Founded by Lilian Thibault following a successful 2018 Kickstarter campaign, Awake officially launched in 2019 and quickly gained international attention after its watches were selected as gifts for the world leaders attending the G7 Summit. The brand continued to explore innovative concepts with its NASA-approved Mission to Earth project in 2022, featuring the world’s first sapphire-glass contactless NFC chip that enabled access to live footage from the International Space Station. In 2024, AWAKE introduced the Son Mai collection and brought the ancient Vietnamese lacquer art form into contemporary Swiss and French watchmaking. Now, the brand has expanded its Frosted collection with the Royal Blue, a limited-edition timepiece that introduces pure gold into its Vietnamese Son Mai lacquer dials for the first time. The watch is inspired by the concept "Where Time Flows, Gold Endures" and combines traditional artisanal techniques with contemporary watchmaking.

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The model is crafted in a 38 mm stainless steel case featuring a polished concave bezel, brushed case flanks, and polished surfaces to create visual contrast. A gently domed sapphire crystal and slightly downward-sloping lugs give the contemporary appearance a vintage touch. The model features a resized crown with a screw-down construction and offers water resistance up to 100 metres. The caseback features a redesigned, more legible rehaut, engraved with the brand’s mission and signature.

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The dial is crafted using the traditional Vietnamese Son Mai lacquer technique. Multiple layers of lacquer, natural blue pigments, and pure gold leaf are applied, sanded, polished, and refined entirely by hand to create a unique composition of depth, texture, and light. The dial displays a fine blend of blue, ranging from deep sapphire to lighter sky-blue tones, complemented by the warm reflections of gold. “Choosing to incorporate gold into our watch dials is a decision that transcends aesthetics. It is a way of affirming, without words, that one believes in what endures and never fades,” says Lilian Thibault, Founder of Awake.

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Awake’s new handwritten logo appears on the dial, and legibility is ensured through hands and applied indices featuring an innovative construction that combines steel caps with Super-LumiNova BGW9. The polished, brushed, and chiselled surfaces of the markers and hands allow light to interact with the dial during the day while providing a bright blue glow in low-light conditions.

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The model is powered by the Swiss-made La Joux-Perret G101 automatic movement, which is visible through the caseback. Operating at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz), the calibre delivers a power reserve of 68 hours. The movement features a tungsten rotor that combines polished, brushed, micro-blasted finishes, and raised and recessed surfaces.

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The watch is paired with a handcrafted blue Alcantara strap. Designed specifically for the 38 mm case, the strap features tone-on-tone stitching, a rubberised calfskin lining, and integrated proportions for a seamless fit. Measuring 115 × 75 mm with a 20/16 mm taper, the strap is secured by Awake’s new Fitwell M1 micro-adjustable pin buckle that allows fine adjustments in 3 mm increments.

Limited to 200 pieces worldwide, the Awake Royal Blue is priced at approximately INR 3,20,000. “For Awake, ‘seeking the gold of time’ is a perpetual quest for the beauty, the magic, and the enchantment that surround us everywhere,” says Thibaut Sacré, COO of Awake.

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Images: Courtesy Awake