What We Know
Awake is launching three new watches today, along with a new visual identity for the young brand. The three references—”Sunset,” “Alba,” and “Borealis”—take their names and color palettes from celestial phenomena: an ocean sunset, an incandescent dawn, and the Northern Lights, respectively.
“Alba”
The dials are the story here, and the story behind them is quite fascinating. The process begins in Hanoi, Vietnam, where master lacquerers apply multiple ultra-thin layers of Sơn Mài lacquer—derived from the sap of the Rhus Verniciflua tree—then meticulously polish each coat to build up the dial’s color. Sunset gets pink, violet, and blue.
Alba gets red, yellow, and orange. Borealis gets green and yellow. Once the lacquer work is complete, the dials travel to Italy, where they’re handed to the Renzetti family—one of the last workshops in Europe still practicing hand guilloché—who work them on traditional rose and straight-line engine lathes, entirely by hand, for approximately 15 hours per dial. Each groove is unique to the individual artisan and the individual piece.
“Sunset”
The hands and indices are constructed with a steel cap system finished in polished, brushed, and engraved textures, filled with Super-LumiNova BGW9. The result is a lume solution that’s discreet in daylight but comes alive in the dark, casting a soft halo over the lacquer and guilloché beneath.
All of this sits inside a new 38mm stainless steel case, a first for Awake. It features a polished concave bezel, a gently domed anti-reflective sapphire crystal, slightly downward-curving lugs, water resistance to 10 ATM, and a sapphire caseback. Lug-to-lug comes in at 44.75mm and thickness at 11.5mm, including the crystal. And for those paying close attention: there’s a new handwritten logo on the dial, replacing the previous one.
“Borealis”
The movement is the La Joux-Perret G101 automatic, offering a 68-hour power reserve. Awake has developed a custom tungsten oscillating weight for it, finished with brushed, micro-blasted, and polished surfaces. The caseback ring is engraved with the brand’s mission statement, “Illuminating the hands and heritage behind rare crafts”, and its slogan, “Artisanship, Awakened.”
The straps are made in collaboration with Jean Rousseau and handcrafted in Alcantara, Spain, with a rubberized calfskin lining, colored stitching, and curved quick-release spring bars. They come in green, violet, or orange to match each reference, and are fitted with Awake’s new Fitwell M1 micro-adjustable pin buckle, which allows for 3mm incremental adjustments.
Each of the three editions is limited to 200 numbered pieces, and the retail price is $3,075 excluding taxes. First delivery of 50 pieces is expected at the end of June 2026.
What We Think
My first in-person introduction to Awake was last month at Chronopolis in Geneva after Watches and Wonders, and I walked away genuinely impressed. The first thing I noticed was the new logo—and how right it felt. The previous one was fine, but this handwritten version feels timeless, like it’s always been there. It’s a natural evolution for the brand, and it complements the dials in a way that the old logo simply didn’t. It immediately elevates the whole package.
At €3,075, it’s genuinely difficult to think of another watch that puts this much handcraft on your wrist for the money. Two ancestral techniques, executed by specialists on two different continents, with roughly 15 hours of dial work alone—that’s a remarkable value proposition for anyone who cares about how things are made.
There are two more things I want to bring up: first, the move to 38mm is smart. It’s a size that will suit a wider range of wrists without abandoning the brand’s identity. The second is the lume. I really appreciate the fact that Awake didn’t treat it as an afterthought. The showstopping dial doesn’t stop when the sun goes down. That soft glow over the guilloché and lacquer at night is its own kind of experience.
If you get the chance to see these in person, take it. Photographs do a reasonable job, but they can’t fully convey what it feels like to watch one of these dials shift and shimmer under changing light. The artistry involved is something you need to see for yourself.
The Basics
Brand: Awake
Model: Sơn Mài – Guilloché Main Alba / Sunset / Borealis
Diameter: 38mm
Thickness: 11.5mm (including crystal) / 10mm (excluding crystal)
Case Material: 316L Stainless Steel
Dial Color: Pink, violet, and blue (Sunset) / Red, yellow, and orange (Alba) / Green and yellow (Borealis)
Indexes: Applied, steel cap with polished, brushed, and engraved textures
Lume: Super-LumiNova BGW9
Water Resistance: 10 ATM (100m)
Strap/Bracelet: Jean Rousseau Alcantara with rubberized calfskin lining, colored stitching, curved quick-release spring bars, and Fitwell M1 micro-adjustable pin buckle — green (Borealis), violet (Sunset), or orange (Alba)
The Movement
Caliber: La Joux-Perret G101
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
Power Reserve: 68 hours
Winding: Automatic
Pricing & Availability
Price: $3,075
Availability: Now, on awakewatches.com or at select retailers.
Limited Edition: Yes, 200 pieces of each reference.
For more, click here.
