At an auction held by Sotheby's in New York two years ago, a painting by Claude Monet called Le Grand Canal et Santa Maria della Salute went under the hammer for USD 56.6 million. The canvas set a record, becoming the artist's most valuable painting with a view of Venice ever to be sold at auction.
For the latest Reverso watch crafted by the artists at Métiers Rares, the Jaeger-LeCoultre manufacture has reproduced three great paintings by Monet: San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk, the Grand Canal, and the Doge's Palace. Availability of each edition has been limited to ten pieces.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Enamel Monet “San Giorgio Maggiore”
Nothing ever goes according to plan, but the main thing is the result. Monet left for Venice with his wife Alice in 1908, planning to create a number of small paintings to remember the city, but returned with a whole series of masterpieces, which he completed when he was already back home in France.
The Reverso watch created as a practical timekeeping instrument with a protective case, specially developed for polo players, now frequently carries canvases displaying the world's treasured paintings.
The artisans have employed the Grand Feu enamel technique to painstakingly recreate the "impasto" technique (Italian for "mixture" or "dough"). This approach involves applying paint in thick relief strokes.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Enamel Monet “The Grand Canal”
Achieving the right tonal depth requires 14 layers of enamel: three base layers, four painted layers, and seven layers of translucent fondant. Transferring a Monet masterpiece onto a caseback takes 70 hours of enameling.
The dials capping the artistic trio display precise works of guilloché engraving beneath layers of enamel. A herringbone pattern comprising 120 separate lines has been chosen for the watch depicting the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore.
In contrast, the Grand Canal dial flows in swirling ripples. The sun's morning rays are evoked on the dazzling dial for the Doge's Palace, where a similar effect with the play of light is achieved using a lozenge pattern comprising 981 lines.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Enamel Monet “The Doge’s Palace”
Each of the three novelties has been given a white-gold case measuring 45.6 mm × 27.4 mm × 9.73 mm to house the manually wound Jaeger-LeCoultre caliber 822 with a 42-hour power reserve.