Awake Adds Four Gradient Dials to Sơn Mài Line in New 38mm Case
Watch brand Awake has added four gradient vignette dials to its Sơn Mài line, now in a redesigned 38mm steel case. One Purple Viola edition is limited to 200 pieces, while Indian Red and Java Green join the permanent range.
Watch brand Awake has added four gradient vignette dials to its Sơn Mài collection, all in a redesigned 38mm case. The awake sơn mài collection pairs pure silver leaf with Vietnamese lacquer, a technique the brand first used in 2024.
Awake says the new dials draw on 1970s color ideas. One of the four, the Purple Viola, is a limited edition.
Four dials, one limited edition
The Purple Viola is the first of the Silver Leaf Vignette dials. Awake is making only 200 numbered pieces. Its gradient runs from deep, almost black tones at the edge to a lighter violet center.
It is the only model without a strap matched to the dial. Awake pairs it with a light gray strap instead.
Indian Red joins the permanent Silver Leaf collection as a serial model. Production is capped at roughly 100 pieces a year, because of how much work each dial takes. The dial fades from opaque at the edge to a more transparent tone, with no lighter center.
Java Green also enters serial production. Its color shifts from dark green at the edges to a lighter, mossy green toward the center. The surface has a finely grained texture with lines that resemble rock striations.
The fourth model is Gentian Blue, which also joins the line.
How the dials are made
Each dial takes more than 10 hours of work. Artisans apply pure silver leaf, then build roughly 12 layers of pigmented lacquer. They sand and polish between coats.
Light catches the lacquer differently depending on the angle, so no two watches look identical.
Polished indexes sit over slightly larger Super-LumiNova BGW9 platforms, the glow-in-the-dark material used for the hour markers. In the dark, the markers appear to float above the dial with a blue glow. The dial also carries Awake's newer script signature.
Case and straps
The case is new this year. It is 316L stainless steel, 38mm across and 44.75mm long, with lugs that take 20mm straps. It is 11.5mm thick, including a 1.5mm sapphire crystal with an antireflective coating.
Water resistance is 100m, and the crown is a standard push-pull type.
Each watch ships on an Alcantara or nubuck strap made in France by Maison Jean Rousseau and Bouveret. Every strap has a rubberized calfskin lining, a Fitwell M1 micro-adjustable pin buckle and quick-release spring bars.
