WRIST FLOWER POWER
This new and extremely colorful limited edition from the watchmaker based in La Chaux-de-Fonds pays homage to the sacred art of Grand Feu enamel enhancing its mechanical capabilities. It represents a supercharged watch which gives you the urge to live life to the full.
As the popular saying goes, “everything comes in threes” and Schwarz Etienne follows this to the letter since its new watch named Ode to the 70’s is the third installment of the series which began in 2016. The first part, Ode à la semaine, paid homage to the stars, the second, Ode au printemps, released the following year, paid homage to nature, while this third creation is very different. And above all colorful. Very colorful. Just looking at it takes you straight back to the age of Flower Power, the famous hippie slogan from the 1960s and 1970s extolling a pacifist ideology.
Ode to the 70’s is a delight for the eyes with its a brightly-colored face: yellow, orange, red, pink, green and blue. In addition to this color scheme, Schwarz Etienne wanted to showcase the sacred art of Grand Feu enameling and has done so using two techniques: cloisonné, where the contours of the pattern are traced with very thin gold wire, and champlevé, which involves carving out the cells. After that, in the style of coloring-in for children but on a much more complex and delicate scale, each section of the design is filled with colored enamel then kiln-fired several times. The only part not to be enameled is the micro-rotor in the shape of a Peace & Love symbol at 9 o’clock, which is lacquered instead.
This vibrant work of art keeps the time with two luminescent delta-shaped hands showing the hours and minutes, a knurled wheel for winding (the ratchet) partially visible at 5 o’clock and, most importantly, the flying tourbillon at 1 o’clock. These functions are regulated by the self-winding TSE 121.000 caliber which offers a power reserve of 70 hours located at the heart of the 44 mm white gold case.
This 23-piece limited edition is worn on a light blue denim strap decorated with small paint splatters in different colors lined with bright red alligator, which is fastened using a white gold folding buckle.
Price: CHF 118,500 excluding VAT
By Sharmila Bertin