Our final live auction of the fall 2024 season, the New York Watch Auction: XI, takes place on December 7-8, at our Manhattan headquarters. The auction includes 180 of the world's finest watches – and though we are loath to boast, we truly think it’s one of the best catalogs we've ever put together. We'll highlight several of the most interesting lots and stories featured in the sales over the next few weeks, including the watches highlighted in this article.
– By Logan Baker
Marquetry
TimeForArt offered Chopard an exciting opportunity to highlight its creativity with a truly unique timepiece. The new Alpine Eagle 41 XP model merges the clean lines of one of Chopard’s iconic designs with a remarkable straw marquetry dial, crafted through expert artisanal techniques refined in Chopard’s own workshops.
Created by a dedicated artisan specially trained in this 17th-century technique, this intricate dial design marks a first for Chopard. Each finely crafted strand forms the shape of a feather, reflecting the noble essence of the collection. Arranged meticulously in varying sizes, thicknesses, and hues, these strands compose a stunning display, evoking the view of New York City’s skyscrapers from above – the location of the upcoming TimeForArt auction.
The Alpine Eagle collection embodies Chopard’s creative wealth and visionary spirit, inspired by the strength of nature. Staying true to this approach, the one-of-a-kind Alpine Eagle 41 XP features a round case with sculpted sides, a crown engraved with a compass rose, a bezel secured by eight indexed screws, luminescent accents, a comfortable metal bracelet, and an innovative material: Lucent Steel™. This advanced alloy, made with 80% recycled content, was developed by Chopard to offer exceptional durability and unmatched brilliance achieved through a meticulous remelting process.
With sleek lines and harmonious proportions, the Alpine Eagle 41 XP model is 41 millimeters in diameter and just 8 millimeters thick, featuring a refined bezel and sides that open up to showcase the unique dial. The case’s slim profile is made possible by the in-house L.U.C 96.17-L movement, a self-winding calibre just 3.30 mm thick. Equipped with a 22-carat gold off-center micro-rotor, this high-inertia movement powers two stacked barrels using ChopardTwin technology, delivering a remarkable 65-hour power reserve for the Alpine Eagle 41 XP Time For Art.
Miniature Painting
Each Speake Marin timepiece is a masterpiece, brought to life through a painstaking study of design, a meticulous dedication to detail, cutting-edge movements crafted in the company’s workshop at Le Cercle des Horlogers, and the exceptional quality of hand-finished craftsmanship. In celebration of its second participation in the TimeForArt charity auction, the brand has created a unique and exquisite piece: “Promenade à New York.”
This exclusive watch features a 42mm round Piccadilly case in grade-5 polished and brushed titanium, framing a captivating "painting" on the dial. The mother-of-pearl dial serves as a canvas, capturing cherished memories of Mrs. Christelle Rosnoblet, the brand’s President and CEO, from an extended stay in New York City, where she often enjoyed leisurely Sunday strolls in Central Park.
Skillfully painted with brushes and vibrant colors, the dial depicts the Gapstow Bridge amid a rich autumn landscape, with golden, bronze, and orange leaves contrasting against a blue sky and sparkling reflections on the water. Each exquisite detail draws the viewer in, forming a mesmerizing micro-painting that took a week to complete, filled with the beauty and serenity of a New York autumn.
Enamel
Make-up was essential to Gabrielle Chanel's vision of feminine allure, and this unique wristwatch pays tribute to her style with an artful portrayal of Mademoiselle Chanel adorned in her iconic accessories: pearl earrings, layered long necklaces, and her signature duo of cuffs.
Inspired by the vivid colors and bold portrait style of the Pop Art movement, the Chanel Watch Creation Studio designed this dial in striking shades of pink, violet, and blue. Crafted with the traditional “Grand Feu” enamel technique at Cadraniers de Genève (owned by F.P. Journe), the process involves delicately applying liquid enamel onto an 18-karat white gold dial, then firing it at 800°C. This intricate procedure is repeated multiple times, requiring precision and expertise to achieve the desired color and smooth finish.
The dial’s motif is revealed through 12 meticulously pad-printed layers, each created by Chanel's Watch Creation Studio to represent a specific design and color: the black outline of Gabrielle, her beige skin, blue hair, red nails, and white accents. Some layers are applied with ink, while others are in “Grand Feu” enamel for depth and brilliance.
Encased in blackened stainless steel and adorned with baguette diamonds on the bezel, this exclusive TimeForArt piece is powered by a manually wound mechanical movement, blending artistic mastery with timeless sophistication.
Engraving
For the TimeForArt auction, Czapek introduces the Antarctique ‘Artists & Artisans - Pièce N°1,’ a distinctive timepiece created in collaboration with master engraver Michèle Rothen and Czapek’s longstanding partner, Swiss dialmaker Metalem. The dial, crafted from a unique gold alloy branded by Czapek as “Secret Alloy” (Alloy 401), features an intricate hand-engraved, subtly blackened design that highlights the Czapek SXH5 caliber. This artistic detail uses a “trompe l’oeil” effect, creating a striking skeleton-watch appearance with the movement seemingly brought into view, complemented by three-dimensional indexes for added depth. The sword-shaped hands complete the look with a sporty, highly legible display, seamlessly merging art and watchmaking expertise.
Meanwhile, in its debut contribution to the TimeForArt auction, Baltic presents a unique Prismic model co-created with artificial intelligence, celebrating the fusion of tradition and technology. This pioneering experiment employs AI-driven design to craft a one-of-a-kind dial inspired by natural wave patterns, merging organic shapes with the precision of machine learning. Precision milling brings a three-dimensional quality to the artwork, adding depth and creating captivating light reflections that animate the watch from every angle.
The Anoma A1 embraces a bold, experimental vision of watchmaking, pushing boundaries with a sculptural design that defies traditional norms. Defined by a balance of contrasts – harmony and imbalance, softness and edge, boldness and subtlety – the A1 is a captivating blend of art and horology.
Inspired by a 1950s free-form table created by Charlotte Perriand, Anoma’s journey with this shape began years ago upon discovering one of these tables in a Paris antique gallery. This rounded triangular form became the foundation of the A1, and for TimeForArt 2024, this special edition embodies Anoma’s artistic ethos.
Collaborating with designer Jas Rewkiewicz, the dial features an intricate engraved pattern inspired by optical art – a style that uses geometric shapes and patterns to create optical illusions – drawing particularly from the works of Bridget Riley and Ferruccio Gard. The dial’s mesmerizing sequence of offset triangles generates a dynamic optical illusion, giving it a three-dimensional effect that shifts with the light. Each triangle is engraved directly into the metal, then coated with black lacquer, lending the dial a sleek, glossy finish that enhances its depth. True to its artistic spirit, the dial remains free of branding or indices, allowing the hypnotic pattern to command full attention.
Minimalism
Louis Erard proudly unveils a unique timepiece crafted exclusively for the TimeForArt auction, where fine watchmaking intersects with contemporary art. This remarkable creation is the product of a collaboration with Olivier Mosset, the renowned Swiss artist celebrated for his rebellious, avant-garde approach to abstract art. The watch showcases a dynamic, chameleon-like dial with a tone-on-tone blue that shifts to violet depending on the light, echoing the visual effect of Mosset’s "Untitled" piece exhibited at MAMO Centre d'art de la Cité Radieuse in 2018. Stripped of labels and logos, the dial serves as a pure expression of art, allowing the work’s simplicity to speak for itself.
The hands – batons for the hour, minute, and second – are uniform in length, width, and rounded ends, embodying a minimalist aesthetic. A single detail provides orientation: a slight variation in the size of the central hole, ensuring legibility without detracting from the artistic essence.
Accompanied by a red seal reading "work of art - do not wear," the piece asserts its identity as an art object.
Drawing
In celebration of its 140th anniversary, Bulgari embarked on an exciting new journey, unveiling a collection of watches that redefine traditional design.
For this special milestone, this watch features an illustrated dial that reveals the movement’s back instead of a conventional dial, creating the illusion of viewing the watch from the reverse side, as if peering through an open caseback. This innovative approach invites wearers to admire the intricate inner workings from a fresh perspective, blending artistry with horological craftsmanship in a truly unique way.
"ENJOY LIFE" is the mantra that artist Shantell Martin infuses into the special edition Ressence TYPE 1², created for the TimeForArt 2024 auction. Martin, a British visual artist celebrated for her bold black-and-white line drawings, is also a philosopher, teacher, choreographer, and performer. This collaboration brings together her visual storytelling with Ressence’s mechanical ingenuity, resulting in a watch that is both art and timepiece.
The watch features a white dial with only black hands, integrated into Ressence’s signature flush rotating discs, providing an ideal canvas for Martin’s distinctive black-on-white designs. With just two words – "enjoy life" – the piece encourages the wearer to embrace simplicity and spontaneity, resonating with the fluidity and freedom of Martin’s lines. Martin’s line-work flows like time itself – continuous, alive, and ever in motion. It serves as a reminder to savor life and time alike, emphasizing that both are journeys to be embraced, not controlled.
You can learn more, place a bid, and view the entire Phillips New York Watch Auction: XI catalog right here.
About Phillips In Association With Bacs & Russo
The team of specialists at PHILLIPS Watches is dedicated to an uncompromised approach to quality, transparency, and client service. Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo holds the world record for the most successful watch auction, with its Geneva Watch Auction: XIV having realized $74.5 million in 2021. Over the course of 2021 and 2022, the company sold 100% of the watches offered, a first in the industry, resulting in the highest annual total in history across all the auction houses at $227 million.
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