With the micro market being healthier than ever, and new brands popping up on a seemingly monthly basis, you’d think that they’d run out of ideas. Then there are brands like Awake, finding incremental ways of further exploring their own niche. In Awake’s case, that’s sơn mài lacquer, and they’re now blending this ancient Vietnamese craft with guilloché engraving, a paragon of high-end, hand-made watches. It’s not just the dial that’s new, either. The French brand has redesigned the case to make it a tad smaller and a lot more elegant, pairing that with a new logo to match, and an Jean Rousseau strap with a very funky buckle. Here’s all you need to know.
What is it?
Having built their church on the foundations of special dials, this latest variant is certainly Awake’s most special yet. Being aware I’m pointing out the obvious – just look at that dial. As it is the latest edition, we’ll explore the guilloché patterns first, here rendered by Milanese family-owned outfit Renzetti. The three patterns are created using a combination of rose engine and straight engine work – both exquisitely difficult as I recently had the chance to find out myself, thanks to JLC’s booth at Watches & Wonders. Each is distinct, with the orange and green adopting more traditional takes emanating from the pinion, while the purple “Sunset” colourway features a straight line engine drapé-moiré pattern.
To achieve the vibrant colours, the engraved dials are sent to Hanoi, which has a rich history of sơn mài artwork , a little piece of which is applied to each dial through many layers of polished lacquer. Awake has also moved away from their usual sans-serif to a very serify script typeface, but they have retained their luminescent signature with the backlit hands and arrowhead indices.
The stainless steel case has also gone through a refinement process, with a slimmer, concave bezel and more neatly integrated lugs, now measuring 38m across instead of its predecessor’s 39mm, also dropping a few millimetres from lug to lug. Despite this reduction in size, Awake has doubled the water-resistance, now sitting at a respectable 100 metres for a watch of these dimensions.
One thing hasn’t changed at all, and that’s the movement. La Joux-Perret’s has become a popular choice for microbrands wanting to offer a Swiss alternative, and the G101 in particular is viewed as a superior choice to a Sellita SW200 thanks to its higher power reserve and more prestigious name. Structurally, it takes after its Japanese cousin, the Miyota 9000, but delivers some notable upgrades that look good on paper such as the 68-hour power reserve and better decoration.
A final note is on the strap, made in collaboration with WIS favourite Jean Rousseau, and equipped with something that is really quite rare – a micro-adjustable pin buckle. Outside of Formex, I can’t actually recall the last time I’ve seen something similar – Awake’s offering is essentially an adaptation of Delugs’ design, and offers 3mm of adjustment.
First impressions
If you thought I’d say anything other than “damn good job”, you clearly haven’t read any of the preceding paragraphs. What impresses me most is that Awake could’ve easily priced the Sơn Mài Guilloché Main higher, but it’s actually in line with all of their other offering, which tells me that they’re being equitable with their pricing.
From an execution standpoint, I have no notes. The dials speak for themselves, and I’m glad to see the small refinements to the case that not only result in an improved on-wrist experience, but also serve the dials better by making them an even bigger focal point. Now just to democratise how I’m going to buy yet another watch in a year which was supposed to be a sabbatical…
Awake Sơn Mài Guilloché Main pricing and full specifications
The Awake Sơn Mài Guilloché Main is a limited edition of 200 pieces per colourway, with the first batch of 50 pieces shipping in June 2026, and the next in September of 2026. Price: €2,650
