Awake - Son Mài Silver Leaf Atlantis Blue
There are watches that tell time, and there are watches that tell stories. The Atlantis Blue belongs to the latter—a portal to sunken worlds and ancient mysteries, rendered in lacquer, silver leaf, and light.
AWAKE's Master Lacquerers in Hanoi have spent countless hours perfecting a dial that seems to breathe. Using the ancestral Vietnamese art of Sơn Mài, they layer pure silver leaf beneath waves of natural pigment, creating a gradient that draws you inexorably toward the center—like sunlight fading into the ocean's depths, or the last glimpse of a lost civilization before it slips beneath the waves. This is the "vignette" effect, borrowed from the optical imperfections of vintage photography, transformed here into pure emotion. Each dial is unique. Each carries the subtle irregularities of human hands at work.
The colors emerged from an obsession with the abyss—that realm where exploration meets imagination, where bioluminescent creatures drift through darkness and ancient myths refuse to die. The Atlanteans, those mysterious beings who breathed underwater and built cities of impossible beauty, served as muse. What would they have worn? What object could bridge their world and ours?
Light becomes narrative in the Atlantis Blue. AWAKE's exclusive luminous signature—hands and indices built upon a foundation of Super-LumiNova, then crowned with polished steel—creates a ghostly backlight effect when darkness falls. The dial doesn't merely glow; it transforms, preserving its mysteries until the moment demands revelation.
Through the sapphire caseback, a tungsten rotor catches the light like submerged treasure—sandblasted, polished, and micro-blasted surfaces playing against each other in endless variation. The La Joux-Perret movement within beats with Swiss precision, yet it is the human touch that elevates this piece: the leatherworkers of Franche-Comté stitching peacock-blue suede, the laser-etched motto "Artisanship, Awakened" encircling the rotor.
Technical Specifications
Case
Material: 316L recycled stainless steel
Diameter: 39 mm
Lug-to-lug: 45.6 mm
Lug width: 20 mm
Thickness: 11.80 mm including crystal / 10.90 mm without crystal
Crystal: Sapphire glass with anti-reflective treatment
Caseback: Screw-down with sapphire crystal
Water resistance: 5 ATM (50 m)
Dial
Style: Arts & Crafts dial entirely handmade using traditional Vietnamese techniques
Technique: Subtly combining layers of silver leaf, lacquer, and natural pigments
Indices & Hands
Lume: Super-LumiNova® BGW9
Signature: AWAKE exclusive "coiffe" luminous signature
Movement
Calibre: La Joux-Perret G101 automatic
Power reserve: 68 hours
Decoration: Custom tungsten rotor with recessed and raised surfaces, brushed, micro-beaded, and polished finishes; micro-beaded encircling ring engraved by laser
Strap
Width: 20-16 mm
Material: Blue suede with rubberized calf lining
Details: Tone-on-tone stitching
Buckle: Pin buckle
Warranty: 3 years international
Limited edition: 100 pieces
Price: HKD $22,000