Louis Erard X Wire Art - FIL D’OR
“Like every Louis Erard collaboration, this one began with an encounter with Sylvie & Mark, drawn together by a golden thread and wired into a bold idea: turning a machine built for chip tech into a tool for gold micro-sculpture…”
- Manuel Emch
When microelectronic precision becomes a form of art. Louis Erard keeps doing what it does best: shining a light on talent, artisans, craft and bold ideas. Introducing Fil d’Or. A collaboration with Sylvie Villa & Mark Miehlbradt, founders of Wire Art. Engineers by training. Artists by conviction. Fil d’Or is a thread of innovation, soldered to craftsmanship.
Fil d’Or joins the Noirmont Métiers d’Art collection, housed in a 39 mm stainless steel case. Its design, built from anachronistic cubes, nods to the 3D checkerboard of the hand-guilloché dial (2021) and the miniature wood marquetry (2023).
The baseplate is laser-engraved with thousands of micro cavities, then filled with gold through electroplating. Each thread, each solder point, is placed according to a 2D digital design. Height is adjusted and calibrated to the nearest micron. Pressure, temperature, welding time, nothing is left to chance.
The dial comes to life on the wrist, playing with light, tricking the eye. Threads and bumps form a motif inspired by the isometric cube, somewhere between optical illusion and miniature sculpture. But the gold doesn’t lie: it’s 24K pure. Why that choice? Because only unalloyed gold is soft and ductile enough for such precision, while still retaining its shape once work-hardened. Each dial is made by Wire Art Switzerland, in Sainte-Croix, where Swiss micromechanics was born.
Technical Specifications
Case: Polished stainless steel
Lug width: 20 mm tapering to 18 mm
Lug-to-lug: 45.9 mm
Thickness: 12.82 mm
Water resistance: 5 ATM
Crystal: Domed sapphire, double-sided anti-reflective; sapphire exhibition caseback engraved “WIRE ART EDITION 1 of 99”
Movement: Automatic Sellita SW261-1, 2-hand, Ø 25.6 mm, 5.6 mm high, open-worked black-lacquered Louis Erard rotor, 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power Reserve: 38 h
Dial: Black lacquer base; hour-markers, chapter ring and 3-D cube motif in 24-karat soldered gold wire
Hands: Rhodium-plated, satin-brushed tops, diamond-polished edges, sword-shaped
Strap: Beige grained calf, tone-on-tone stitching, black lining, 20/18 mm, quick-release spring bars; polished steel pin buckle
Warranty: 3-year international warranty
Price: HKD $45,000