French independent watchmaker, Awake, has produced a limited edition version of its recently launched Son Mai Métiers d’Art watch that will raise money for Scotty’s Little Soldiers, a UK charity that supports bereaved military children.
The Poppies watch has a bright red dial and matching red strap, an idea that was inspired by Awake’s participation at WatchPro Salon in London last year, which coincided with Remembrance Weekend and the wearing of poppies to honour the sacrifices made by the country’s armed services.
Lilian Thibault, founder of Awake, comes from a military family and was moved by the annual commemoration, which is not marked in the same way in France, and decided to create The Poppies project to support Scotty’s Little Soldiers, which helps bereaved military families.
“In 2023, during WatchPro Salon, we were touched by the two minutes silence observed by all exhibitors and visitors in honour of Remembrance Day and the associated Poppy,” Mr Thibault recalls.
“Coincidentally, or as fate would have it, a few days later we received the first dials in our brand-new Son Mai collection. Observing the depth and reflections of the red dial on the “Lava” version, the idea was born almost instantly,” he adds.
Awake launched the Son Mai collection at this year’s WatchPro Salon as a colourful range of lacquer-dialled watches.
The métiers d’art dials are made using a traditional Vietnamese lacquer technique called son mai.
The technique involves sanded lacquer and silver leaf gilding and the hand-crafted dials take 10 and 15 hours of work.
They have 39mm stainless steel cases and are powered by the La Joux-Perret G101 automatic movement with a 68-hour power reserve.
The core collection comes in four different colours: blue, emerald, lava and amethyst.
“Our dials are where tradition meets modernity, transforming into genuine works of art. Their creation is limited only by the exceptional skill and capacity of the artisans we collaborate with,” Mr Thibault describes.
All Son Mai watches, including The Poppies, come on a rubber-lined nubuck leather strap and cost €2,000.
10% of the sale price for The Poppies watches will be donated to Scotty’s Little Soldiers.