The Excellence Petite Seconde has anchored the Excellence line from Louis Erard since 2020, and these two guilloché versions borrow a technique once championed by Abraham-Louis Breguet.
Louis Erard introduces two new versions of the Excellence Petite Seconde Guilloché: 42mm in anthracite black and 39mm in anthracite blue. Both keep the model's only change since 2020, a second, smaller case size alongside the original.
The dial is built in four parts. A radiant, flinqué-style centre deepens toward the middle, in a pattern traditionally cut by hand on a rose engine. A panier motif, finely scaled, covers the hour circle, and a minute scale the brand calls a “rail track” runs around the edge. The small seconds at 6 o'clock repeats the same guilloché in darker tones.
The rose-engine technique flourished in the 18th century, championed by makers such as Abraham-Louis Breguet and Urban Jürgensen. Louis Erard's own hand-guilloché Excellence Guilloché Main explored a more contemporary reading of it, in 2021. Inside is the automatic Sellita SW261-1, its openworked rotor lacquered black with the Louis Erard monogram.
Four years since its last change, the Excellence Petite Seconde keeps the same case, now cut in a technique that predates the brand itself.
The Basics
Brand: Louis Erard
Model: Excellence Petite Seconde Guilloché (42mm anthracite black; 39mm anthracite blue)
Reference: 34237AA42.BVA170 (42mm anthracite black); 34248AA21.BVA150 (39mm anthracite blue)
Diameter: 42mm; 39mm
Thickness: 12.25mm (42mm); 12.82mm (39mm)
Case material: Polished stainless steel, 3 pieces; domed sapphire crystal, anti-reflective both sides; transparent case back
Dial: Four-part guilloché: flinqué-style centre, panier hour circle, rail-track minutes. 42mm: anthracite black. 39mm: anthracite and blue
Water resistance: 5 bar (50m/165ft)
Strap: Black grained calf leather, tone-on-tone stitching; polished steel pin buckle
The Movement
Calibre: Sellita SW261-1, automatic, élaboré grade
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds at 6 o'clock
Winding: Automatic
Power reserve: Approx. 38 hours
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4Hz)
Jewels: 31
Images courtesy of Louis Erard.