Swiss high-end watchmaker Vacheron Constantin unveiled four new versions on May 24 (French time) to commemorate its partnership with the Musée du Louvre. Each dial depicts a rare masterpiece representing the four major civilizations of the Louvre, and the product is also named Metires d’Art “Tribute to Great Civilisations”.
At the same time, Time Forum came to Paris to cover the event commemorating the global launch of the METIE dar’s Tribute to Great Civilization timepiece. With the transition from a pandemic to an endemic, restrictions on overseas travel have been significantly loosened, and as shown in the precedent of Watches & Wonders Geneva (WWG 2022) held earlier, Europe is already rapidly recovering to its pre-COVID routine, so Vacheron Constantin and the Louvre It was not surprising that a global event commemorating the collaboration of.
The official partnership between replica Vacheron Constantin and the Louvre, one of the world’s three largest museums, dates back to November 2019. Vacheron Constantin, founded in 1755, and the Louvre, opened in 1793, although different in their fields, share the same interest and vision of preservation and restoration for the permanence of works of art and crafts. The two have previously unraveled the thread of a special relationship. Vacheron Constantin participates in a project to urgently restore the pendulum clock (pendulum clock) of ‘La Creation du Monde’, which means ‘creation of the world’, dedicated to King Louis XV of France in 1754. The finished watch was introduced as a special exhibition at the Louvre in 2016. This is a decisive occasion that ignites a fire that will solidify the partnership between the two.
And in December 2020, the one-year anniversary of the partnership, Vacheron Constantin collaborated with the Louvre through a ‘Bid for the Louvre’ auction co-planned with the world-famous auction house Christie’s. The piece was unveiled for the first time and drew a lot of attention. As developed through the Les Cabinotiers collection of the Maison’s most special bespoke watches, each watch shines as a one-of-a-kind piece of art. Including the ‘Venus de Milo’ Aphrodite statue made by Alexandros of Antioch 130 years ago, Paolo Veronese’s ‘Jupiter punishing the vices’ )’, Jacques-Louis David’s ‘The Loves of Paris and Helen’, Antonio Canova’s 18th-century sculpture ‘Psyche Reincarnated by Cupid’s Kiss ( Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss)’ and other masterpieces of the Louvre have been recreated to perfection by the craftsmen of the Vacheron Constantin Métier d’Aar atelier and captured as a successful auction event.
Another year and a half later, in May 2022, Vacheron Constantin presents another series in collaboration with the Louvre. However, unlike the previously announced Cabinotier Unique Pieces, they are presented in a limited edition form with a certain amount of production (albeit a very small amount!) developed as a Métier Dar collection. In addition to various enameling techniques, the Maison demonstrates the Maison’s superior technology, know-how and craftsmanship by freely using high-level methie dar techniques such as engraving, stone marquetry, and stone micro-mosaic. The introduction was a bit long. So, let’s take a look at what watches have been announced.
A timepiece with a human head and a lion’s body, in the center of the dial, the sphinx, known to us as a mysterious monster. It reproduces the huge ‘Great Sphinx of Tanis’ with a length of 4.80 m and a height of 1.83 m, known to have been made in Egypt’s so-called Old Kingdom period (about 2700 BC to 2195 BC), and melted it together with the art style of ancient Egypt to create Egyptian civilization. to feel the greatness of For reference, Tanis is a place name, referring to the capital of the 21st and 22nd Egyptian dynasties.
The Great Sphinx of Tanis, which arrived at the Louvre in 1826 by British consul Henry Salt, is a symbol of the pharaoh through Nemes, a head (coffin) decoration unique to the Egyptian dynasty, and a beard that only monarchs can have. It shows strong authority. The main plate of the dial, which is made up of several layers rather than a single flat plate, is painted over the entire multiple layers with blue and black enamel paint (specially formulated by adding a small amount of metal oxide to silica powder). It was completed through about 6 firing processes in a kiln at a high temperature of 800°C or higher.
And the iconographic symbols (Egyptian hieroglyphs) on the dial are inspired by the necklace depicted on the mummy’s coffin (Nakht-khonsou-irou), making it fun to accurately reproduce the oval decoration, Cartouche. do. However, it is said that it is not engraved directly on the enamel plate, but is coated with a metallization method applied in plating technique on the sapphire crystal disk that covers the lower dial. Among them, the name of Pharaoh Merenptah, who was the son and successor of Ramses II (who ascended from 1213 to 1203 BC), can be found in the verse interpreted as follows (However, due to the nature of Cartouche, the name of the previous king was erased and When a new king ascends to the throne, his name is sometimes engraved). “Ba-en-la-mer-amon, king of Upper and Lower Egypt. Son of La Merneptah, satisfied with Maat, endowed with eternal life.”
Meanwhile, on the outside of the dial, a decoration called Frieze was added in a classic Western style, and it was finished with Champlevé enamel, a design reminiscent of a barley field or golden petals. In the center of the dial, a blue wing decoration reminiscent of the goddess Isis was added, and the Champlebet enamel technique was used to complete the design by digging out the desired pattern on the plate and then filling it with enamel paint.
Then, a gold applique, hand-engraved with a realistic Tanis sphinx, is placed on a sapphire crystal disc for a highlight. For reference, to express the sphinx’s head in a more three-dimensional way, the beard part was separately made and attached. It uses a three-dimensional sculpting technique that removes external materials except for parts to give it a sense of volume, and also adds a patina effect that looks like a subtly tan with a torch to express a unique old-fashioned look.
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