Showcasing the talents housed in the Métiers Rares™ (Rare Handcrafts) atelier within the Manufacture, the two new timepieces complement the exquisite tribute to the art form of woodblock printing on the case-back with miniature Grand Feu enamel painting, while the dial is anchored in the Western craft traditions of guillochage and enamel.
MINIATURE PAINTING GRAND FEU ENAMEL
The miniature paintings on the Reverso case-backs were executed using the Geneva technique, requiring 80 hours’ meticulous work. As well as the technical feat of reproducing Hokusai’s original colours (including the graduated bokashi effect) in an entirely different medium, the enameller faced the challenge of precisely reproducing every detail with pinpoint accuracy, on a scale approximately one-tenth of the original.
UP TO 16 HOURS FOR THE GUILLOCHÉ ENAMELLED DIAL
The background of both dials are decorated with hand-guillochage and enamel. For the Waterfall at Yoshino, the craftsman applied a lozenge pattern comprising no fewer than 800 lines, each of which required five passages of the lathe (4,000 passages in total), representing eight hours of work. Then, layers of translucent green enamel are applied, with each layer requiring separate firing and drying – representing eight additional hours of work, over the course of a week.
ART STORY
CELEBRATING A GREAT JAPANESE MASTER
Hokusai (c.1760–1849) was a highly prolific illustrator, printmaker and ukiyo-e artist. A Tour of the Waterfalls of the Provinces marked the first time that the theme of falling water was approached in ukiyo-e painting. The master artisans of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Métiers Rares™ atelier have previously paid homage to these works with a Reverso Tribute model in 2021 depicting the Waterfall at Kirifuri, followed by the Amida Falls in 2022.
