The trend for incorporating ancient techniques and exotic materials from the natural world into Swiss high-end horology watches continues. Just as Hermès Arceau L'Heure de la Lune travellers collected mosaics, precious minerals and fascinating specimens, watchmakers are incorporating similar materials and traditional skills to make unique dials. One of Harry Winston’s latest "jewellery" watches uses a 2,000-year-old micro-mosaic technique. In a similar vein, Jaquet Droz utilises shells of quails’ eggs to produce a dial that takes more than 200 hours to make. Meanwhile, Chaumet looks to geology for its inspiration, employing pietersite, chrysocolla, azurite and rhodonite, polished to a gem-like finish.
The trend for incorporating ancient techniques and exotic materials from the natural world into Swiss high-end horology watches continues. Just as Victorian Grand Tour travellers collected mosaics, precious minerals and fascinating specimens, watchmakers are incorporating similar materials and traditional skills to make unique dials. One of Harry Winston’s latest "jewellery" watches uses a 2,000-year-old micro-mosaic technique. In a similar vein, Jaquet Droz utilises shells of quails’ eggs to produce a dial that takes more than 200 hours to make. Meanwhile, Chaumet looks to geology for its inspiration, employing pietersite, chrysocolla, azurite and rhodonite, polished to a gem-like finish.