Is There A Cosmic Connection? Three Awake Sơn Mài Guilloché Main Watches Land At Fratello HQ
You just can’t take your eyes off the dial, can you? I couldn’t. The three Awake Sơn Mài Guilloché Main Sunset, Alba, and Borealis watches do have a mesmerizing effect. That’s what a handmade, space-inspired guilloché dial combined with more unusual and, dare I say, exotic sơn mài lacquer does. But what you don’t notice is that the 38mm case is new. It replaces the 39mm case and marks an evolution. Awake’s founder, Lilian Thibault, doesn’t just want to create visually striking creations; he also strives to build watches that wear perfectly. A hands-on with the three new Sơn Mài Guilloché Main watches allowed me to experience their visual impact and wrist comfort while finding out if there’s a cosmic connection between these watches and me.
Last May, Awake introduced the Sơn Mài Guilloché Main collection. These three watches, each priced at €3,180, stand out for their handmade dials that combine traditional guilloché with the more unusual sơn mài lacquer. The celestially inspired 38mm watches are called Sunset, Alba, and Borealis. Each is a limited edition of 200 pieces and features a new handwritten logo with fluid, organic lines that pay tribute to artisans. Also artisanal are the Jean Rousseau straps crafted in Alcantara and fitted with a new micro-adjustable pin buckle. The Swiss La Joux-Perret automatic caliber inside the steel cases offers a 68-hour power reserve and features a new rotor. These are the cold, hard facts you get from a press release. They sounded intriguing, so when the cosmically colorful watches appeared at Fratello HQ, the team was eager to try them, test them, and experience their otherworldly-looking dials.
Hands-on with three Awake Sơn Mài Guilloché Main watches
Once the cosmic dials have hypnotized you, there’s no way back. That’s why I will first focus on the case. As said, the 316L stainless steel case is new. The 38mm-wide, 44.75mm-long, and 11.5mm-thick case replaces the previous 39mm one. Not only is the new housing a millimeter smaller, but it’s also about a third of a millimeter thinner.
The case feels good on the wrist, but to be honest, so did the 39mm version. To feel the difference, you would have to switch back and forth between the old and the new case. I didn’t have the opportunity to do so, but since every tenth of a millimeter counts in the world of watches, I could have experienced a slight change or upgrade. After all, moving forward and improvement are Lilian Thibault’s objectives.
The updated case now has a water resistance rating of 100 meters instead of 50, signaling another upgrade. Inside it beats the La Joux-Perret G101 caliber. This is a 4Hz automatic movement with manual winding and hacking seconds. The 24-jewel caliber features a tungsten rotor, a laser-engraved ring, and striping on the top plate, visible through the display case back.
Cosmically phenomenal
Now we can focus on what, obviously, the newest Awake creation is all about — the dial. Underneath a sapphire crystal with an antireflective coating, the Sunset (purple), Alba (orange), and Borealis (green) dials shine exuberantly. These are the result of different specialists doing what they do best. The Italian Renzetti family has operated a family business dedicated to guilloché main (hand-applied guilloché) since the late 18th century.
Today, the artisans at Renzetti operate straight-line and rose engines by hand. After the dials have received their delicate grooves, they are shipped to Vietnam for the sơn mài process that gives the watches their lively colors. It takes artisans more than 15 hours to create each dial by adding thin layers of pigmented lacquer. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Awake will produce just 200 of each of the new Sơn Mài Guilloché Main variants.
The result is a fascinating and rare blend of two handcrafted techniques from different continents. It’s tangible proof that mixing very different cultures can lead to unexpected beauty. I think if Abraham-Louis Breguet had traveled to Vietnam back in the day, he would have asked sơn mài specialists to paint his guilloché dials.
To complete the colorful look, each watch comes with a dial-matching 20mm Jean Rousseau Alcantara strap, featuring a rubber lining and an adjustable stainless steel pin buckle.
Color confessions
I must confess something: I should’ve picked an Awake Sơn Mài Guilloché Main for my list of the best summer watches. Unfortunately, I assembled the list before these exotic creatures came in. Still, which of the three Sơn Mài Guilloché Main is my favorite — Sunset (purple), Alba (orange), or Borealis (green)?
It’s a difficult choice. The orange one is cool when watching the Dutch squad in action during the FIFA World Cup, but I don’t have a special fondness for the color. Having said that, the way it shines and sparkles and the dynamic guilloché pattern keeps affecting the hue is nothing short of spectacular. The dial looks like a sun in a different universe.
The green Borealis is a fresh, fruity watch with a cool appearance. “Cool” as in “straight from the fridge.” This could be my favorite of the three, but since I already have touches of green in my watch collection, I will leave it for someone else to pick. It is, however, a fine example of contemporary watch design.
My favorite watch is the purple Sunset. This watch is like the Milky Way on a clear summer night sky. The depth of the dial and the way it sparkles is not of this planet.
Awake deserves praise for releasing such original, unique-looking watches at a very fair price. Just €3,180 (including taxes, import duties, and shipping) buys you not one but two artisanal crafts atop a Swiss-made movement, inside a svelte and comfy 38mm steel case with a very practical 100m water resistance rating. These fascinating and hypnotizing watches will brighten up your day — and night, for that matter.
The first 50 pieces of the three new Sơn Mài Guilloché Main variants will ship in June 2026. The remainder can be expected in September 2026.
