THE DELICACY OF NUANCE
With this limited edition, art meets craft. The Swiss brand celebrates the centenarian painter with a surprising timepiece on which light plays on the material.
Which artist other than Pierre Soulages so effectively materialized the words of fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent (1936-2008), “there is not one black, but many blacks”? The Ruthenian artist, known for his monochromatic abstract work begun in 1979 on large canvases, saw his work come to life in miniature within a Hampton watch signed by Baume & Mercier. The rectangular shape of this timepiece forms the ideal setting for transposing by homothety one of his XL size creations on a dial integrated into a 48x31mm case. To achieve this remarkable feat, a laser-machined brass base is embellished with Levantine stone to achieve a matte effect. An electroplating process is used to cover the whole with a thin layer of color (0.2 microns). Lacquer is then applied to protect the entire piece. Each detail was first approved by the painter. Thus, at his request, the hands were enhanced with a golden line to sublimate the passing of time.
In order to obtain an intense black color, the case, chiseled out of a steel block, was bead blasted and then treated by a plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (PACVD) of amorphous hydrogenated carbon ions. The high-tech case contains a self-winding ETA 1892 caliber.
This limited series of 102 pieces, the age of Pierre Soulages this year, is worn on a coordinated leather wristband. “It is the differences in textures, smooth, fibrous, calm, tense, or agitated that capture or refuse the light that give birth to the gray blacks or deep blacks”, explains the artist. The Hampton Hommage à Soulages beautifully renders these recommendations.