Son Mài - Silver Leaf « Golden Hour »

Between passion and patience

The result of meticulous know-how, the Sơn Mài - Silver Leaf technique requires unparalleled concentration and dexterity from the master lacquerers, and is based on a long and complex process carried out entirely by hand.

“The quintessence of watchmaking, a heritage of Humanity, artistic crafts allow us to express the beauty of a world and traditions whose value and importance we have gradually forgotten. Through the hand of man, we tell what fascinates us, what inspires us, what we want to preserve, and what we want to transmit” - Lilian Thibault, Founder of AWAKE.

A rare and precious raw material

It all begins with the sap of the Rhus verniciflua tree, which grows in northern Vietnam. After a decade of growth, each tree produces only 200 ml of sap per year, harvested only in the early morning hours of June and July. Purified and dehydrated, this sap becomes a transparent lacquer, renowned for its shine and protective qualities.

A unique ancestral Vietnamese art

Inherited from a centuries-old tradition, the Sơn Mài technique consists of applying, superimposing, and then polishing multiple layers of natural lacquer until a mirror-like finish of unparalleled depth is achieved. Unlike Chinese and Japanese schools, Vietnamese artisans incorporate precious materials into the lacquer—gold, mother-of-pearl, and here, silver leaf—creating unique textures, reliefs, and plays of light.

The incomparable brilliance of silver leaf

On a first layer of dried lacquer, sanded and polished to perfection, the pure silver leaves are delicately applied. This extremely precise gesture gives the dial an organic texture, a vibrant relief and changing reflections that capture the light with intensity.

Captivating colors and exceptional visual depth

Once the silver leaf is applied, natural pigments are sprayed onto the dial to give it its color and contrasts. Then a dozen successive layers of lacquer are applied and polished one by one, providing shine, protection, and almost infinite visual depth.

A unique work of art

The entire process, which requires patience, dexterity and extreme concentration, transforms each dial into a unique piece. A true meeting of tradition and modernity, Sơn Mài “Silver Leaf” elevates Vietnamese craftsmanship to the rank of watchmaking art, giving each watch a unique, singular face that is incomparable to any other technique.

Technical and poetic luminescence

These new Silver Leaf versions feature our exclusive AWAKE luminous signature unveiled at the launch of the first Sơn Mài collection. Innovative, creative, and highly technical, it draws inspiration from the Japanese aesthetic of chiaroscuro, a concept poetically explored by Junichirō Tanizaki in In Praise of Shadows, according to which beauty is found in our subtle relationship with objects and the play of light that preserves their mystery.

Moving away from traditional construction methods, our hands and indexes are crafted from a thin, solid base of BGW9 Super-LumiNova®, delicately machined and then coated with a layer of faceted polished steel. This unique construction, very subtle by day, creates a stunning backlighting effect in the dark, with exceptional depth, allowing one to understand the work of the lacquer through its hypnotic reflections.

Reliability and mechanical excellence

To bring the Sơn Mài collection to life, we selected the Swiss watch manufacturer La Joux-Perret and its G101 caliber. Behind the sapphire crystal comes a reliable and precise movement with meticulous finishing, equipped with a 68-hour power reserve. It is adorned with an oscillating weight exclusive to AWAKE in tungsten playing on reliefs and reflections sublimated by alternating sandblasted, polished and micro-blasted finishes.

The whole is encircled by a ring with polished and micro-blasted finishes, on which the details relating to each version, as well as the motto of the brand "Artisanship, Awakened" are engraved.

Strap handmade in France

« Golden Hour » is equipped with a nubuck bull calf leather strap in "squirrel" color, handmade in France and designed to perfectly match the subtle color and material effects of the dial.

These 5 new models are paired with straps selected to elegantly extend the colors and subtleties of each dial, or on the contrary, to bring them out. Handcrafted by the master saddlers of the Bouveret company located in Franche-Comté, their production requires no fewer than 60 steps following strict specifications prioritizing comfort and longevity. Each strap is lined with rubberized calfskin for increased resistance to humidity and wear.