Louis Erard and Vianney Halter Bring the Antiqua Spirit Into a New Limited Edition

Louis Erard’s collaborations have become one of the more interesting value propositions in contemporary watchmaking, not because they mimic independent watchmaking, but because they make its visual language easier to reach.

The new Louis Erard x Vianney Halter Futur Antérieur is the brand’s third project with Halter, and it’s the most physically committed of the trio.

Instead of borrowing only hands, dial typography or layout cues, this limited edition moves into case architecture, with raised porthole bezels that clearly evoke Halter’s landmark design vocabulary.

At a glance

• Louis Erard and Vianney Halter have created the Futur Antérieur, their third collaborative limited edition.
• The watch uses a sculptural stainless steel case with two protruding sub-dials and raised porthole-style bezels.
• Two dial versions are limited to 178 pieces each, with 78 two-watch sets also offered.

A Halter signature moves beyond the dial

Vianney Halter’s best-known watch remains the Antiqua, first presented at Baselworld in 1998 and created with designer Jeff Barnes.

It was Halter’s first independent creation, following years spent restoring vintage watches and later developing movements through Techniques Horlogères Appliquées, which he co-founded with François-Paul Journe and Denis Flageollet.

The Antiqua stood apart for its four porthole-framed sub-dials, its riveted case and its unusual blend of mechanical nostalgia and science-fiction tension.

The Futur Antérieur doesn’t attempt to recreate that perpetual calendar architecture, but it does bring the collaboration much closer to Halter’s three-dimensional design language than previous Louis Erard projects.

Here, the case is no longer a neutral container for a characterful dial.

It becomes the point of the watch.

Raised portholes and asymmetric rhythm

The stainless steel case measures 38 mm across, 44 mm lug to lug and 8.85 mm thick, which keeps the watch notably compact considering the layered construction on the front.

Two sub-dials project from the round case, each surrounded by a raised bezel shaped like a porthole.

The finishing does much of the visual work, with brushed surfaces, polished bevels and polished yellow-gilt rivets adding the machine-like quality associated with Halter’s own watches.

With only two displays instead of the Antiqua’s four, Louis Erard has used the additional case space for raised plates engraved with the names of the two collaborators.

The result is asymmetrical but not chaotic, with the hours and minutes at four o’clock and running seconds at ten o’clock.

Even the crown is treated as part of the architecture, with rivet detailing and a bevel rather than a simple off-the-shelf form.

Two small movements for two separate displays

The unusual layout is achieved in an equally unusual way.

Rather than using one movement with a module to separate the displays, the Futur Antérieur uses two Sellita SW100 automatic movements, with each movement driving its own sub-dial.

That means the hours and minutes are mechanically independent from the seconds indication, though both movements feature hacking seconds.

It’s not the most conventional technical answer, but it helps preserve the compact dimensions and allows the watch to deliver the split-dial display without a more complex bespoke mechanism.

Each movement runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour and offers a 42-hour power reserve.

Limited editions, dial choices and pricing

The Futur Antérieur is available in two versions, one with a gold-coloured dial and one with a silver-coloured dial.

Each version is limited to 178 pieces, while 78 sets combine both watches.

The gold-dial version is paired with a black ostrich leather strap, while the silver-dial version comes on blue ostrich leather.

Pricing is CHF 4,950 per watch excluding tax, or CHF 9,900 for the two-watch set excluding tax.

Details & Specifications

The Futur Antérieur should appeal most to collectors who admire Halter’s early independent work but want something smaller, simpler and considerably more approachable than a complicated original.

More importantly, it shows Louis Erard taking the harder route in a collaboration, building a distinctive case rather than merely restyling a dial.