he gesture possesses the precision and unhurried pace of a qi gong master. The observer holds their breath in admiration, almost speechless. Armed with a finely hand-trimmed brush, Debora Martinez deposits a few grains of enamel, invisible to the naked eye. Mount Fuji blushes with delight, echoing the carmine-pink hues of the sakura blossoms that tower above it.

Louis Vuitton’s latest “Escale au Mont Fuji” pocket watch will soon find a fortunate owner. In the workshop, there is no hesitation: the tortoise’s perseverance always triumphs over the hare’s speed.

A platonic relationship

Debora Martinez’s work at the bench is anything but a smooth and steady journey. On a daily basis, the enameller is confronted with contradictory emotions, oscillating between exhilaration and frustration. “On a human level, our profession is fascinating, but also deeply ambivalent,” she admits. “It is almost a platonic relationship: you are constantly pursuing something you will never fully attain. Sometimes the material decides for us. It teaches humility.”

With a smile, she immediately demystifies her talent: “You can plan everything, number the areas, define application strategies. But once the piece enters the kiln, it responds. It surprises you. From the very first brushstroke, the entire process is an uninterrupted sequence of risks.”

This modesty is hardly surprising; it is a common trait among decorative arts craftsmen in watchmaking. Often invisible to collectors, these artisans nonetheless operate at the heart of the horological ecosystem. While enamelling workshops continue to expand within watch manufactures, brands still collaborate extensively with independent artisans, both to diversify their sources of expertise and to gain access to exceptional talent. Employment opportunities inevitably follow.

Debora Martinez, however, chose a different path: independence. In 2022, together with Francisco Morales, her partner and an experienced enameller, she crossed her Rubicon and decided to establish their own enamelling workshop.

Based alongside five other enamellers in a bright attic apartment in Nyon, Debora Martinez carefully weighs her response to our question: “If I had to define myself, I would say: miniature painter.” She continues: “The word ‘painter’ is important to me. It connects my work to my Fine Arts background. Enamel allows me to paint, but for many people the term ‘enameller’ remains more abstract. I want the artistic and pictorial dimension of my work to be clearly understood.”

Thus, although Atelier Miniare also practises the traditional enamelling techniques of cloisonné, grisaille, champlevé and paillonné, Debora Martinez emphasises that her “sensibility remains deeply rooted in miniature painting.”

With no dedicated Swiss federal vocational qualification in enamelling, mastery of this decorative art is acquired gradually through opportunities encountered in workshops. Practice and observation are essential for any beginner - qualities that Debora has developed throughout a singular journey.

An almost obsessive intensity

In 2012, the woman who today greatly admires master enameller Anita Porchet had no idea that a trial day at dial-maker Stern Création would, in her own words, “open the doors to a world I didn’t know existed”: the world of decorative watchmaking crafts.

A graduate of the University of Malaga’s Fine Arts faculty - the city that gave birth to Pablo Picasso - she secured a position as an enameller in the workshop of Dominique Baron (1967–2012), an opportunity that also brought her back to her native Geneva. “During the first year, I invested myself with an almost obsessive intensity,” she recalls. “I was determined to keep the position and remain in Switzerland. I needed to put down roots somewhere.”

Three years later, Christophe Blandenier welcomed her into his newly established enamelling workshop: “Together with my colleague Clotilde, we enjoyed tremendous freedom to experiment. It allowed me to deconstruct the highly structured training of my early years and explore different oils, materials and fluxes while searching for our own solutions.”

At the same time, Debora Martinez enrolled in a Master’s programme in Museum Studies and completed an internship at the International Museum of Horology in La Chaux-de-Fonds. It was love at first sight. She remembers handling historical pieces, some dating back to the 16^th century, whose colours remained remarkably vibrant. It was then that she grasped “the historical significance of enamelling and the value of this heritage.”

Like many of the finest independent watchmakers, who forged their technical mastery through the restoration of clocks and watches from diverse origins, Debora Martinez immersed herself in historical literature dedicated to enamel techniques. For the exhibition “Éclats de verre” (“Fragments of Glass”), she created an original grisaille enamel dial depicting a bee—a work later acquired by the museum.

Perhaps encouraged by the successive lockdowns, and feeling “legitimate after ten years devoted to enamelling”, Debora Martinez and Francisco Morales launched Atelier Miniare in 2022. “Independence is wonderful,” she says. “It gives us the freedom to choose materials and techniques. Research never stops.”

All fired up

For watch enthusiasts as well as those interested in enamel, the terminology can sometimes be confusing. What exactly is “grand feu” enamel? Is miniature painting a form of enamelling? What distinguishes Geneva enamel?

Like crystal-making, enamelling belongs to the family of fire arts. Firing fixes the enamel layer applied to copper or gold, as Debora Martinez explains: “The term “grand feu” is important. It distinguishes our practice from other techniques that use resins, lacquers or hybrid ceramics. For me, “grand feu”means a vitrified material fired at high temperatures - between 700 and 900°C - composed primarily of silica and metallic oxides.”

In this sense, miniature painting is indeed an enamelling technique: the raw material, enamel, is identical, as are the firing processes. The difference compared with its sister techniques cloisonné, champlevé or plique-à-jour - lies in the binding medium used, a liquid that allows the enamel grains to adhere during application. Demineralised, or preferably distilled, water is used for all enamelling techniques, with the exception of miniature painting on enamel. In this case, as Debora Martinez explains, “the enamel powder is ground extremely finely on an agate slab and mixed with an oil - lavender, lily, clove, terpineol and others. The choice of oil affects fluidity, evaporation time and grain stability.”

Finally, in the Geneva enamel tradition, a final layer of translucent enamel protects the miniature painting. This flux preserves the full intensity and depth of the colours. Geneva enamel is therefore often described as “enamel under flux”. According to Debora Martinez, its role is crucial: “It is not simply a finishing coat. It must be applied in successive thin layers; otherwise, microbubbles appear and the translucency is compromised.”

The Louis Vuitton Escale au Mont Fuji model (2026), already mentioned in the introduction, perfectly illustrates the evocative power of miniature painting. Debora Martinez reveals the stages of its creation, from the selection of twenty-three enamels - ranging from translucent to opaque and transparent - to no fewer than thirty-five firings. Unusual figures that nonetheless conceal the many difficulties encountered along the way.

The water in the foreground is suggested through the application of a silver leaf beneath the enamel layers. However, as the enameller explains, “the extremely delicate leaf tears very easily, so it must be handled with great care. In addition, silver reacts readily with enamel, which can alter the colour.”

As for the dial’s central element - Mount Fuji - executed in miniature painting, “certain areas intentionally blend into the background in order to preserve a light, ethereal impression faithful to the spirit of the natural landscape.” Finally, the finishing flux is mirror-polished to enhance depth and reinforce transparency.

Art and matter

“We currently work with more than one hundred colours,” explains Debora Martinez. “Since we did not inherit an existing stock, we built our palette from scratch. We purchased, tested, ground and classified every colour. Some become translucent after firing, while others reveal their depth only after several firings.”

This is perhaps the greatest secret of Debora Martinez and her workshop: a complete mastery of colour and its behaviour in the kiln.

In the storage room, countless glass jars reminiscent of childhood jam pots line the shelves. Each bears a fired enamel sample indicating the exact shade of the powdered enamel inside. Further on, round and rectangular copper plates coated with already-vitrified coloured enamels serve as palettes, each reference corresponding to one of the jars. It is a rigorous organisation, the result of hundreds of hours of testing.

As early as the Renaissance, painters such as Fra Angelico distinguished themselves by grinding their own pigments. Behind the brilliance of their frescoes lay months of experimentation. Debora Martinez knows her art history.

The fur of Taco the dog, featured on the Hermès Arceau Jour de Casting watch (2025), beautifully illustrates this mastery of colour. The subtle gradations and extraordinary finesse of the brushwork draw the viewer in. The effect is so strikingly realistic that one feels tempted to stroke Taco. His gentle blue gaze, rendered in cloisonné enamel, further enhances the scene. What a splendid example of dialogue between miniature painting and cloisonné enamel.

Epilogue

Our meeting with the Miniare team and its two co-founders, Debora Martinez and Francisco Morales, allowed us to gain a deeper understanding of the art of enamelling, an ancestral craft that is currently experiencing a remarkable revival. Evidence of this can be found in Morez, in France’s Jura region, where a technical training programme dedicated to enamel work has recently been established to ensure the transmission of this expertise.

According to Debora Martinez: “This profession does not provide immediate gratification. It takes years to understand its depth. What truly drives me is research: mixing, testing and exploring new combinations. In this craft, there is no possible end point.”

A message for enthusiasts, if ever there was one.

BIOGRAPHY

1989 Born in Geneva.

1999 A change of scenery for the family. Debora Martinez is ten years old when her parents settle in Estoril, a coastal town a few kilometres from the Portuguese capital, Lisbon.

2002 Three years later, the family relocates once again, this time to Málaga in Andalusia.

2011 Graduates from the University of Málaga’s Faculty of Fine Arts.

2012 Returns to her roots in Geneva, where Debora Martinez joins the team of enameller Dominique Baron at dial-maker Stern Créations. There she finds her calling and discovers the discipline required by a demanding decorative craft.

2015 Joins Christophe Blandenier’s workshop where, together with her colleague Clotilde, she helps develop the newly established enamelling department. Alongside her professional activities, from 2018 to 2019 she pursues a Master’s degree in Museum Studies at the University of Neuchâtel. Her internship at the International Museum of Horology enables her to deepen her study of key reference works on enamel. She contributes to the exhibition “Éclats de verre” with a grisaille enamel piece. Reflecting on her choice of motif - a bee - she notes: “I saw myself in them, gathering knowledge from books devoted to enamelling, always searching for new insights. As it happens, the bee is also the symbol of La Chaux-de-Fonds!”

2022 Embarks on the adventure of independence with enameller Francisco Morales. Atelier Miniare is born.

Recommended reading by Debora Martinez and Francisco Morales: “Émaux, de couleurs et de feu” (2010), by Núria López-Ribalta and Eva Pascual i Miró. Photographs by Joan Soto.