LET THERE BE ART
Wear your love for fine art literally on your sleeve.
The great thing about watch collecting that art collecting can’t quite afford is the opportunity to carry one’s passion wherever and whenever. Sure you can try to tote around something from the Louis Vuitton Masters Collection by Jeff Koons but it’s not really the same, neither does that come highly recommended.
That said, the many similarities between the watch and art worlds make them excellent bedfellows and luxury watch companies have made numerous moves on the creations of some of the best artists of our time. Small as they may be, watches are a delightful canvas for artistic expression. In addition to the dial, the caseback is a favourite secret space on which a favoured artwork can reside, known only to the wearer.
It is difficult enough for an artist to replicate a classical masterpiece,
and yet to do so on a miniature scale is infinitely more difficult, but the artisans of haute horlogerie manage it with flair and poise.
One of the most prolific advocates of the fine arts in watchmaking is Jaeger-lecoultre ( www.jaeger-lecoultre.com). All of its most exquisite creations are united under the Metiers Rares banner unique to the manufacture.
From all the different styles of enamelling, engraving and gemsetting, there is nothing JaegerLecoultre cannot do, yet one craft that’s made several high-profile appearances lately is miniature enamel painting. This singular skill demonstrates the talent and expertise of the enameller as he or she captures the finest detail that even the naked eye cannot see. At Jaeger-lecoultre, the artisans work with the most authentic, high- quality enamels, which are increasingly hard to find.
There are many horological icons at Jaeger- Lecoultre but none more so than the Reverso. This elegant timepiece with a rectangular case that swivels around to reveal its back presents an excellent canvas for the artisan. For decades, the solid caseback of the Reverso Classic has been adorned with everything from a family crest to a portrait of a pet.
In 2015, the manufacture’s team of artists took this tradition to the next level, recreating paintings of art’s great masters on the dial of a Reverso.
That year marked the 125th anniversary of the death of Vincent Van Gogh and so JaegerLecoultre worked with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam to create a limited- edition Reverso featuring on the dial one of the Dutch master’s most iconic works, Sunflowers.
Jaeger- Lecoultre selected one of the most unique and unusual Reverso models for this collaboration, the Reverso a Eclipse. In addition to the case that swivels around, the dial is also moveable – a tiny gear wheel set into the case at one o’clock allows the wearer to part the gold dial like a set of
Grand Tourbillon (also Starry Night) and the Master Ultra Thin painted with Self Portrait Grey Felt Hat.
Other than Van Gogh, Gustav Klimt is another artist whose works the Grande Maison has adapted to its timepieces. Instead of the Reverso, however – or any wristwatch for that matter – it applied the Austrian painter’s works to the one-of-a-kind Atmos Clock.
In a new 10-piece limited edition, the Atmos Marqueterie faithfully reproduced Klimt’s famous painting, The Kiss, out of more than 1,200 tiny shards of wood and only the precious varieties were used: Camassari boxwood, Ceylon lemonwood, paolo amarela, madrona burl, maplewood, pearwood, tulipwood burl, walnut, ashwood burl and Andes boxwood.
Circling back to the Reverso, in October 2017 Jaeger-lecoultre paid tribute to another Dutch artist, Piet Mondrian, who was one of the earliest pioneers of 20th- century abstract art. Having created the concept of neoplasticism, Mondrian was known for his penchant for colours.
Instantly recognisable, his painting, Composition with Large Red Plane, Yellow, Black, Grey and Blue, features prominently on the caseback of a steel Reverso Classic with small seconds, while an inscription on the back of the case holder marks the 100th anniversary of Dutch retailer, Steltman, with whom the watch was jointly created.
Equally recognisable is the woodblock print by Japanese
Other than Van Gogh, Gustav Klimt is another artist whose works the Grande Maison has adapted to its timepieces.
on which the artisan secures a white gold applique of the namesake wave.
To craft the wave, Blancpain reprised an ancient Japanese technique called Shakudo where following the engraving stage, the applique is immersed in a bath of rokusho salts where it gains a unique dark patina that’s intentionally kept irregular as nature intends. Then, certain parts of the applique are polished while others are left matte, in order to intensify the effect of a huge billowing wave.
In 42mm platinum, this miniature image of Hokusai’s wave is a fitting tribute to the Japanese master who held the belief that, until the age of 70, nothing he drew was worthy of notice. Hokusai’s woodblock series, Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, which includes The Great Wave off Kanagawa, was created in 1831 when he was 71.
Also an ode to the amazing world of fine arts, the Vacheron Constantin Metiers d’art Tribute to Composers ( www.vacheronconstantin.com) was conceived when the great manufacture became a sponsor of the Opera National de Paris in 2007. It pledged to create 15 exceptional unique pieces dedicated to the greatest classical musicians of our time – the same artists who inspired Marc Chagall when he created the monumental fresco on the ceiling of the Garnier Opera House in Paris.
The first watch in the collection was unveiled in 2010, just in time to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Association pour le Rayonnement de l’opera National
To craft the wave, Blancpain reprised an ancient Japanese technique.