AWAKE Royal Blue: Pure Gold Leaf Meets Vietnamese Sơn Mài Lacquer

With Royal Blue, AWAKE continues along a singular path in the independent watchmaking landscape. Rather than multiplying complications or giving in to passing trends, the young French house chooses to place the dial at the center of its artistic expression. This new edition, limited to 200 pieces, takes a further step by incorporating, for the first time, pure gold leaf into a dial made using the ancestral Vietnamese technique of Sơn Mài.

An evolution that is not purely aesthetic, but one that reflects an increasingly assertive ambition: to bring the decorative arts, culture, and contemporary watchmaking into dialogue.

The Maturation of a Watchmaking Identity

Since its founding in 2019, AWAKE has patiently built a world of its own. Far from a purely decorative approach, the brand has developed a genuine reflection on the transmission of artisanal know-how. After exploring different expressions of Vietnamese lacquer, it now takes a new step by introducing pure gold at the heart of its handmade dials.

This approach is far from trivial. In an industry where differentiation is becoming ever more difficult, few young houses manage to develop an immediately recognizable aesthetic language. AWAKE now appears to be achieving just that.

Sơn Mài, an Exceptional Vietnamese Heritage

While the name may still mean little to the general public, Sơn Mài is nonetheless one of Vietnam’s most prestigious decorative arts.

This centuries-old technique relies on the sap of the Rhus verniciflua tree, which takes around ten years to grow before it can be tapped. Harvesting remains extremely limited, as a single tree yields only about 200 milliliters of sap per year. Once purified, this sap becomes a natural lacquer whose visual depth and protective qualities have been prized for centuries.

Unlike Chinese or Japanese traditions, Vietnamese lacquer masters developed an approach that involves embedding precious materials directly into the material itself. It is precisely this specificity that AWAKE chose to exploit.

When Gold Leaf Meets Lacquer

The introduction of pure gold leaf is undoubtedly the main novelty of this Royal Blue edition.

Rather than simply coating the dial, the artisans successively layer natural blue pigments, coats of lacquer, gold leaf, further glazes, and then multiple rounds of sanding and polishing. This entirely manual work takes nearly fifteen hours for each dial.

The result goes well beyond the expected decorative effect. Depending on the angle of the light, the gold appears, disappears, diffuses into the depth of the blues, or, on the contrary, immediately catches the eye. Each dial thus becomes truly unique, the direct consequence of an artisanal process that cannot be industrialized.

A Particularly Successful Exercise in Style

The pairing of blue and gold is, of course, nothing new in the history of the decorative arts. It has spanned civilizations for several millennia and remains associated with nobility, the sacred, and the pursuit of perfection. AWAKE nevertheless manages to give it a contemporary interpretation. The different shades of blue create an almost liquid depth, while the golden flashes appear to hover beneath the surface of the dial, as if trapped within the material. This sensation is reinforced by the Frosted technique, already used by the brand, which produces a subtle glazed effect and further enhances the visual richness of the whole.

A New, More Mature Case

Royal Blue does not simply introduce a new dial.

This edition also introduces an all-new 38 mm case with particularly well-balanced proportions. More compact than previous generations, it features a slimmer bezel that leaves more room for the dial, slightly downturned lugs inspired by 1960s watches, and a now screw-down crown ensuring 100 meters of water resistance. These changes reflect genuine attentiveness to collectors. The proportions now feel more universal and further enhance the model’s natural elegance.

A Proven Movement

Inside, AWAKE relies on the Swiss automatic La Joux-Perret G101 calibre. With 68 hours of power reserve, a reputation for reliability, and a new dedicated oscillating weight developed for this collection, the movement is a coherent choice. The brand favors a proven mechanical base here, allowing it to focus all its creative energy on what truly makes this watch unique: its dial.

A Signature That Asserts Its Personality

Another notable development: Royal Blue also introduces a new graphic identity, with a more organic handwritten logo and a crest symbolizing the transmission of craftsmanship. These details may seem anecdotal, but they actually reflect an important step in the brand’s development. AWAKE is no longer simply a young company with appealing ideas; it is gradually building a genuinely coherent world in which design, craftsmanship, culture, and watchmaking engage in remarkably consistent dialogue.

Today’s world of independent watch microbrands is full of offerings that are sometimes appealing but often interchangeable. AWAKE takes a far more demanding path.

Royal Blue does not impress through a spectacular complication or a wealth of technology. Its strength lies elsewhere: in showcasing a rare craft, in the intelligence of its execution, and in an identity that grows more assertive with each collection. At 3,000 euros, this edition limited to 200 pieces sits in a particularly competitive segment. Yet it holds an argument few watches can claim: each dial is the result of fifteen hours of manual work and is a truly unique piece.

At a time when industrialization tends to standardize production, this Royal Blue is a reminder that certain watchmaking emotions still arise from the patience of artisans, the beauty of materials, and gestures passed down over centuries. That is probably where its greatest luxury lies.

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