Louis Moinet is demonstrating its passion for travel and expertise in métiers d’art dials with a series of eight watches depicting iconic images from cities around the world.
The Around the World in Eight Days collection, a modern take on the Jules Vern classic novel, captures many scenes that did not exist when Phileas Fogg made his eighty-day journey around the world in 1872 including the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi, Petronas Tower in Kuala Lumpur or the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
“Imagine travelling around the world in just eight days to discover the essence of eight of the world’s most beautiful cities,” urges Jean-Marie Schaller, owner and creative director of Louis Moinet, who made his own circumnavigation of the world as inspiration for the métiers d’art timepieces.
“Having returned from this wonderfully long journey, I open my travel diary describing these eight unforgettable stops. What an extraordinary adventure! It starts in Paris, birthplace of that genius, Louis Moinet, and ends in New York, passing through the colourful floating markets of Bangkok, and the avant-garde metropolis of Kuala Lumpur,” Mr Schaller describes.
“I would like to invite you to discover those eight cities I have described by way of eight works of watchmaking, each celebrating métiers d’art and extraordinary materials,” he offers.
All of the eight watches comes in 40.7mm rose gold cases using a hand-wound time-only tourbillon movement that has a 96-hour power reserve thanks, in part, to twin barrels supplying the energy.
The eight watches are all about art and story telling.
Each city is a living canvas produced by specialist dial-maker GVA Cadrans using precise hand-engraving, delicate marquetry, or making complex jigsaw puzzle dials.
Paris
The journey begins in Paris with a watch that not only shows the city’s Eiffel Tower, it is also made using metal from a beam that supported the structure for a century before being replaced.
All of the eight watches have a large tourbillon at the bottom of the dial. In the case of the Parisian piece, this is loomed over by the Eiffel Tower on the backdrop of a street map in jigsaw form of the French capital’s city centre arrondissements.
Abu Dhabi
The journey travels from west to east, so a six hour flight away is Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, and Louis Moinet has chosen to represent the Islamic city with a picture of its famous Sheikh Zayed Mosque.
The hand-painted picture has the mosque sitting in its manicured gardens under a clear blue Arabian sky with a crescent moon, an important symbol to the Muslim world.
Kuala Lumpur
East again to touch down in the modern metropolis of Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia, which is epitomised by the 451 metre-tall Petronas Twin Towers.
Louis Moinet has produced the skyscrapers in silver on a silicon dial engraved with microelectronic circuits to tell the story of the high-tech industry that has driven economic growth in the city.
“The patterns create a kaleidoscope of dynamic lights and reflections that suggest the city’s dynamic innovative spirit as a thriving technology hub,” according to Louis Moinet.
Bangkok
Back to the airport and the next stop is Thailand’s bustling capital Bangkok, which is represented with a picture of its floating markets.
Fish, fruit and vegetables are shown for sale in merchant boats on a background where the water is made to look like a maze.
Singapore
Asia has four of the eight watches, and another modern metropolis, Singapore, is next in the series.
Mr Schaller says that, when he things of Singapore, he sees an extraordinary blend of ancient and modern.
The picture on the dial is of the modern tower blocks, including the iconic Marina Bay Sands hotel, but is created using traditional straw marquetry.
Tokyo
The final stop in Asia is the global city of Tokyo.
Despite the modernity and pace of the Japanese capital, Louis Moinet and its dial artists have focused on the historic with a black face dominated by Mount Fuji and decorated with cherry blossoms and an origami artwork.
San Francisco
Across the Pacific to the West coast of America and the gateway to California, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.
The watch also captures the impact of the computer industry on Northern California with a background to the dial made to look like silicon wafer etched with microelectronic circuits, the very symbol of Silicon Valley.
New York City
And finally to the Big Apple where, again, history is mixed with modern architecture and the advance of technology.
For this dial, Louis Moinet has used holographic technology to show skyscrapers of a city that never sleeps, but is overlooked by the welcoming Statue of Liberty that has greeted travellers to America since it was gifted by the French in 1885.
Making of the Around the World in Eight Days
