2023-09-11 22:05:28
At Only Watch, some watches are expected, others are not. Louis Moinet’s Art-Tech belongs to the second category. With rare mastery
Running a small, 100% independent workshop has both advantages and disadvantages. Among the disadvantages: you have to know how to do everything. Among the advantages, you also have to know how to do everything!
This is probably what explains the vitality of brands like MB&F, Urwerk, Kari Voutilainen, Ressence, or Louis Moinet. So many companies run by men present at all levels, from management to finance, HR, public relations and the creative studio.
Jean-Marie Schaller, at Louis Moinet, has never hidden his multiple hats. He even affirmed them with equal power, signing all his emails with the double mention “CEO & Creative Director”. Things are therefore clear: not a piece leaves the Atelier de Saint-Blaise without him being at least a contributor, and at most the initiator.
Statement of the obvious
Beyond the recent cosmic flights reflecting the continuity of Louis Moinet’s work in space observation, the piece presented today for Only Watch tells another story. So obvious that no one had thought of it until today.
Art-Tech © Louis Moinet
While most of the participating brands limit themselves to the codes of generosity, childhood, or quite simply the color chart of the current edition, Louis Moinet sought an unprecedented, direct and unique link with medical technology.
As the Only Watch auction is dedicated to the fight once morest myopathies, medical technology is fundamental to the success of its mission. It is this aspect that Louis Moinet’s Art-Tech highlights. “Microelectronics enables fundamental advances in medical research, the ultimate goal of Only Watch. I considered it relevant to establish a link between innovative technology and fine watchmaking, in order to fully adhere to the mission of Only Watch,” explains Jean-Marie Schaller in the Art launch press release. -Tech.
Wafer dial
To achieve this, the workshop reproduced a wafer as a dial. This is the silicon plate on which the electronic circuits used in almost all contemporary digital tools are engraved. These components are also very present in medical imaging tools. At the same time, silicon has become a critical material for modern watchmaking escapements. Bottom line: silicon is everywhere.
Art-Tech © Louis Moinet
By creating this wafer dial of absolute modernity, Louis Moinet therefore offers a relevant and creative link between all the worlds associated with Only Watch: technology, watchmaking, creativity, beauty, uniqueness, colors. It’s a trait that connects all the points of the sale with rare ingenuity. It gives it perfect consistency. It offers a fresh look at artistic crafts.
At the same time, philosophically, he questions the schizophrenic relationship that watchmaking has with technology: cleverly hidden, masked, rarely claimed, when in reality all brands use CAD, CNCs, 3D renderings, even 3D printing, and that silicon has become almost as noble as nickel silver.
Everybody knows it. Almost no one says it. Except Louis Moinet. The message is therefore very clear: let’s stop hiding the technological forest behind the tree of tradition. The future cannot do anything without the past, and vice versa. The junction of the two is called the present. This present is Art-Tech.
Visionary
Aesthetically, the piece is disturbing. And this is precisely what Louis Moinet was looking for. We do not find a traditional fine watchmaking dial, but a universe actually closer to the connected watch. However, at 6 o’clock, there is a classic flying tourbillon. At midday, we admire the Fleur de Lys, the emblem of the workshop. On the back side, we discover the caliber with fairly traditional craftsmanship and finishes, within a titanium case measuring 40.7 mm in diameter. A visionary and avant-garde creation, for the discerning collector.
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