HH Magazine

From his village in the Doubs region of France to Opal, a company managed by Pascal Queloz in the Swiss town of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Jérôme Boutteçon practices a much-coveted art among watch companies. A master in marquetry, he brings his subject to life with an intricate assembly of rare veneers.

Françoise Lafuma

Each day that Jérôme Boutteçon spends at his workbench is like living a dream. A dream of introducing a hyper-figurative style into the marquetries that have already forged his reputation. Such "high definition" realism is unprecedented in this art, and gives the subject the impact it needs to bring extraordinary beauty to the luxury boxes, clock cabinets and watch dials he creates, endlessly perfecting each detail.

Marquetry comes alive at his touch. He restores it to the rank of a precious art that reaches back to Ancient Egypt and the pharaohs' tombs, and whose golden era spanned the Renaissance to the eighteenth century. An art that reached its apogee in the refinement of the furniture of the French Court.

A eulogy of hyper-realism

After six years studying cabinet-making, wood-turning, marquetry and sculpture, Jérôme Boutteçon felt confident enough in his abilities to knock on the door of one of the most renowned marquetry workshops: Spindler in Alsace. Here, hidden away from the world, three generations of marquetarians have carried the flame for more than a century. "I was like a sponge, soaking up knowledge. I watched, I experimented, I learned everything there," he recalls. The marquetarian plays on the grain, colour and texture of the different species of wood veneer to gradually build up the puzzle and achieve a true, precise and artistic image. This way of working has crowned Jérôme Boutteçon with success. "I came to the Monti Philippe workshops in Sainte-Croix in 1990, bringing this style of marquetry with me." An art that would take the form of musical boxes at Reuge then cigar humidors at Davidoff.

"From this point on," continues Jérôme Boutteçon, "I began to produce customised marquetry for very demanding customers." The years went by, bringing with them more and more sumptuous creations. Horses, ballerinas, mountain scenes, Egyptian themes illustrated with hieroglyphics and bas-reliefs came to life at the artist's touch. Animal subjects are another favourite theme: Hokkaido cranes, a chamois in the snow, a stag in rut… Jérôme Boutteçon's work would find buyers under every latitude, including the Sultan of Oman who commissioned him to make an exceptional marquetry musical box.

A decisive encounter with Jaeger-LeCoultre

As his reputation grew, the opportunities multiplied. "My experience at Jaeger-LeCoultre was nothing short of extraordinary," he recalls. The marquetries he created for the brand's clocks were inspired by the paintings of Alfons Mucha: Dusk, The Evening Star, Moonlight, Passing Time and, to commemorate the millennium, The Four Seasons for which he was awarded France's Grand Prix National des Métiers d'Art in 1999. This was followed, in 2000, by first prize at the Rencontres Internationales de la Marqueterie in Versailles. Not that fellow specialists had waited to acknowledge his unique talent. Already in 1994 he had been named Meilleur Ouvrier de France with a perfect score of 20 out of 20. His achievement took him to the Elysée where he was congratulated by President François Mitterand.

Jérôme Boutteçon now works at Opal, where he is convinced he has "found his true environment; one which, from concept to creation, is devoted to fine watches." From the design and study bureaux to the craftsmen working with precious woods and leathers, each delicate link in the chain plays its part to the full. The result of this time-consuming and meticulous process can be admired in his most recent creations for Jaeger-LeCoultre. "Working with the person in charge of the Atmos clocks' design was an opportunity for me to make new progress," says Jérôme Boutteçon. The exceptional limited editions that ensued, inspired by the work of Gustav Klimt, were revealed at last year's Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH).

A perfect balance

"Working with Coralie Delmont was easy. She imagined a cabinet of ideal proportions for the Atmos clock. It forms the perfect medium for the image in which marquetry and horology reflect each other's beauty. She has taken this objet d'art to a new level; she has given it a soul through a combination of marquetry, pigment highlights and gold leaf."

For Jérôme Boutteçon, this exceptional piece achieves perfect equilibrium. The mother-of-pearl dial echoes the shimmer of lemonwood and the warm glow of maple. The moon phases and hour markers in petrified wood recall the natural wood of the cabinet. The cognac diamond blends beautifully with the blonde of amboyna burl. "Her talent is one of elegance and inspires a lofty vision of the métiers d'art which has helped me grow." Surely the catalyst for the new creations that will spring from the artist's hand, certain of which, all one-off pieces, will be shown at the forthcoming SIHH in January 2009. ■

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