Awake - Son Mài Fragments
Where Ancient Craft Meets Contemporary Wrist
The latest series from Awake doesn’t just tell time—it tells a story of cultural convergence. The Son Mài Fragments collection, limited to 100 pieces in each of three colors, compresses Japanese Raden inlay, Vietnamese lacquer artistry, and Swiss watchmaking into a 39mm dial that shifts and breathes under changing light. It represents something rare: genuine métiers d’art made accessible without compromising the integrity of the craft.
The Dial: A 15-Hour Miniature Landscape
This is not a printed pattern. Each dial begins with sap harvested from the Rhus verniciflua tree in northern Vietnam—a tree that needs a decade to mature and yields only 200ml of usable resin annually. Master lacquerers in Hanoi apply this purified lacquer by hand to a mirror-polished black base, then individually place hundreds of mother-of-pearl fragments using tweezers. Smaller pieces form the background; larger ones create dimension. Green, blue, or pink organic pigments are sprayed over the surface, tinting the nacre without muting its iridescence. Finally, about a dozen layers of clear lacquer are applied, dried, sanded, and polished. The entire ritual consumes nearly 15 hours per dial.
The result is a living surface—part 1980s Memphis design, part deep-space photography, part tropical fish scales, depending on the angle and color. Awake reverses typical lume application: Super-LumiNova BGW9 sits under the faceted indices and hands, creating a neon-outline effect at night that illuminates without overwhelming the dial’s depth. It’s a technical choice that prioritizes the artisanal canvas.
The Strap: Armor for the Wrist
Awake partnered with Maison Jean Rousseau in Paris for a matte black calfskin strap that echoes the dial’s restraint. The outer leather remains black across all versions, while the Alcantara lining matches each watch’s colorway—forest green, midnight blue, or purple. Tone-on-tone stitching and quick-release spring bars make swapping effortless, and the pin buckle is crafted from recycled steel. The decision to color only the lining keeps the wrist shot understated while offering a personal accent visible only to the wearer.
Technical Specifications
Case: Recycled 316L stainless steel, 39mm diameter, lug-to-lug 45.6 mm, lug width 20mm
Movement: Automatic La Joux-Perret G101 - 68-hour power reserve
Thickness: 11.80mm with crystal / 10.90mm without crystal
Métier d'Art dial: Reinterpretation of the ancient Japanese technique of Raden using a mosaic of fragments of mother-of-pearl, Vietnamese lacquer and natural pigments.
Indexes and hands: Super-LumiNova BGW9, AWAKE luminous “coiffe” signature
Glass: Anti-reflective sapphire crystal
Case back: Screw-down case back, sapphire crystal
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. 115x75 - 20-16mm.
Water resistance: 5 ATM
Warranty: 3-year international warranty
Price: HKD $22,500