After Giving Us The Rainbow, Awake Now Gets Us The Pot Of Gold With The New Sơn Mài Frosted Leaf Royal Blue
Have you seen a rainbow anywhere lately? I haven’t, but every time I see one, I think about the pot of gold that’s supposed to be sitting right at the end of it. Independent watch brand Awake also makes me think there’s a connection between the two. Lex recently went hands-on with the Sơn Mài Guilloché Main Sunset, Alba, and Borealis watches, which cover just about all the colors of the rainbow. And now, Awake has released the Sơn Mài Frosted Leaf Royal Blue. I know there’s no mention of gold anywhere in that name, but I can assure you there’s pure gold leaf on the blue Vietnamese-lacquer-finished handmade dial.
No, there are no guilloché dials this time, but there is a dial with blue sơn mài lacquer and actual gold leaf. Mike went hands-on with the original Frosted Leaf collection in May of last year. Those three watches featured dials with brown, dark blue, or green sanded lacquer and pure silver leaf. In the new Royal Blue version, the silver leaf makes way for pure gold leaf. Let’s take a look at this 200-piece limited edition.
The Awake Sơn Mài Frosted Leaf Royal Blue
If you’ve read Lex’s article on the colorful Sơn Mài Guilloché Main watches, you already know about Awake’s new direction regarding its logo and case dimensions. If not, let me bring you up to speed. The previous Sơn Mài Frosted Leaf models had a 39 × 45.6 × 11.8mm case. Those dimensions weren’t bad at all. However, the new 38 × 44.75 × 11.5mm case makes the Sơn Mài Frosted Leafs feel even more compact. Yes, in terms of total thickness (including the domed sapphire crystal), there’s only a 0.3mm difference. But when you count only the new 10mm-thick stainless steel case, you’ll find a more substantial 0.9mm reduction. The concave bezel and tops of the lugs are polished, while the sides of the lugs and case band are horizontally brushed.
The screw-down crown helps keep the watches water resistant to 100 meters. With it, you can operate the automatic La Joux-Perret G101 movement inside. It runs at 28,800 vph, features 24 jewels, and has a 68-hour power reserve. Through the case back’s sapphire display, you can look at the movement, including the custom-engraved tungsten rotor, and the movement ring with Awake’s mission, “Illuminating the hands and heritage behind rare crafts,” and the “Artisanship, Awakened” brand signature.
Golden leaves
All right, let’s move on to the new logo on the dial. On the previous Frosted Leaf models, it was still written in a rather modern-looking font. With the debut of Guilloché Main models, the logo received a more handwritten look as a tribute to the artisans’ manual labor. The result of that labor is right underneath the logo. The dial is created using the sơn mài process, as in previous releases. The Chinese lacquer tree, or Rhus verniciflua, found in northern Vietnam, provides the sap for the dial’s base. The artisans apply various layers of lacquer. Every time, they sand and polish them. The special Vietnamese touch here is the use of precious materials in the lacquer, in this case, pure gold leaf. Layer by layer, artisans add lacquer, natural blue pigment, and pure gold leaf, and manually sand it to reveal the dial’s textures.
I haven’t seen the Royal Blue dial in person yet, but I can imagine it looks even better than it already does in the pictures. The clear blue is a great background for the warm, lustrous golden leaves. The combination reminds me a bit of the bright blue Indian-summer sky in Canada, with the golden maple leaves in front of it. In the pictures, the dial might appear a little flat, but the multiple layers of lacquer are sure to provide plenty of depth. On top of the dial sit 3D luminous frames for the high-polished hour markers, and the hour and minute hands mirror this style.
Initial impressions of the Awake Sơn Mài Frosted Leaf Royal Blue
I’d love to see the new Awake Sơn Mài Frosted Leaf Royal Blue with its blue and gold leaf dial in real life one day. But as it’s a limited edition of only 200 pieces, I might not get so lucky. Awake is on a roll with its artisanal dials at affordable prices. Retailing for €3,000 (including taxes), the new Sơn Mài Frosted Leaf Royal Blue is no exception. The gold leaf really jumps off bright blue background of the dial. Of course, each dial is also unique because of the hand-applied layers of lacquer and gold leaf.
Is there anything to improve on, then? Well, I understand the choice of the new style for the Awake logo. However, I don’t think it matches the style of the hands and case. Those both look a little more modern, while the logo now looks a bit more classic. Other than that, though, I think the new Awake Sơn Mài Frosted Leaf Royal Blue looks absolutely stunning, especially on its matching blue Alcantara strap.
What do you think of the new Awake Sơn Mài Frosted Leaf Royal Blue? Let me know in the comments below.
