With each note bearing a different value, even the smallest tune is subject to time. Time is inseparably entwined with music, and in fact governs it. One need only recall the incessant ticking by of the seconds. The music of the passing of time is a commonly evoked theme. Another example that emphasises the strong links with the 3 rd and 4 th arts is that of Vacheron Constantin, which in 2011 presented a beautiful Métiers d’Art piece entitled “Chagall & l’Opera de Paris” inspired by the monumental fresco adorning the ceiling of the Opèra Garnier. As rich as that of a painter, the colour palette of DeLaneau’s Cerisier collection consists of miniature paintings with highly poetic notes. Brands continue to present models that derive their splendour from painting. Decoration, and by extension painting on cases or dials, was also a lastingly important element in watchmaking. Worn around the neck, on the collar of women’s dresses, in the waistband of a belt or at the end of a chain hung over a waistcoat: for a long time, other than its main function of providing the time, the watch was also designed as a fashion accessory. Entirely in tune with our times in which the beauty and the precision of human gestures supersede all other considerations relating to watch production, today’s timepieces, like those of yesteryear, proudly showcase their reliefs, their volumes and their harmonious curves. Do you not see true miniature sculptures here ? Engraved, chased, guilloché, or simply sculpted, Fine Watchmaking timepieces borrow their aesthetics from the second art, as well as its technique.
Gaze attentively at the Jackie Chan model by Richard Mille and its dragon carved in gold. Take a good look at Chopard’s L.U.C XP Skeletec. Do not both these arts share a variety of terms including bridges, hinges, pinions, pillars, studs and fluting ? One also naturally thinks of Urwerk watches with their highly technical dial construction – and indeed of all the watches that share identical vocabulary with architecture. Or De Bethune’s DB28 ST watch, featuring an architecture – that would be hard to describe in any other way – is strangely reminiscent of a Gothic ribbed vault. How many timepieces use the same aesthetic language as illustrious architectural monuments? The resemblance is sometimes striking, like Harry Winston’s Opus 12 whose iconic arches are a reminder of the neo-classical arch which dominates the famous façade of the Harry Winston Salon in New York and whose open-worked hands are a nod to the Manhattan skyscrapers. Artist proof canvas prints that are hand-signed and limited to 150 are $4,950, and limited prints on museum etched paper (limited to 250 prints) are $680.The connection between art and architecture is often disconcertingly obvious. The originals come in a large format (30 x 40 inches) and cost $19,480. The book covers are light-hearted and funny, and only watch connoisseurs really get them.”
#Horology magazine series#
We bounced some ideas back and forth over a few months and I came up with the idea of painting a series of book covers as he is an author and I am an artist.
I reached out to him and he loved my work and style and thought it would be great to do a collaboration. Collecting is always so serious, but his book featured the most amazing watches that were explained in a really fun way. I used to follow him on social media and then a collector friend showed me his book Hashtags and Watches. One of his most recent collections was created together with Danish watch expert and author Kristian Haagen. Nickel for example is not magnetic, so I find solutions by leaving the nickel wheels on their steel axis.” I use powerful magnets to keep the components in place, but not all the movement pieces are ferrous so I can’t use them all.
Most of the movements are over 100 years old. “The production process is particularly fastidious as each movement has to be disassembled and then each piece meticulously cleaned. “When I was in my fourth year at architecture school I started to look at buildings like the Beaubourg (Centre Georges Pompidou) in Paris where the aesthetics and technical aspects of the building become one and the same. It is like a watch, where the rubies are beautiful but they also have their role to play.”Ĭarnaille’s father was a watch collector so he had been exposed to watchmaking from a young age and it was towards watchmaking that he turned when creating some of his first sculptures, using components from old watch movements.
Architecture still left a huge impression on the artist.