Métiers d’art

Not that tourbillons have vanished from the scene, in particular at Cartier which presented its Rotonde Tourbillon Chronographe Monopoussoir (calibre 9431 MC, developed for Cartier by Renaud & Papi in 2005) and its flying tourbillon (calibre 9452 MC from 2008), found in its Santos 100 and Tank Américaine models. This year though, it seems the quirks of the Gregorian calendar have kept watchmakers most enthralled, for example at Girard-Perregaux (1966 Annual Calendar and Equation of Time), IWC (Da Vinci Digital Perpetual Calendar), Jaeger-LeCoultre (Master Grande Tradition Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar) and Vacheron Constantin (Patrimony Traditionnelle Perpetual Calendar Chronograph). Alongside such demonstrations of their perfect command of horological tradition, the brands have shone the spotlight on the métiers d’art of engraving, enamelling, gem-setting, goldsmithing and miniature painting.

Jaeger-LeCoultre presented timepieces whose painstakingly intricate enamels are the result of hours of arduous work. They are the Reverso Pavonia, a replica of the original painting by Lord Frederic Leighton, along with four Master Minute Repeaters whose dials represent four historical masterpieces depicting Venus, painted by Titien, Botticelli, Velasquez and Ingres. These pièces uniques join Jaeger-LeCoultre’s three limited-edition Master Grand Tourbillon Continents watches whose enamelled dials show three different representations of the Earth.

Vacheron Constantin gives pride of place this year to the gem-setter’s art with Kallania, a one-off creation that is a tribute to the 30th anniversary of its Kallista watch and whose 170 carats set a world record, but also with its Malte Tourbillon Régulateur whose diamonds are mounted in an invisible setting, and the first ever application in watchmaking of the “flame cut” with the Lady Kalla Flame and the Kalla Haute Couture à Secret. Nor was Girard-Perregaux to be left out, with its Cat’s Eye Haute Joaillerie and its Cat’s Eye annual and zodiac calendars with gold and mother-of-pearl dials and diamond-set bezels. At Van Cleef & Arpels, grand feu enamel combined with mother-of-pearl on the dials of its four Jardins. These models add poetic complications to the 365 days dial which the brand developed in 2006. For the manufactures at the SIHH, the metiers d’art are, without doubt, a mark of distinction.