It seems the taste of pendulum is swinging back towards appreciating clocks as objects of artistic and sculptural beauty write BEATRICE ISOLA and LARA OLADUNNI.
Biola Oloto likes intriguing clocks to adorn the mantel of her home. As an interior designer, she ensures that artistic head turning clocks are strategically placed on spaces she is working with.
She says recently creativity is at the heart of clocks. Some of these clocks come in captivating extremely whimsical longcases. They are fashioned after designs common in the late 17th century.
“A recent design I used,” explains Oloto, “below it, the dial boasted a diorama depicting a fleet of vessels rocking back and forth. It comes with some sort of divine figure making an appearance from behind the clouds. It was a great statement piece that will take you back in time like those 17th century times in England.”
Some of these baroque clocks are visually appealing they are often regarded as unexpected visual treats. For instance, Melchio, a clock, sold at £30,000 is a gleaming robot that looks like it has stepped out of the science-fiction films. It comes with two discs. The first displays hours, the other minutes. It rotates in the middle of his torso. But perhaps it is more accurate to describe Melchior as a decorative object, a sculpture that happens to tell the time.
Melchior was made by MB&F (Max Büsser), a name that came from a family tradition of first names that alternated between Balthazar and Melchior for generations, but which fell into desuetude with his father.
Max Büsser’s clocks
Max Büsser’s clocks and watches are among the most far-out creations in the horological world today, and in 2011 he opened a gallery, the MB&F MAD Gallery, which he describes to Ft’s ‘How To Spend It’ as a “captivating universe of kinetic art where horological machines and mechanical-art devices reign supreme”. The first exhibition space, in Geneva’s old town, was followed by one in Taipei in 2014, and another is set to open in Dubai. This crossroad of culture and clockwork is fascinating. Until a few years ago, the dominant interest was mechanical, but now the pendulum of taste has swung back towards viewing timepieces as objects of beauty as well.
Enamelling, for example, once almost extinct, has returned to popularity. But for the enamel artist, the limited “canvas” offered by a watch dial only a couple of centimetres across must be a frustration. In part to maintain and develop these craft skills, Patek Philippe continued to make its celebrated dome clocks (example pictured, price on request), even when there was not the demand. “We don’t count on the market, we count more on our own craftspeople, and if we cannot sell the clocks, I keep them,” Patek Philippe president Thierry Stern told ‘How To Spend It. “At one point we had over 80 dome clocks in stock” – no small number, given one might take an artist up to a year to complete. “Today, however, it’s almost impossible to find one,” continues Stern, neatly illustrating the recent surge in popularity of this kind of work.
Oloto says there is a renewed interested in artistic techniques and dome clocks are the most favoured. She says they show huge amounts of space on which to develop a theme and which, because of their curved and rounded form, present unique and inspiring challenges for the artisans. For Patek, enamelling on clocks is frequently mixed with other techniques such as engraving and wood marquetry to heighten the visual effect.
Of recent, famous world maker, Cartier has introduced such recondite disciplines as marquetry of flower petals, and has now used straw marquetry to dazzling effect in a limited series of 18 palladium and silver table clocks with iridescent blue dials of subtle colour gradations from cornflower to cobalt.
Cartier has long had a reputation as a clockmaker – its heritage during the art deco years is particularly rich with desk and table clocks, while its rare and famous mystery clocks, made in small numbers during the early 20th century, are among the most miraculous of its creations – but its renewed focus on creative clockmaking saw the launch of the Etourdissant collection last July. This featured a mystery clock (price on request, pictured) in white gold, amethyst, agate, turquoise, onyx, baguette-cut diamonds and brilliant‑cut diamonds, with an eight-day movement – even if it did not tell the time, it would make a handsome abstract sculpture.
According to reports, Cartier has for the past three years had a new eye on hardstones because the poetry that comes from them and what makes each exceptional. Cartier has been able to mix hardstones and precious gemstones on clocks.
Cartier is not the only maker of beautiful clocks during the art deco years. Verger Frères and Vacheron Constantin made some of the most attractive decorative clocks of the time. Internationally, artistic clocks are staging a comeback. Those who can afford these statement pieces are doing so with relish.
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