Collector Commissions: Bespoke Sartory Billard SB05 with Exotic Meteorite, Aventurine, and Lapis Lazuli Dial

Credits: Article and images by Ian Skellern @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2023/08/31/collector-commissions-bespoke-sartory-billard-sb05-with-exotic-meteorite-aventurine-and-lapis-lazuli-dial-reprise/

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While some of the detail work including the snailing used by Billard is a bit assertive for my tastes, I feel that the movement and its finishing stand up well to the quality of the rest of the watch. And the choice of a dark grey movement surface finish really works for me in unifying the movement with the look of the case band and the dark, blasted relief sections of the inscriptions on the rear bezel.

NAC-treated movement, Sartory Billard SB05

Sleepless in Silicon Valley

If there’s one thing about having the luxury of nearly infinite choice, it’s the nagging feeling once you’ve picked that you somehow have gotten it wrong. In Lorenzo’s words: “In the time between signing off on the design and receiving the timepiece, I had a hundred different buyer’s remorse/re-design moments, where I doubted the whole thing. And at the same time, Torsti Laine was creating the 49 Crowns watches, which if I hadn’t already committed to Armand, I would have ordered. Had I made the right choice?”

There’s also the second guessing that comes with options not exercised. “Armand offered to engrave the bridge with something personal as long as it was shorter than 18 characters; I never could come up with anything within that constraint, and that I deeply regret,” Lorenzo added.

If you’re waiting for the part of the story about frustrating delays, you’ll have to look elsewhere as Lorenzo reported. “Once I agreed to the design and placed a deposit, it was about nine months. Armand has the process down and his communication is thorough and timely. And he was accessible even though we are nine time zones apart. Even DHL delivered the watch a day early!”

I like being right, but sometimes it’s good to be wrong

For a couple of years now, I’ve been saying that the worst possible business to be in today is to be making design-forward watches with purchased movements and trying to sell them for $5,000 to $10,000. The Kickstarter crowd can make an appealing-looking, if mechanically unexciting, watch for a few hundred dollars, and at the other extreme the haut de gamme indies are sucking the air out of the room with prices now in the six figures for a three-hand watch.

So how does Sartory Billard (or Laine, for that matter) succeed? For Sartory Billard, I think it’s the combination of a very high level of available customization – making it your own unique watch – and high-quality components such as the Comblémine dial and Voutilainen-Cattin case on Lorenzo’s piece. Whether intentional or not, Kari Voutilainen’s vertical integration into key component manufacture and his willingness to fill his factories supplying other small makers has created a path to success for customer- and quality-oriented mid-tier independents such as Sartory Billard.

Let me know what you think of Lorenzo’s watch – and about your own experiences with customization – in the comments section. I’ll look forward to reading your thoughts!

Parting shot: bespoke Sartory Billard SB05 with multi-mineral dial

For more information on the Sartory Billard and its customization possibilities, please visit sartory-billard.com/sb05.

Quick Facts Sartory Billard SB05 Bespoke Edition
Case: 38.5 x 8.5 mm, stainless steel case with polished bezels, polished and brushed lugs, and micro-blasted case band; sapphire front crystal and exhibition back with anti-reflective coating; water resistant to 5 ATM
Dial: multi-material with aventurine central section, lapis lazuli subsidiary second dial, and meteorite chapter ring; sapphire crystal upper chapter ring with stamped numerals and indices and anti-reflective coating
Movement: manually wound La Joux-Perret Caliber 7380; 90-hour power reserve; 21,600 vph/3 Hz frequency
Functions: hours, minutes, non-hacking subsidiary seconds
Price: approx. $10,000 for the example shown here
Limitation: limited production of approximately 125 SB05 examples per year
Production years: 2021 to present

* This article was first published 30 July 2022 at Collector Commissions: Bespoke Sartory Billard SB05 With Exotic Meteorite, Aventurine, And Lapis Lazuli Dial