One of my most memorable visits to a museum (so far) is the first time I saw a Monet painting in person at the National Gallery Singapore a few years back. Seeing something in real life that you only previously saw in books and online is a always a magical experience for art lovers. Now imagine being able to carry a replica of this painting on your wrist every day. Well, that is, if you can afford it.
Designer: Jaeger-LeCoultre
Jaeger-LeCoultre is releasing a very limited edition collection called the Reverso Tribute Enamel Monet “Venice” series. These luxury watches have three of Oscar-Claude Monet’s most famous paintings, the Venice series, hand-painted on the case-back of each watch. The three models – “San Giorgio Maggiore”, “The Doge’s Palace”, and “The Grand Canal” – are reproduced paintstakingly on the 2 centimeters squared case-backs by these master enamellers. They also had to recreate these using the impasto technique to retain the dream-like and ethereal quality of the original paintings.
To make things even more intricate, the three dials are decorated with hand-guilloché distinctive patterns underneath the translucent coloured enamel. Enameling takes nine hours work for each dial since it has up to five layers of enamel and seven separate firings. Each of the models have separate, distinct colors with “San Giorgio Maggiore” and “The Doge’s Palace” sporting two shades of blue while the “The Grand Canal” has a green finish. All three sport the brand’s distinct appliqued hour markers and dauphine hands.
Since the creation of these watches call for extensive man hours and a certain level of intricacy, only 10 pieces for each model will be produced. And if you want to know how much it costs, you’ll have to inquire directly with them, which probably means us mere mortals will not be able to afford this.
