VACHERON CONSTANTIN

LE SACRE DE L'ART

Sharmila Bertin

There’s no word of praise worthy enough to portray the Métiers d’Art – Tribute to Great Civilizations collection imagined as part of the partnership between Vacheron Constantin and the Louvre and unveiled during a dream dinner gala under the famous glass and metal Pyramid. A series of four 42 mm-diameter rose and white gold watches, produced in just five pieces per reference, that celebrate a fragment of the History of humanity on their faces, the enchantment of iconic pieces from Antiquity centre staged in the former royal palace, today the most visited museum in the world. As such, four eras are exquisitely highlighted: the Persian Empire under the reign of Darius the Great (between the 6th and 5th centuries BCE), the Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt (between

the 21st and 18th centuries BCE), the Hellenistic period of Antique Greece

(from -323 to -31 BCE) and the Roman Empire of the Julio-Claudian dynasty (from the 3rd century BCE to 68 CE). “From the very beginning, our wish was to work hand-in-hand with the “THE THEME OF ANTIQUITY Louvre and discussions were initiated WAS AN INEVITABLE CHOICE end 2019. The design and métiers d’art teams travelled several times

AS THE LOUVRE BOASTS to the museum to glean inspiration. SUCH TREASURES” The theme of Antiquity was an CHRISTIAN SELMONI inevitable choice as the Louvre VACHERON CONSTANTIN boasts such wealth and treasures. Once we decided on these four

STYLE & HERITAGE DIRECTOR civilizations, the designers selected the masterpieces, which feature on the dials of this collection” explains Christian Selmoni, the Geneva-based

THE MÉTIERS D’ART TRIBUTE TO GREAT CIVILIZATIONS COLLECTION IS STAMPED WITH THE GENEVA SEAL.

manufacture Style & Heritage Director. “The design team visited the Louvre on Tuesday when it’s closed to the public so they could get as close as possible to the works and spend time studying them. I was personally knocked for six every time when it came to Mesopotamia and Antique Persia. The artistic quality is unbelievable! And, the same thing happened with the Lion de Darius: it’s so intensely powerful that it was perfectly clear we had to depict it. As for the Victoire de Samothrace, the statue of the goddess is huge, reigning at the top of a staircase in the Louvre. And, it was inevitable too. And, we felt exactly the same emotion with the Grand Sphinx de Tanis. For the Buste d’Auguste, our choice was guided by the sensitivity of Catinca Ciobanu, our Senior Designer, who found it stunning”.

To breathe life into this artisticmechanical quartet, stamped with the Geneva Seal (Poinçon de Genève), Vacheron Constantin opted for the 2460 G4/2 calibre, equipped with a gold engraved oscillating weight illustrating the Eastern façade of the Louvre. This manufacture movement, delivering a power reserve of 40 hours, drives the hours, minutes, day and date via four discs, displayed in apertures poised symmetrically on the dial. The handless dial, as such, invites the métiers d’art to express themselves freely. “You have to think that, for us, behind the work of art focus, there’s all the work on the rest like the backdrop that also represents the same civilization, the same period and sometimes the same place. We remained absolutely true to History. For the Victoire de

Samothrace, the caseback is orangeybrown enamelling, the outside is grisaille enamel, fringed with a gold frieze engraved with a pattern borrowed from the Vase de Pergame, a very wellknown funeral cup from Antique Greece. Without the help of the Louvre curators to guide us through the ‘peripheral’ works, we’d still be leafing through the museum catalogue. It was a joint effort, if I may say so”, continues Christian Selmoni.

The Grand Sphinx de Tanis, the Lion de Darius, the Victoire de Samothrace and the Buste d'Auguste. All majestically reinterpreted, all offering striking relief work. Each timepiece embraces its part of History as well as tales that intertwine and offer various levels of contemplation. "The dials were all created in four steps: an external frieze, a backdrop occasionally divided into two sectors hosting several métiers d’art, a transparent sapphire crystal on which, lastly, metallization was used to etch fragments of text. And, without the Louvre’s help, we’d never have been able to extract these texts let alone reproduce them faithfully within the context of the work of art”, states Christian Selmoni. “All this meticulous care as regards authenticity infuses the pieces with an exceptional level of perfection and crafting. A blend of métiers d’art, creativeness, reinterpretation and transcription of an antique world in a contemporary world. Although we illustrate ancient civilizations through this series of watches, we also have highly up-to-the-minute creations”. Our gaze, enthralled, journeys into every nook and cranny of this miniature realm and loses itself with pleasure.

Various decorative techniques requiring infinite precision feature in this

EACH TIMEPIECE EMBRACES ITS PART OF HISTORY AS WELL AS TALES THAT INTERTWINE.

THE HOURS, MINUTES, DAY AND DATE ARE DISPLAYED IN APERTURES ON FOUR DISCS.

collection and, with an admiring look, Christian Selmoni specifies: “Catinca, our designer, knows the métiers d’art perfectly well. She incorporated them in her ideas for this collection, by choosing to use micro-mosaic and stone marquetry, champlevé and grisaille enamelling, engraving, and to backdrop carve the discs”. The consistency when choosing the areas of know-how emerges virtually instinctively, intuitively, complemented by a highly-developed vision of creation, tools and crafts. Even before Catinca technically viewed the piece for real, everything flowed out of her imagination in keeping with the codes of the times and the authenticity of artistic and historic language. “This series’ quality also stems from the rich, in-depth contemplation that came into play right from the start, and the result is highly graphic and boasts intrinsic stylistic characteristics. We can delight in their beauty without being aware of their origin. A bit like with a work of art: we may not understand it yet it means something to us and moves us”, concludes Christian Selmoni.