Appearing first in the sixteenth century, the adjective “baroque”
comes from the Portuguese barocco, which meant a pearl with
an irregular shape. From there, it came to refer to an artistic
movement, born in Italy, aimed at countering the austere aesthetics
advocated by the Protestant Reformation.
Appearing first in the sixteenth century, the adjective “baroque”
comes from the Portuguese barocco, which meant a pearl with
an irregular shape. From there, it came to refer to an artistic
movement, born in Italy, aimed at countering the austere aesthetics
advocated by the Protestant Reformation.
I
t was a movement
that put the accent on exuberance and larger-than-life forms,
overloaded ornamentation and florid, even eccentric, aesthetics.
Baroque tendencies have always come and gone in watchmaking.
Baroque tendencies have always come and gone in watchmaking.
Its current resurgence is a something of reaction to the minimalism
and purity of form that gradually established itself as the dignified
“canon” of a whole horological aesthetic aimed at timelessness.
All the more so since the recent financial crises had discredited
the excesses and hubris then prevailing.
But the wheel turns, and exuberance, ostentation,
overloaded decoration, contrasting colours
and forms are on their way back in.
MINASE 5 WINDOWS BY KANAGAWA
With its very unusual construction, the 5 Windows from the independent
Japanese watchmaker Minase has attracted attention
due to the modernity and the originality of its architecture.
As this watch proves, this architecture is capable of adapting
to every treatment, even the most decorative and baroque.
As is the case here with the 5 Windows, whose case and dial
have been hand engraved by the master engraver Kanagawa.
From 30,000 to 100,000$
TOCKR C-47 RADIAL CUSHION
Who would have imagined that aeronautical inspiration – in
this case the radial engine of the Douglas C47, the pistons of
which radiate outward like the rays of a mechanical sun –
could give rise to a baroque motif? And yet radial forms were
part and parcel of the Baroque, from its great suns to its urban
planning. Here we have an improbable and astonishing combination
in the shape of this self-winding 42mm watch powered
by a Leschot movement. From 1,000 to 3,000$
LINDE WERDELIN SPIDOLITE RIPPLES
The SpidoLite Ripples combines the most technically complex
watch of Linde Werdelin with engraver Joanne Ryall’s “poetic
embellishments”,. The watch boasts a fully skeletonised case
made of 18k rose gold, forged carbon and Alloy Linde Werdelin
“ALW”, an aerospace metal developed to achieve ultimate weight
reduction and strength. The engraving on the watch is inspired
by the small series of waves that appear on the surface of water
or snow when blown by a slight breeze – ripples.
From 10,000 to 20,000$
FRANCK DUBARRY CRAZY WHEEL TATTOO BRASS
Everything is baroque in this piece, starting with the open architecture
of the movement, featuring an exclusive 3600 Flying
Bridge module, developed & produced in-house in the Swiss
Jura; the innovative mix of materials (grade 5 titanium, forged
carbon, brass, Kevlar, Elastogator...) and the decoration of the
case inspired by the Maori tattoo art. From 10,000 to 20,000$
GUCCI G-TIMELESS FLORAL PRINT
Few people, if any, will not have seen the recent advertising
campaigns by Gucci that play in a very baroque manner with
the bizarre and hyper-ornate, creating strange mixes of forms
and colours. Flower-painting was born at the height of the
Baroque period and for a long time was regarded as one of
the emblems of the Counter-Reformation. And so finding it here
comes as no surprise; printed, moreover, on an aquamarine
dial in Shanghai leather. From 1,000 to 3,000$
DOLCE & GABBANA GATTOPARDO
The recent collections by Dolce & Gabbana were inspired by
the famous film The Leopard by Luchino Visconti, the final
apotheosis of the Baroque style in 1860s Palermo. Among the
accessories of the Gattopardo collection features a watch of
the same name, with a dial in coloured mother-of-pearl, and
a case and oscillating weight richly hand-engraved with the
volutes typical of Baroque ornamental art.
From 20,000 to 50,000$
All mentioned prices are indicative and correspond to price segment.
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