A Pair That’s Unfrogettable: Louis Erard and Konstantin Chaykin Team Up Once Again

Over the last several years, collaborative timepieces have begun saturating the market. And, in my humble opinion, they were getting a bit lazy, predictable, and commercial.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for co-creation. In an industry built on exclusivity, we need makers to come together and team up, but it needs to be done with authenticity and purpose. Enter some recent collaborations we’ve seen, such as the UR-Freak from Ulysse Nardin and Urwerk.

The design we’re here to talk about today is the recent Louis Erard and Konstantin Chaykin team-up: the Unfrogettable. What these two partnerships have in common is, in fact, the exact opposite of what you might expect to result in a successful mashup.

In both of these recent collaborations, the brands involved have each built their reputations and success on having a very specific, instantly recognizable design language. At first glance, this sounds like a recipe for disaster – aesthetics clashing. Instead, something beautiful has happened. So, let’s take a deeper look at the case of Louis Erard and Konstantin Chaykin.

The Unfrogettable is the brainchild of two distinct brands. “Our identity has always been synonymous with the regulator,” explained Manuel Emch, CEO of Louis Erard. “This is our core since the company started in 1929.” Alternatively, you have Konstantin Chaykin, known for its whimsical Wristmons, whose design hinges on horizontally arranged hour and minute registers that act as the eyes of whatever figure is depicted on the dial.

“To combine these design codes, we simply took our existing movement and flipped the orientation,” Emch continued. “So, now you have the regulator positioned horizontally and the possibility to represent a creature from the animal world.”
 

The pair did just that, leaning on the classic fairytale of the princess and the frog. “Storytelling is very important to both of our brands,” shared Emch. “We wanted to choose a story that’s universal, that everyone knows. I think also for both of us, the frog prince is the perfect animal,” he continued. “It’s both handsome and unusual at the same time – I think that captures both of our brands.”

Dichotomy is undoubtedly the driving force of this collaboration, but instead of opposing forces working against each other, they work together. The lore of the frog prince is the co-existence of both man and beast, the raw beauty of human nature, and the strange mystery of the wild animal kingdom. We see this clearly represented in the Unfrogettable.

With the Unfrogettable, you have a pair of watches that are both refined and quirky. The face quite literally comes to life with hours at 9 o’clock and minutes at 3 o’clock – as time ticks on, the pupils spin.

The Unfrogettable comes in two bold colorways: a quintessential frog green alongside an unexpectedly bright royal purple. These hues – in varying shades and finishes – further contribute to the lifelike quality of the frog prince.
 

Each dial is framed with a dual-colored hour ring in red and either dark green or dark purple. This provides contrast to the lower plate, rendered in a lighter shade of green or purple and featuring a grained finish that mimics the texture of frog skin. Between the regulator “eyes” bordered by circular satin-finished rings, you’ll find a pair of nostrils in either dark green or dark purple, perfectly completing the face of the frog prince.
 

Let’s not forget the crown, which serves two purposes in this cheeky timepiece. Thanks to reorienting the regulator movement, the crown placement moves from 3 o’clock to 12 o’clock. The result places the crown right where it belongs, atop the frog prince’s head.

The Unfrogettable is completed with what appears to be a simple black strap, but it begs a closer look. “The strap is more expensive than the movement!” revealed Emch.

“This is very unusual, but at Louis Erard, we often start with the strap. I think the strap can feel like an afterthought,” he explained. “It can be the last bit to come into consideration, and you end up with something that does not match the quality of the watch, but without the right strap, a project to me feels incomplete.”
 

Here, the strap – the true cherry on top – is composed of black Himeji Kurozan leather, also known as black diamond leather. This premium leather from Himeji, Japan is made from Japanese black-haired Wagyu and finished with a traditional lacquering process that gives it a unique, sparkling sheen. It’s highly durable and resistant to friction, traditionally used for high-end items like Japanese martial arts armor.