Another day, another collaboration pops up somewhere. But when it comes to high-end watches, the creations make you stop, and take time to contemplate the end results.
Why work with just one company when you can do it with three? Geneva maison Roger Dubuis knows a thing or two about that when it teamed up with three different ateliers for its Velvet model and calling it the Velvet Haute Couture collection. Seen here on its muse Stephanie Seymour is a rapper-worthy timepiece with a mink fur strap by Geneva fur company Daniel Benjamin.
A closer look at the timepiece – with its mink fur strap by Geneva fur company Daniel Benjamin.
For something fetishtic, the brand turned to leathersmiths Artisans Selliers to create this corset-inspired version.
The last rendition in the collection is a burlesque-worthy piece that recalls fishnet stockings. The makers behind the silk mesh is 163-year-old Parisian embroidery and trimmings company Declerq Passementiers.
Hermes turned to Japanese maestro Buzan Fukushima to paint decorative scenes on porcelain dials using the 19th century technique of Aka-e. The technique, centred around the city of Kutani in the Ishikawa Prefecture, makes use of red and ochre shades which are coated in gold. The scene in question is the koma kurabe or Japanese horse race.
Romero Britto is the closest thing Brazil has to Pablo Picasso. Hublot tapped on him to design the packaging for its World Cup watches last year. Fast forward to this year, and the Miami-based artist reinterpreted his signature pop and bold strokes on the enamelled dial of the Classic Fusion Enamel Britto watch.
The Sandoz Family Foundation champions and supports Switzerland’s entrepreneurs. One of the brands it helped mentor was Parmigiani Fleurier back in the ’90s. This year, the latter paid homage to the foundation’s patriach, the sculptor and artist Edouard Marcel Sandoz, whose works revolved around nature.
The result is a stunning interpretation of a carp pond for the Les Carpes De Sandoz timepiece. Like the watch’s high complications – it packs a minute repeater, tourbillon, perpetual calendar and chronograph – the artistic details are just as impressive. Think 3D engraving for the fish and foliage, enamelling and a stunning engraved caseback which can be opened to reveal the movement.
