Blancpain’s in-house Métiers d’Art studio has unveiled its latest creation, which uses fine engraving, damascening and shakudō in a one-of-a-kind creation bearing the image of Ganesh.
It is a fresh interpretation of the Ganesh theme featured in the watch that won the Artistic Crafts prize in the 2015 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.
The black patina of the dial is created using the shakudō technique. Blancpain’s artisans delicately treat the surface multiple times to achieve the final subtle black shades that mark this art form which was originally developed for the decoration of swords and jewelry.
Blancpain claims it is the only watch house that has mastered this time-honored motif.
The dial base presents another art form, damascening, whose application to watchmaking is also exclusive to Blancpain. The fine designs are hand-carved into the surface of the dial, following which gold is hammered into the resulting troughs. The images themselves are fine gold hand engravings that are held in place without the use of adhesives
The watch itself is part of Blancpain’s Villeret Collection. Its 45 mm red gold case with Blancpain’s signature double-stepped bezel houses hand-wound in-house Caliber 15B. The transparent case-back showcases the movement finishing featuring finely hand-applied Côtes de Genève along with beveling and circular graining.
Blancpain Shakudō Piece Unique Ganesh is available now exclusively from Harrods, £117,100.
