The Agenda

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Fabergé Unveils Compliquée Peacock Arte Hand-Painted Limited-Edition Watches

Fabergé is delighted to introduce two new additions to its Compliquée Peacock collection: The Compliquée Peacock Platinum and Rose Gold HandPainted Limited Edition Watches.

Following on from the great success at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève in 2015, in which the Compliquée Peacock won the High-Mechanical award, Fabergé has now introduced a new variation on the theme, made in partnership with Workmaster, Jean-Marc Wiederrecht from Agenhor and master craftsman, André Martinez (a specialist in miniaturist artistic painting on watch dials). Limited to ten numbered pieces of each design, each watch dial is totally unique and features an intricate scene hand-painted by André Martinez, depicting a peahen alongside the iconic peacock. These miniature masterpieces pop with colour, with vibrant blues, greens and orange. Fabergé’s Timepieces Director, Aurélie Picaud, says: “Our new Compliquée Peacock watches are inspired by the Imperial Peacock Egg of 1908. The movement within the watches allows a unique way of displaying hours and minutes, and takes its inspiration from early Fabergé automata creations, and their ingenuity. These two new models epitomise ‘The Art of Colour’, craftsmanship and creativity. Our craftspeople are part of the story and the passion they have for their special craft is translated into each of these designs.” The paintings are carried out with lacquers of exceptional quality. Whilst remaining true to traditional miniature painting techniques, these lacquers also meet high manufacturing standards, including resistance to UV rays; and they are environmentally friendly, biodegradable, and non-toxic. Master craftsman, André Martinez says: “These new additions to the Fabergé Compliquée collection fuse high-end horological complication with the ancient technique of miniature artistic painting, which is delicately carried out with lacquers of exceptional quality, using traditional techniques. I allowed my imagination to run freely when developing the design with Aurélie Picaud, celebrating Fabergé’s sense of wonder and colour. Each motif is drawn and hand-painted entirely by brush through the aid of binoculars to capture the most minute details. I paint the exquisite mother-of-pearl dial, the gold peacock and each of its individual feathers in-turn, which requires between 50 to 60 hours of work per dial.” These new creations are available in two styles, with the choice of an 18k rose gold case with forest green crocodile leather strap, or a platinum case with a teal crocodile leather strap. Each case features a diamond set bezel, which adds a delicate radiance to the stunning design. The Compliquée Peacock watch features a unique movement developed exclusively for Fabergé by Agenhor. Hours are read at the winding crown at three o’clock, as a numbered mother-of-pearl ring rotates counterclockwise. The minutes are read by the position of the peacock's tail feathers as they unfurl each hour, only returning to zero when the lead feather reaches 60. These watches perpetuate the ingenious and free-thinking spirit of Peter Carl Fabergé himself, who imagined and made many of his creations to be both emotive and fascinating. Innovative and surprising, the Compliquée Peacock pays homage to the renowned Imperial Class ‘Peacock Egg’ of l908, while the handpainted decoration is reminiscent of a silver gilt, enamel and sapphire set gold cigar box from the Fabergé archive. These mobile works of art display an evolving scene, as time unwinds on the wearer’s wrist. In this manually wound movement, four pivoting feather ‘blades’ fan out simultaneously indicating the minutes. Each of these blades is moving independently, but at a different speed to the others. As the cycle is repeated each hour, time takes on a new role, going beyond merely charting the passing of the minutes to creating scenes of ephemeral beauty. The system driving the blades is the movement's most fascinating organ. Each of the four mobile blades advances at a different speed so that the ensemble unfurls in perfect harmony. The synchronisation of the blades is made possible by an innovative mechanical organ known as the AgenFAN. Based on a differential model, it is made up of two series of toothed wheels of increasing diameters on one and decreasing diameters on the other, which are superimposed on the same axis. They mesh along the entire length and are placed side-by-side. The first is driven by the spindle of the hours cam and in-turn drives the second, which individually powers each of the other blades. This construction also enables the first blade to move forward by 15° each hour, the second by 30°, the third by a 45° and the last by 60°.

The Montblanc Star Legacy Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph Limited Edition: A 200th Anniversary Tribute to the “Time Writer”

Montblanc pays tribute to the 200th anniversary of the inking chronograph invented by the French watchmaker, Nicolas Rieussec, in 1821 marking the history of fine watchmaking. Inspired by the original device, the new Montblanc Star Legacy Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph LE 200 features the two recognisable, rotating, horizontally-aligned, chronograph discs with fixed double index combined with a gold-coloured dial.

The 200th Anniversary of the Rieussec Inking Chronograph Invention The decade of the 1820s was one of the most prosperous in Nicolas Mathieu’s life (1781 – 1866), the sixth royal watchmaker to the King of France. On September 1st, 1821, Nicolas Rieussec was at the Champ-de-Mars Arrondissement de la Seine race in Paris, not as a spectator but as a watchmaker testing a “chronometer intended to consistently measure the time horses take to travel the prescribed race distances—not only the winning horse, but also all those that cross the line after it”. It worked using a fixed nib that would place a black mark on two rotating counters the moment each horse crossed the finish line. Few weeks later, he presented his new invention to the country’s Academy of Sciences in Paris that called it a “chronograph”, taken from the Greek “chronos” for time and “graphein” to write. The word chronograph was born and Nicolas Rieussec became the inventor of the world’s first inking chronograph, marking the history of fine watchmaking. The principle of the rotating dials was the inspiration for the design and the movement of the new Montblanc Star Legacy Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph Limited Edition 200 and gives the watch its unmistakable appearance.

Montblanc Star Legacy Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph LE 200 To celebrate the 200th anniversary of this innovative mechanism, Montblanc unveils the Star Legacy Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph Limited Edition 200, inspired by the same functions and golden colour tones of the first Nicolas Rieussec chronograph.

A Distinctive Dial Inspired by Original Rieussec Chronographs The complex dial is composed of six different part providing 3-dimensional effect. It has been developed with particular attention paid to the proportions of the aesthetic and horological details.

Inspired by the Rieussec historical device, the base of the dial is made in gold-colour with a traditional guilloché grain d’orge decoration. Following the iconic design of the original chronograph, two goldcoloured domed rotating chronograph discs, with 60-elasped second on the left and a 30-elapsed minute on the right, are displayed on the lower part of the dial. A blued applied double hand is fixed in between and above them, reminiscent of the historical system that used ink for time measurements.

The new Berluti store in Milan

Relocating from Via Sant’Andrea and conceived as a 360 degrees Berluti lifestyle experience, the store’s design focuses on simplicity through exceptional materials. Natural light permeates the space through the front window and an airy back garden.

The leather goods and footwear sections welcome customers upon entrance in a pristine setting of white striped wallpaper, the limited Blue Jeans marble, and Calacatta cielo volumes. In contrast, the 4-metre-high ceiling - inspired by the depth and variety of Berluti’s leather patina - is made from tridimensional irregular wooden beams with illuminated spaces in between. A patina wall takes over the back space with sliding panels of mixed coloured glass, creating different colour and textures combinations emulating Berluti’s emblematic patinas.

A playful combination between leather and American walnut wood stairs leads to the ready-to-wear area on the mezzanine. In a subdued salon-like atmosphere, Berluti’s new Club chair and furniture offering are displayed, overlooking the patina-inspired ceiling, celebrating the Maison’s lifestyle heritage and innovations.

Located in Via Monte Napoleone, 27, Berluti’s new Milan flagship opened doors in August 2021.