Birds of a Feather
Bvlgari’s peacock-inspired trinity requires the mastery of ancient arts involving the tiniest of precisions.
In the world of watchmaking, there comes a time when craftsmanship transcends to art. For the Diva’s Dream Peacock collection, Bvlgari delved into the ancient arts of marquetry, miniature painting and champlevé, practices that the Maison has employed for more than 130 years.
Why the complicated process? Because for this collection, the aim is to use actual peacock feathers on the dials, and to maintain the exuberance of those precious feathers in order to retain their air of regality and elegance.
Limited to 50 pieces, the Divas’ Dream Peacock Dischi houses a natural peacock feather marquetry dial, that uses an inlay technique once popular in Renaissance Italy. A total of 24 natural hand-cut feather elements is required for the design of dial with its central circle fully depicting the “eye” of the peacock feather. Nearly 500 feathers were sorted through to find the greatest colour, texture and harmony to ensure its brilliance. Selected feathers are then passed through a brass steam engine to bring out the brilliance of its colour, before it gets trimmed, glued, then cut and pieced together to create the watch’s glossy, mosaic finish. For the Divas’ Dream Peacock Diamonds, the peacock motif is delicately hand-painted against a mother-of-pearl background, utilising a goldsmithing technique called
champlevé to outline the bird. Diamonds add to the majesty of the peacock, as they blanket the supple bracelet complemented with the Diva signature fan-shaped motif.
Then there’s the Divas’ Dream Peacock Tourbillon Lumière, composed of 37 mm rose gold case housing a skeletonised dial decorated with natural peacock feather marquetry and snow-set diamonds. The gold dial is laser cut beforehand, using a cloisonné technique to make room for but the iridescent part of the feathers—80 percent of the dials proposed will be rejected in the quest to find the perfect 10 dials. Because you just can’t compromise on perfection.
The Bvlgari boutique is located at 2.23 &3.25 Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, and G-237 Suria KLCC.