Vacheron Constatin

The Watch : Historique Ultra-fine 1968
The quest for extreme thinness pursued by Vacheron Constantin is reliving its finest hours with the re-edition of two models from the 1950s and 1960s, considered at the time to be the world's smallest wristwatches. In one of them, Vacheron Constantin pays tribute to a 1968 square-shaped model equipped with the famous ultra-thin self-winding Calibre 1120. Crafted in 18-carat 4N pink gold, the watch combines the strict square shape of its dial opening with the gently curving shapes of its case sides. The result is an understated and elegant overall effect representative of the 1960s and yet endowed with decidedly contemporary technical characteristics, including water resistance to 30 metres, a sapphire crystal, a solid snap-fastening caseback. Despite these improvements which generally tend to increase the thickness of a watch, those made to the Historiques Ultra-fine 1968 have actually led to a model that is thinner than the original, at 5.50 mm (compared with 6.52 mm), making it one of the thinnest in its category.

Architectural Counterpart: Ferrari Research Centre in Maranello, Italy, by Fuksas architects
This fragile-looking has a definite impact. Right from the start, we were struck by the slenderness of its case and the treatment of its design: this object seems austere and timeless, which might be considered a paradox for one created to indicate the passing of time.

In this respect, the Ferrari research centre designed by Fuksas Architects comprises the same ingredients. Much like a space vessel that could well have stemmed from the fertile imagination of film-maker Stanley Kubrick, an object is placed in suspension (or levitation) above the site of the automobile manufacturing plant. The volume of this construction houses the factory's research centre and takes the form of a large 'tray'. The latter is pierced in certain places: empty spaces with inserted plant life (a bamboo forest), stretches of water, external waterways and interstices arranged to allow natural light in. All these elements filter the light, and the plants create shimmering reflections and glimmerings – a range of kinetic elements that endow this creation with the aura of a jewel case housing precious objects.

Like the watch created by Vacheron Constantin, the automobile research working areas and a landscaped microclimate have been regrouped within an extremely limited space. In an extremely straightforward manner, a miniature world has been created inside a discreet-looking volume.

These are two objects, a building and a watch, that cultivate a shared vision of their image: that of the exquisite charm of restraint – coupled with a definite penchant for introversion, through which the authors of these objects seem to indicate their preference for an extremely refined world view, giving the distinct impression that they refute the primacy of pointless gesticulation…

Harry Winston

The Watch : Project Z6
First launched in 2004, Project Z comprises a series of limited editions featuring a contemporary blend of avant-garde aesthetics and noble watchmaking traditions. It now welcomes a new complication with the 300-piece limited-edition Project Z6, heralding the entrance into the collection of a handwound movement equipped with a 24-hour alarm. And its name is not the only futuristic aspect of the latest Harry Winston release, since its aesthetic also deserves that particular adjective. The alarm is adjusted by a crown activated by a trigger slide on the side of the case. The hammer fixed to the case to enhance its resonance appears through a dial opening punctuated by two partially overlapping time and alarm discs. Meanwhile, another small disc shaped like a shruriken, the Japanese martial arts throwing star, depicts the rotation of the seconds. Finally, the signature element in all Project Z timepieces, Zalium, makes another noteworthy appearance here. Distinguished by its hypoallergenic properties and remarkable corrosion-resistance, this zirconium-based alloy boasting extreme lightness and peerless longevity fascinates by the radiance of its grey shade with shimmering dark reflections.

Architectural Counterpart : Danish pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010 by BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group
The Harry Winston watch is very different from the usual image of such an object. Within its extremely monolithic structure, the materials and colours used in order to finalise this watch are treated with a clever blend of understatement and emphasis focusing on the geometrical shapes. The form of the watch is handled as if all the elements composing it were sketched in a very swift, spontaneous fashion. This approach is reminiscent of the constructions designed by Albert Frey, a Swiss architect now based in the United States, and possibly also of the shapes stemming from the design and imagery of certain comic books from this era. "

Above and beyond the cultural comparisons which we suggest in a deliberately provocative mode, something of the intentions of the above-mentioned period appear to emerge in the treatment of the watch presented. To be more specific, one might say that it is a matter of apparent disorderliness and entangled shapes, the implementation of understated surfaces and the subtle contrast with more shiny materials or the primary colours used. In the field of recent architecture, the above-described formal concerns and the arrangement remind us of the Expo 2010 in Shanghai and the Danish pavilion created by the BIG group of architects. This surprising construction is placed on a flat area of one part of the exhibition site. The building is distinguished by a double spiral featuring bicycle and pedestrian routes that enter and emerge from the pavilion. The visitor kind of slips inside and, throughout the tour and the transition between the inner and outer areas of the construction, establishes a series of viewpoints, like the sequences of a film, taking the form of intermingled cylindrical volumes dotted freely around the site.

DeWitt

The Watch : Twenty-8-Eight Tourbillon
There's no need to look for the brand name on the dial, the Twenty-8-Eight Tourbillon is quite patently a DeWitt. While its style is purer and more classical than the models released to date, brand connoisseurs will nonetheless immediately recognise the famous signature fluted case. The latter is slightly slimmer than usual, while the dial features a fairly traditional style with a flame-guilloché central motif, surrounded by a sunburst guilloché pattern. This attractive scene is framed by pink gold highlighting the graceful dance of the tourbillon and of the hour, minute and seconds hands. The fact that its classic style may come as somewhat of a surprise, is possibly due to the fact that the Twenty-8-Eight is determined to remain loyal to its imperial origins. Conceived on August 28th by Mr Jérôme de Witt, a descendant of Napoleon Bonoparte, who was named Emperor by the French Senate on the 28th day of Floréal according to the French Republic calendar, the Twenty-8-Eight Tourbillon derives its undeniable appeal from both its its style and its movement – a superbly finished hand-wound calibre.

Architectural Counterpart : "The Good Volcano" in Nola, Italy, by Renzo Piano
"The Good Volcano" is the name given by architect Renzo Piano to his project for the creation of a multifunction complex located in Nola, in the region of Naples. The territory housing this construction features several roads, which criss-cross and divide up the territory of the Napolitan plain. It is amid the entangled mesh of these routes that the "volcano" has been placed. It is therefore inserted within an area that is difficult to plan and not particularly attractive: a residual space. The centre comprises several movie theatres, a two-floor shopping centre, along with restaurants and a four-star hotel. All these facilities are arranged around a circular central zone measuring 160 metres in diameter. The concept developed for this project is based on a simple yet effective idea: a sign is thus placed on the scale of this territory. Through this approach, the sign transforms the image of this area characterised by the criss-crossing of roads within a non-place, and the insertion of an iconic construction into this area gives a new identity to the entire site.

"The Good Volcano" is the name given by architect Renzo Piano to his project for the creation of a multifunction complex located in Nola, in the region of Naples. The territory housing this construction features several roads, which criss-cross and divide up the territory of the Napolitan plain. It is amid the entangled mesh of these routes that the "volcano" has been placed. It is therefore inserted within an area that is difficult to plan and not particularly attractive: a residual space. The centre comprises several movie theatres, a two-floor shopping centre, along with restaurants and a four-star hotel. All these facilities are arranged around a circular central zone measuring 160 metres in diameter. The concept developed for this project is based on a simple yet effective idea: a sign is thus placed on the scale of this territory. Through this approach, the sign transforms the image of this area characterised by the criss-crossing of roads within a non-place, and the insertion of an iconic construction into this area gives a new identity to the entire site.