London and New York. The studios are the embodiment of Time+Tide’s ambition: giving a home sweet home to watch culture. They host independent brands, exclusive Studio Editions, editorial storytelling, events, community gatherings and offer a brand new retail experience.
Time+Tide reaches a global audience through its digital platforms and develops exclusive collaborative watches alongside many of the industry’s most respected brands. Visit www.timeandtidewatches.com !
FounderFest is Time+Tide’s global celebration of Independent Watchmaking and Live Music, taking place in its Watch Discovery Studios in Melbourne, London and New York on 19–20 September, 2026. For this special occasion, seven exclusive Time+Tide Studio Edition watches were created, each one developed with an independent watch brand, and inspired by the music that has shaped its founders’ creative journey. A live mashup of exclusive watches and music bringing together some of the most exciting independent watchmakers—those bold enough to do things differently.
Visit www.thefounderfest.com and sign up for priority access. You will receive all the news about tickets, watches, prices, and more. So, stay tuned!
Our watches are guaranteed for 36 months from the date of dispatch of your order.
Case: 316L stainless steel, Ø38mm, lug-to-lug 44.75mm, lug width 20mm
Thickness: 11.50mm with top lens / 10mm without top lens
Métier d'Art dial: Each dial requires 15 hours of work. They are handmade, using two traditional savoir-faire: Sơn Mài Vietnamese lacquerwork enriched with purple and black natural pigments, and pure silver leaves
Indexes and hands: Super-LumiNova® BGW9, AWAKE luminous “coiffe” signature
Water resistance: 10 ATM (100m)
Top lens: Sapphire, anti-reflective coating
Caseback: Screw-in caseback, sapphire crystal
Strap: Jean Rousseau - Grey Alcantara, rubberized calfskin lining, purple topstitching, fitted with curved quick-release spring bars and new micro-adjustment ardillon buckle. 115x75 - 20-16mm
Movement: Automatic La Joux-Perret G101, 68-hour power reserve
Decorations: New custom-made rotor made of tungsten, with reliefs and counter-reliefs, polished, brushed and bead-blasted finishes. Bead-blasted and engraved rehaut with Time+Tide founder Andrew McUtchen’s quote: “Do not dream your way through life. Stay awake enough to build it.”
True to our vision, we work tirelessly to offer, in our price segment, a unique proposition combining aesthetic demands, watchmaking quality, craftsmanship, and pure emotion.
A Very Special Collaboration.
Frosted Leaf “Ultraviolet” is our first collaboration with the world’s leading alternative watch media and retail platforms. The “Ultraviolet” Edition was born out of a shared passion for gothic and alternative rock. Songs we listen to everyday, to celebrate good times or help us through hardships.
It was born out of a shared passion for gothic rock - The Cure, Joy Division, Depeche Mode - and alternative rock - Placebo, Muse, Radiohead.
We got inspired by the way music interweaves with our memories. Some songs are part of our daily life. We listen to them in happy moments or in sad ones. We tried to imagine what would happen if colors and emotions were not the results but the very basis of watchmaking.
Preserving, Modernizing, Transmitting.
Our relationship with the Métiers d’Art is not just a matter of watchmaking. It is a matter of highlighting craftmanship, transcending borders and boundaries, and giving prominence to diverse identities and cultures - within the frame of a dial. Promoting aesthetics, handicraft, meticulousness, and timelessness is also key. Each project of the brand aims at showcasing and preserving traditional savoir-faire by making them part of our daily lives.
Violet and black pigments scattered all’avventura combined with the ever-changing silver leaves create a breathtaking surface, giving the watch an extraordinary emotional depth. The resulting dial oozes romantic tragedy, dark poetry, and melancholy, without being downright austere.
The Art of Lacquerwork.
It all begins with the sap of the Rhus verniciflua tree, which grows in northern Vietnam. After a decade of growth, each tree yields only 200ml of sap per year, harvested exclusively in the early morning hours of June and July. Purified and dehydrated, this sap becomes a transparent lacquer, renowned for its brilliance and protective qualities.
Sơn Mài is an age-old technique, requiring several years of practice. It consists in applying and polishing several layers of natural lacquer to obtain a mirror-like surface with unrivalled depth. Contrary to the Chinese and Japanese traditions, Vietnamese craftsmen include precious materials between layers of lacquer—like silver leaves, in our case—to create a one-of-a-kind texture, with relief and plays of light.
Shining and Sparkling Silver Leaf.
At the bottom of the dial, the craftsmen apply a first layer of lacquer and very dark black pigments. Then they varnish it. They apply the first layer of pure silver leaves with a brush and delicately sand it to remove the excess of material. It all gives an organic quality to the dials, with metallic and warm flashes of light.
That is where our “Frosted” technique comes in. Instead of starting the lacquer layering as usual with “classic” dials, our Master Lacquerers repeat the previous process, adding silver leaves to lacquer. Said lacquer is enriched with purple pigments, thus creating a striking contrast. The material laying between each layer is lively. This technique requires patience and consistency. And time… It dramatically enhances the complexity of our dials.
A Unique Work of Art.
This « mille-feuille" - composed of lacquer, pure silver leaf and natural pigments - then passes into the hands of the workshop's most experienced artisan, for a long and delicate finger-sanding process that gradually reveals hypnotic reliefs and patterns, rendering each dial utterly unique.
Once the texture and depth achieved meet his exacting standards, several further coats of lacquer - each sanded and polished in turn - are applied to bestow upon the dial an impeccable brilliance and seal it for eternity. A demanding and methodical process of some 15 hours, throughout which the slightest lapse in attention would condemn the dial entirely.
Exclusive Luminescent Signature.
The watch features our exclusive luminous signature, designed to combine innovation, elegance, and emotion, while enhancing the Son Mài lacquered dial, by day and by night.
The hands and indices adopt an innovative construction combining Super-LumiNova® BGW9 with steel caps finished in polished, brushed, and finely engraved textures, ensuring a subtle diffusion of light and clear legibility without compromising the dial’s integrity.
In daylight, discretion is prioritized, while in darkness the luminescence fully reveals its intensity. A soft halo then emerges, poetically highlighting the brilliance of the lacquer, the contrast between blue pigments and pure gold, creating an immersive atmosphere between shadow and light, where technique and emotion converge.
A Concentrate of Watchmaking Pleasure.
Unique, hand-crafted dials incorporating pure gold for the very first time, an exclusive and innovative luminous signature, a renowned Swiss calibre, and straps handcrafted in France. True to our vision, we work relentlessly to deliver, within our price segment, a truly distinctive offering that brings together aesthetic excellence, horological quality, artisanal craftsmanship, and pure emotion.
Technical details
316L stainless steel, Ø38mm, lug-to-lug 44.75 mm, lug width 20mm
11.50mm with top lens / 10mm without top lens
Each dial requires 15 hours of work. They are handmade, using two traditional savoir-faire: Sơn Mài Vietnamese lacquerwork enriched with purple and black natural pigments, and pure silver leaves
Super-LumiNova® BGW9, AWAKE luminous “coiffe” signature
10 ATM (100m)
Sapphire, anti-reflective coating
Screw-in caseback, sapphire crystal
Jean Rousseau - grey Alcantara, rubberized calfskin lining, purple topstitching, fitted with curved quick-release spring bars and new micro-adjustment ardillon buckle. Strap size: 115x75 - 20-16mm
Automatic La Joux-Perret G101
68 hours
New custom-made rotor made of tungsten, with reliefs and counter-reliefs, polished, brushed and bead-blasted finishes. Bead-blasted and engraved rehaut with Time+Tide founder Andrew McUtchen’s quote: “Do not dream your way through life. Stay awake enough to build it.”
New 38 mm Case.
Frosted Leaf “Ultraviolet” - Time+Tide Studio Edition is equipped with our new 38 mm case, showcasing refined proportions and distinct elegance. Thanks to the polished and concave bezel, the sightly domed sapphire crystal, the barely downward-sloping lugs, and the subtle stepped profile, the watch looks perfectly balanced. A fine blend of 1960s aesthetics and contemporary design.
The contrast between polished surfaces and satin-finished sides is an adhesion to modernity. The slightly resized and now screw-down winding crown—allowing a 100 m water resistance—is adorned with a new “coat of arms”, symbolizing our commitment to Artisanship. Finally, the rehaut has been reshaped, expounding our vision with clarity and authenticity
New Brand Identity.
Frosted Leaf “Ultraviolet” - Time+Tide Studio Edition dials also show our new visual identity with a handwritten logo, as a tribute to the craftsmen’s handiwork. It is not only about aesthetics, it is about highlighting Tradition, Savoir-faire and Métiers d’Art in a contemporary frame.
Punched with our new coat of arms illustrating transmission and cultural dialogue, our watches embody our sensibility and commitment. Each detail glorifies the richness of Artisanat and our will to keep it alive.
Swiss G101 Caliber by La Joux-Perret.
The automatic G101 movement—made by Swiss manufacture La Joux-Perret - is the beating heart of the Frosted Leaf “Ultraviolet” - Time+Tide Studio Edition. Performing and reliable, up-to-date and precise, this finely-finished caliber offers a 68-hour power reserve. Besides, it is equipped with our new custom-made rotor. Made of tungsten, the rotor associates technical prowess and elegance, thanks to its reliefs and counter-reliefs, embellished by polished, brushed and bead-blasted finishes.
Adding to the emotion encapsulated in the dial is a quote from Time+Tide founder and CEO Andrew McUtchen, engraved in the case back. He was asked by the AWAKE team to express his thoughts on the collab and how a mere idea could be turned into something real and timeless. The case back reads: “Do not dream your way through life. Stay awake enough to build it.” The line can be read through the sapphire case back, which also unveils the movement. The watch becomes an aspirational piece, as well as a technical one.
Jean Rousseau Straps and New Fitwell Micro-Adjust pin buckle.
As a fine addition to the Frosted Leaf “Ultraviolet” dials, we selected a grey Alcantara strap, handcrafted by the artisans of the Jean Rousseau manufacture. It combines refined finishing, purple metallic topstitching and a black rubberized calfskin lining, wihile incorporating lugs. The perfect fit for our 38 mm case.
The strap is equipped with our new Fitwell M1 micro-adjustment ardillon buckle, with only 3 mm between each hole. Hence a perfect fitting to feel comfortable all day long. The outcome is both technical and refined, so that connoisseurs can enjoy their watch all day long.
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