Cartier's craftsmen have reinterpreted the technique of granulation with enamel beads

The very notion of mechanical watchmaking stems from a noble dictum: to perpetuate the traditions that have served to ensure punctuality for the longest time. Sure, hand-regulated watches are an anachronism in this age of atomic clocks, but keeping the craft alive is virtuous and challenging at the same time. 

It is no surprise that it is in this industry that reveres age-old craftsmanship that the dying metiers d’art have found a new lease of life—these are esoteric crafts that had floundered in the 20th century as machines and lasers took over painstaking handcraftsmanship. 

The Piaget Altiplano with the Yves Piaget Rose crafted in wood and mother of pearl

Franck Touzeau, the international watch marketing and creation director for Piaget, emphasises, “A true luxury brand has to keep in mind that we need to continue to capitalise on the best know-how. In the beginning of the 20th century until the 1950s, Switzerland lost a lot of enamellers. At the beginning of the 1990s, there were only 100 enamellers in Switzerland, compared to the 60,000 at the beginning of the 19th century.” 

Over the years we’ve been reacquainted with a litany of techniques that include engraving, enamelling (in its various forms), embroidery, and more. Staying true to their evolving nature, horologists have pushed the envelopes of creativity to further elevate these techniques.

At Cartier, where the brand recently set up its own metiers d’art workshop in La Chaux-de-Fonds housing 28 craftsmen specialising in all manners of metiers d’art, the possibilities are endless. We’ve seen dials decorated with micromosaic tiles, pieces of wood, petals and, last year, golden granules meticulously soldered together to form the head of a panther. This year, the French maison appropriates this same age-old technique of granulation, and utilises enamel beads to create, you guessed it, another panther head. 

Now take a minute and let this sink in: enamel beads. The process of creating a 2D enamelled dial is already very complex, as the process of painting with vitreous enamel and firing needs to be done repeatedly to achieve the right hue. Now imagine doing the same process to beads of enamel: once they’ve been made to size, they have to be laid out in accordance to the blueprint and fired over and over again to set the colour and fuse the beads together but not completely melt them. Is it any wonder that it takes the craftsman one month to complete a single dial? 

Over at Piaget, the watchmaker continues its pledge to metiers d’art with its Arts & Excellence project. At this year’s Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie fair, Piaget has reworked its famous icon, the Yves Piaget Rose, enlisting the skills of Rose Saneuil. The talented artisan manipulates materials such as wood, stingray, leathers, brass and mother-of-pearl, in the creation of jewellery, cigar and watch boxes. She undertook the challenge to miniaturise her canvas, and recreate a masterpiece on the diminutive watch dial. The result is a vibrant rose that comprises inlays of maple wood and sycamore, as well as mother-of-pearl. 

Laurent Ferrier's Galet Secret watch can be customised, including the usage of an oil painting on the dial

Other exciting developments in the arena of decorative arts are afoot at Laurent Ferrier. The watchmaker has decorated the dial of its Galet Secret watch (the brand’s bespoke collection) with an oil on canvas. For its first rendition, Laurent Ferrier depicts its place of birth, the Lake Geneva, lit up by fireworks at night. It’s a piece unique, and the brand accepts customisation requests.