From left: the creation
From left: the creation of Vacheron Constantin's Lion de Darius, an homage to the Achaemenid empire; the complex mechanisms of Jacob & Co Opera Godfather 50th Anniversary watch extremely important for Bovet – and for the entire watchmaking world,” says Raffy. “We make sure that every timepiece is imbued with the artisanal, human touch every step of the way.” Métiers d’art’s cultural and indeed human implications are not lost on GPHG’s Loretan. “At a time when Unesco has listed watchmaking skills within the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, and with watchmaking and art demonstrating ever greater affinities, especially in this category, we can affirm without hesitation that it has risen to the rank of 12th art ... it remains to be recognised.” Likewise nominated this year was Hermès, whose whimsical, feline-themed Arceau had a gorgeously intricate dial crafted from 290 pieces of wood – plum, tulipwood, ash-olive, maple and sycamore – all lovingly cut, stained and assembled one by one. Since 2008, Hermès métiers d’art has explored themes from floral and fauna to geometry, and each year its very limited watches immediately sell out, thanks, in no small part, to its signature playful, tongue-in-cheek designs (the images of which hail from the house’s silk scarves). These light-hearted, decorated dials are what Philippe Delhotal, Hermès Horloger artistic director, wonderfully calls the “artists’ playground”. “They are agents provocateurs of delight, softening the frantic pace of our daily existence, yet produced with all the traditional watchmaking know-how dear to Hermès,” he says. “Hermès time is not only eclectic but also enjoys a sense of humour, echoed in craftsmanship.” Métiers d’art watches induce love at first sight, but some watchmakers go the extra mile to ensure that’s both inside and out. Breguet’s Classique Double Tourbillon Quai de l’Horloge expertly masters this, where the fully exposed, pivoting calibre 5345 is the actual dial – and artwork – itself, beating away in all its perpetual, moving glory. Powered by one of Breguet’s most complex mechanisms to date, the watch is centred on two tourbillons that beat independently of one another – each completing a full rotation per minute – but which are conjoined by a second pair of wheels, revolving in the central differential. And just in case we forgot that this beauty is actually a wristwatch made by a maison whose eponymous founder was the greatest horologist of all time, the steel barrel bridges form the letter B, as guilloché on the inner flank is the backdrop to hand-engraved Roman numerals, in blue to match the (Breguet, of course) hands. Still not impressed? Flip the watch over and the movement is further crafted into the house – brickwork, windows, shutters and all – that Abraham-Louis Breguet acquired on Quai de l’Horloge in Paris, where the tourbillon was born in 1801. And to end with the mega métiers d’art watch that’s turning the genre on its head: the Jacob & Co Opera PHOTOS FROM LEFT: ROMAIN LEVRAULT, © JACOB & CO 84
The métiers d’art dials are agents provocateurs of delight, softening the frantic pace of our daily existence, yet produced with all the traditional watchmaking know-how dear to Hermès — Philippe Delhotal Godfather 50th Anniversary – a triple-axis, flying tourbillon and music box watch that pays tribute to five decades of the epic gangster film. Jacob & Co easily could have slapped The Godfather logo on a watch and be done with it, but instead, it turned this watch into a creative endeavour that pushed the boundaries of craft, mechanics, chiming watches and even naysayers, and which in its way redefines this celebrated genre of horology. There are quirks to the Opera Godfather – the movie’s best quotes etched on the two music barrels, Marlon Brando immortalised on the dial, a piano and a red rose. But most notably there are the 13 movie scenes that are engraved and textured on the film reel of a case, another feat that required completely new tools, namely mixing a high-intensity, high-precision nanosecond laser with femtolaser technology, that ultimately created 200 different shadowed hues for a grained look of unprecedented detail and contrast. As the renowned watch writer and author Nicholas Foulkes said of the timepiece: “It’s just such an exciting, different piece of work that you can’t help but warm towards it – and warm towards its creator. It’s totally unlike anything out there. Nobody else could do it. Nobody else could justify doing it. It is a real piece of bravura.” And that’s exactly what métiers d’art watches – past and present – have always been about. PHOTOS FROM LEFT: DAVID MARCHON, © PATEK PHILIPPE From left: inside the design process of Hermès' safari-themed Arceau watch; the Tropical Forest Calatrava watch from Patek Philippe's Rare Handcrafts collection 85
