5 minute read
TREnDs
a yEar THaT’s rEally... graouuuu!
Sharmila Bertin
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Sometimes, you just need a pet to turn your life around, to add that little spark of love and caring to make it sweeter (or livelier, depending on the type of fourlegged friend you choose...). Animals have had a great feel good power on us since time immemorial. We’ve challenged them, transformed them into lucky charms, erected them on protective totems soaring high to the sky. The lunar-solar Chinese calendar, a can’t-do-without in Asia, boasts a bestiary comprising twelve animals. Each has its own personality traits, its special gifts and, when combined with an element, they generally embody good omens. Since 1st February this year, which represents the beginning of a new cycle, we’ve entered the era of the Water Tiger. This predator, the third animal in order of arrival, symbolizes emotional
creativity, courageous strength and energy-filled adventure. Its appearance heralds great change and prosperity, something we’ve been longing for these past two years. For sure, it’s pretty difficult to imagine it as a companion in your apartment, and even more so given it’s a protected species, but the way it is illustrated in watchmaking is ever-so attractive.
Spectacular is the right word actually, especially when métiers d’art become involved. Amongst the myriad of watches unveiled for the year of the Water Tiger, here are three interpretations that are totally different yet incredibly interesting.
Leaping into the light
Looming out of the darkness, claws ready to pounce, to be dazzlingly
THE waTEr TigEr, an EnErgy-fillEd symbol of EmoTional crEaTiviTy, advEnTurE and bravEry.
centre staged in a halo of golden light is the element of surprise chosen by Jaeger-LeCoultre that we discover on the caseback of its new Reverso Tribute Enamel “Tiger”. This special watch, exclusively made to order, which also celebrates the opening of the brand’s new store in Shanghai, required over 70 hours of craftsmanship to create the artistry on its caseback. The Métiers Rares® workshop, hosted in the Joux valley manufacture, worked for almost 55 hours, using the modelled engraving technique, to carve the entirely-relief-styled upper part of the feline’s body, portraying an animal that appears to spring forth, jaws wide open, polished fur adorned with brushed stripes, out of the black Grand Feu enamel backdrop, which took the craftspeople around 20 hours to complete, with its series of layers of pigmented material and firing in the kiln. This same dusky coating also features on the timepiece front, where the railwaystyle minute tracker-fringed dial is bedecked with arrow-tipped indexes and two dauphine-shaped hands. Everything is gilded like the twinkling stars in an inky-black night. The hours and minutes are driven by the in-house 822A/2 calibre, a hand-wound mechanical movement that delivers a power reserve of 42 hours, and nestles inside the famous rectangular case (45.5 x 27.4 mm), fashioned in rose gold this time round.
Crouching in the jungle
Jaquet Droz showcases the predator, not just on one but on four new references – six if we include the two automaton
watches. The firm from La Chaux-deFonds, forever true to its reputation as a poetic watchmaker, brings together a wealth of know-how that it masters perfectly. Work on stone, enamelling and engraving. The Relief Petite heure Minute Tiger series throws open the doors and invites imagination in for those with the soul of a dreamer. The somewhat curious tiger peeks its head through at 6 o’clock whilst its stripy body appears in filigree fashion, partially concealed by the colourful iridescent vegetation. It then lounges along moonlit blue-hued water and finally stretches out, nose pointed towards the stars. This interlude, this getaway in the predator’s habitat comes to life thanks to the talent of the engravers who chiselsculpted its silhouette, detailed its head and its intimidating gaze and portrayed its striped fur, the enamellers who created a night-time scenescape where the darkened sky merges delicately with the deep blue of the water and the stone-cutters who cut opal discs flaunting shimmering shades and black onyx for the hour and minute display offcentred towards 12 o’clock. Time is animated by the automatic 2653.Si calibre (4 Hz, double barrel) that, like most Jaquet Droz watches, delivers a power reserve of 68 hours. The transparent caseback of the 41 mmdiameter red gold or white gold cases invites to admire the twirling dance of the richly-decorated oscillating weight.
Playing hide and seek
This final portrayal of the Water Tiger is radically different from the previous two as it does not call on métiers d’art, does not draw its inspiration from the animal’s natural environment or from traditional
Asian folklore. Or it does so just enough to show the creative energy the feline epitomizes as it covers the whole left part of the dial in SevenFriday’s limited editions whilst the right side takes on urban dynamics. And, as the brand from Zurich has a great sense of humour, it has named its watches T3/04 GRRRREEN, for its green-hued version, and T3/05 GRRRR-ED for its red variation, producing each reference in 500 pieces. To obtain this three-dimensional architecture look, four layers comprising, above all, an initial tinted translucent disc and a skeletonized second one based on the outlines of the tiger's head were used. This design play is set off by the stylized hour and minute hands in the centre – brought to life by the automatic Seiko Skeleton TM NH70 movement (40-hour power reserve) –, the crossedthrough Arabic numerals and the russettinged ring framing the minute tracker. On the back of the “virtually” square (45 x 45.6 mm) black PVD-coated steel case, an engraved medallion reiterates the big cat’s features and hosts a NFC check chip (near-field communication chip) that, via SevenFriday’s app, lets you access NFTs (non-fungible tokens, i.e. cryptographic assets) protected by a blockchain, technology for storing and transmitting information. In addition to the watch’s authentication certificate, you can access one-of-a-kind digital objects.
