Cutting on the Watch to Appreciate the Boldness and Carefulness of Gold Engraving Art

Gold engraving originates from traditional carving, while carving can be traced back to the beginning of human civilization. In ancient times, carving served as a method of documentation, preserving the human wisdom and civilization of that era. During the Renaissance, carving flourished as a unique art form. Among all art forms, there has never been anything like carving that can render an object in such a three-dimensional, complete, and layered manner—even painting, after the advent of perspective, sought to achieve a sense of three-dimensionality and abstraction.

Hand-carved Flower Pocket Watch

      With the classification of carving, many styles have emerged. Hand micro-carving is one of the most complex carving methods, and the carving of mechanical watches happens to largely apply hand micro-carving. There is no strict subordination between micro-carving and gold engraving; they are two different classification methods. The intersection of these two classifications is the gold engraving craft in watches that we are going to talk about today.

Gold Engraving in the Watchmaking System

      The application of gold engraving in watches is very extensive. It can be used not only on the surface of the watch but also on the movement of the watch. In most cases, what we see is engraving on the watch surface, and this type of engraving also has certain distinctions. For example, some are carved directly on the external components of the watch (including the dial), while others are carved on a metal plate first, and then the finished gold engraving is embedded into the watch using inlay and paste process after completion.

      For example, the new generation Ref. 5175 launched by Patek Philippe for its 175th anniversary has its case patterns directly carved by hand by Patek Philippe's gold engraving artisans. In recent years, the very popular zodiac watches, some of their gold engraving works are carved first and then inlaid and pasted onto the dial. There is no so-called good or bad between these two methods; they are just produced according to different designs to achieve different artistic effects.

      In today's extremely rich watch carving system, we can often encounter many very interesting and profound terms, such as shell carving, relief carving, flower carving, openwork carving, etc. Each has its own unique charm, and the beauty it presents is irreplaceable. What makes it different is that with the help of modern electronic equipment, quite a part of carving procedures can now be completed by mechanical equipment. Laser carving is one of them, mainly used for carving marking information such as numbers and text. However, the artistry of a watch still needs to be reflected by hand fine carving, which is also the important value of an artistic watch.

      Traditionally, the steps of gold engraving on a watch are not complicated. First, draw a sketch to determine the pattern to be carved, then carve the outline of the pattern on the component, then use tools such as carving knives and files for production, and finally use other tools for retouching. So why are excellent gold engraving works so rare and so difficult to create? The reason lies in people. Not everyone can easily master this craft. It is not a question of intelligence, but a matter of spirit—perseverance, patience and accumulated craftsmanship honed over and over again.

Blancpain: The Form and Spirit of Gold Engraving

      Compared with gold engraving on the external structure of a watch, working on the core element of the watch—the movement—is obviously much more cautious. No matter how important and strong the artistry of this watch is, it is first and foremost a watch that can display time accurately, and only then is it a carrier of art and culture; otherwise, there would be no reason to carve elaborately on a watch. Although gold engraving craft is already very mature today, facing a formed movement bridge, carving becomes a difficult task. This is very similar to jade carving: first, one must observe and consider the characteristics of the material itself, fully follow the inherent structure of the material, before one can conceive and carve.

      In the watchmaking industry, Blancpain is a leader in artistic watchmaking. Blancpain's five extraordinary crafts (gold engraving, enamel, Damascene gold inlay, gem setting, shakudo) have greatly expanded the artistic horizon of mechanical watchmaking. To this end, Blancpain has established its own art workshop, where the masters do not only specialize in mechanical watchmaking, but integrate authentic and charming crafts from around the world to create Blancpain's artistic legend. In the Le Brassus watchmaking estate, Blancpain's gold engraving team brings infinite vitality to the brand. Ms. Marie, who won the "Best French Handicraft Award" in 2011, condenses extremely delicate natural scenery and grand natural scenes into Blancpain watches through her exquisite carving skills.

5 Cities, 5 Styles

      In 2011, Blancpain launched the Villeret gold-engraved pattern custom-made watch at Baselworld. On the surface, it is not much different from other Villeret watches of the brand. It has a very simple two-hand design and a elegant dial, making it hard to see its mystery at a glance. However, when you turn the watch over, the Calibre 15B movement with gold-engraved patterns made by Blancpain's gold engraving team will bring you a surprise. Through meticulous carving, Blancpain fully restores the urban features of five countries and regions: Switzerland, France, Japan, mainland China and Hong Kong, China.

      Compared with other forms of carving, the carving used for this movement is obviously more complicated. First of all, the features of each city are different, so the composition needs to be modified and finalized in combination with the original structure of the movement bridge. This is just the beginning. When entering the gold engraving process, the gold engraving craftsman needs to use different tools to carve, chisel and retouch the detailed patterns, while also controlling the size of the bridge, which can only present as much three-dimensional effect as possible on an extremely small thickness.

Blancpain Ganesha Watch

      In addition to this complete set of gold-engraved pattern watches, Blancpain has many other gold engraving masterpieces. The Ganesha watch, which once won the GPHG "Best Craft Watch" award, further demonstrates the excellence of Blancpain's gold engraving craft.

Jaquet Droz: Carving Time

      Since its founding, artistry has been an integral part of Jaquet Droz. Its connection with [royalty] not only brought huge wealth to Jaquet Droz, but also laid a foundation for Jaquet Droz to create miracles in art and culture. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the integration of watchmaking and world art became the basic requirement for custom-made masterpieces of watches. Looking at major museums, the watches of that era were never just mechanical toys; they all had exquisite and even extremely luxurious decoration and artistic processing. Many masterpieces of Jaquet Droz are displayed in these museums.

Jaquet Droz Gold-engraved Bird

      Today, Jaquet Droz's artistic accomplishment is once again appreciated by the world through the gold engraving craft. On the small dial, the gold engravers of Jaquet Droz Art Workshop can always vividly express natural objects. The Jaquet Droz Gold-engraved Bird Petite Heure Minute Four Seasons Series is exactly the outstanding achievement of Jaquet Droz's gold engraving skill. In the early timepiece works of Jaquet Droz, the tit from the Jura region, Jaquet Droz's hometown, was presented in his works through exquisite craftsmanship because of its ethereal song. Since then, birds have become an important part of Jaquet Droz's art and culture, and the theme of Jaquet Droz's immortal masterpiece "Bird of Time" also comes from birds.

Jaquet Droz Gold-engraved Bird Petite Heure Minute – Four Seasons Series Watch

      Combining Jaquet Droz's traditional handicraft, the Jaquet Droz Gold-engraved Bird Petite Heure Minute – Four Seasons Series (Petite Heure Minute Relief Seasons) watch presents the natural charm of birds in a three-dimensional form vividly on a white mother-of-pearl dial. The mother-of-pearl dial, fully hand-carved by craft masters, lays out the natural scenery of the Swiss Jura Valley from near to far. In different seasons, the emotions between the two birds are depicted with different colors. At the same time, the outstretched wings of the birds appear more vibrant under the delicate carving of gold engraving.

      To vividly express this theme, Jaquet Droz first carves out the complete shape of the birds with traditional gold engraving craft, then inlays and pastes them on the dial, thus forming a strong and distinct three-dimensional effect. According to different themes, the surface of the birds and the background are specially treated to show the different rhythms of the four seasons.

Extremely Luxurious: The Beauty of Flower Carving

      Flower carving is a complex type of gold engraving, and its intricacy commands people's respect. Flower carving can be used on the movement, as well as on the case or dial, and it mainly carves relatively regular textures, common ones include dragon scale patterns and flowers. The reason it is intricate is that it requires more carved details and very high precision. Precisely because of its intricacy, after elaborate carving, it can present extremely luxurious beauty.

Vacheron Constantin Hand-carved Flower Tourbillon Movement

      Vacheron Constantin, an ancient watch manufacturer that has never stopped production in 260 years, has rich historical and cultural accumulation. Because of this, after the exquisite artistic expression of Vacheron Constantin, its charm deeply attracts countless art lovers. At Vacheron Constantin, the Masters of Art collection forms its own series, each watch has its own strengths, and distinctive foreign cultures are quietly integrated, and one of the most important forms of expression is flower carving. To celebrate the 260th anniversary of the founding of Vacheron Constantin, Vacheron Constantin launched a Masters of Art tourbillon watch with movement flower carving in 2015. The main part of the movement bridge is carved with vine patterns, with curled leaves and clear veins.

A. Lange & Söhne Balance Bridge Flower Carving Craft

      Although many brands can invite independent engravers to create a small number of flower-carved watches, and some brands have the strength to produce them by themselves, so far, I only know of a very few brands that have passed down flower carving craft as a tradition continuously, and the benchmark brand among them is A. Lange & Söhne. From the revival of Lange to the present day, the flower-carved balance bridge has become a part of the brand's unique craft. Whenever people talk about A. Lange & Söhne or appreciate a Lange movement, this is an indispensable detail, because all these carvings are hand-carved by Lange's artisans, and each one is unique. It is these graceful patterns that bring a romantic artistic atmosphere to Lange watches, making people intoxicated.

Conclusion: Only with the blessing of art can mechanical timepieces reach the top of luxury, and this rule has never changed. Art is not practical, so its value is difficult to measure. Therefore, when we sigh at the high price of artistic watches, we should appreciate their intrinsic value more, and do not let price affect your right to appreciate art. (by Wu Yibing, Watch Home)