The Metiers d’Art Tribute to the Animal Kingdom art exhibition.

When you shrink any craft to the size of a watch dial, things tend to behave differently. More often than not, tools that were previously precise become cumbersome,&nbsp;the materials become less tolerant, and&nbsp;even the&nbsp;gesture of a hand can seem exaggerated.<o:p></o:p>
This is what gives Vacheron Constantin’s Metiers d’Art Tribute to the Animal Kingdom its own uniqueness. The collection features six artists who specialise in featherwork, glass sculpture, micro-origami, gold embroidery, paper sculpture, and wood marquetry – none of them are traditional watchmakers. <o:p></o:p>
The outcomes appear more like tests in how far a material can be stretched than exercises in ornamentation. Julien Vermeulen creates an iridescent snake using hundreds of tiny feather bits. Simone Crestani creates a transparent octopus from glass. Anja Midori creates small manta rays using Japanese paper. Laura Baverstock stitches a tiger out of gold wire and silk, Marianne Guely makes a crocodile using&nbsp;white cotton paper, and Anna Le Corno shapes a falcon out of 12&nbsp;different types of wood.<o:p></o:p>
Each artist had to rethink the way they worked, adapting or creating tools from scratch, reconsidering procedures that worked effectively on a bigger scale, and familiar materials responding unexpectedly when reduced to fractions of a millimetre.<o:p></o:p>
The watches are based on Vacheron Constantin’s Calibre 2460 G4, which shows the hours, minutes, day, and date through four apertures around the dial. With no hands in the middle, the artwork has room to breathe. It’s an amazing mechanical solution, but more significantly, it lets each craft define the watch's individuality.<o:p></o:p>
That is where the collection feels most convincing. With the dials reflecting hours of experimentation, modification, and problem resolution, these timepieces are about technique as well as appearance. The satisfaction is from knowing that every piece began with someone asking a seemingly ridiculous question: can this be made small enough to fit on a wrist?<o:p></o:p>

Feathersnake<o:p></o:p>
Julien Vermeulen’s serpent is comprised of almost 200 tiny feathers, some of which are only a fraction of a millimetre broad. Working at this level required him to be in command of more than just his tools. He moulded sewing needles into microscopic instruments and spent over 250 hours creating and finishing the dial. “Even breathing too heavily could send them flying,” he states. The finished snake feels extraordinarily alive, especially given how delicate each of its distinct sections is.

Glassoctopus<o:p></o:p>
Simone Crestani has been working with glass for 25 years before this project took him into unknown territory. His transparent octopus stands only 3.5 mm above the dial and was created progressively from tiny bits of molten glass. Every overlap had to be studied because transparency can deform the shapes beneath it. “This project constitutes a real turning point in my work,” Crestani asserts. What looks effortless on the dial was, in reality, an entirely new way of handling a material he already knew very well.<o:p></o:p>

Oraygami<o:p></o:p>
Anja Midori had no previous blueprint to use for her small manta rays. She began by analysing images and videos of the animals before creating her own folding process from scratch. The Japanese paper had to be dyed to get the right shade of blue, adding another variable to an already delicate procedure. “This is probably the most significant project of my origami career so far,” she claims. The rays are tiny, yet their soft motion gives the dial a peculiar impression of dimension.<o:p></o:p>

Tigerbroidery<o:p></o:p>
Laura Baverstock’s tiger reduces goldwork embroidery to a scale where every single thread counts. The animal’s coat and attitude are made using yellow and white gold wires, ceramic-coated black strands, and thoughtfully chosen hues of silk. Bespoke needles measuring only 0.25 mm were created for the project, which took approximately 210 hours to complete. “Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye,” Baverstock explains. That balance is seen here, where the tiger feels expressive while maintaining the control required by such a confined&nbsp;space.<o:p></o:p>

Papercroc<o:p></o:p>
Marianne Guely’s crocodile is completely constructed out of white cotton paper, although from a distance it resembles carved stone or ice. Layers of embossed and laser-cut paper provide depth with only 3 mm of height, while light accentuates the scales and surrounding foliage. “Such a small paper sculpture is actually the result of the research and work of so many people,” Guely claims. It serves as an important reminder that the dial’s apparent simplicity is the result of extensive testing and refinement.<o:p></o:p>

Woodenwings<o:p></o:p>
Anna Le Corno’s falcon introduces the style of sculptural marquetry into a space that is hardly big enough to hold it. The bird and its background are made of twelve different wood species, with texture, colour, and density all playing a role in the composition. Traditional woodworking tools were too huge, so she switched to micro-bits, scalpels, and hand-made sanding tools. “I had to completely rethink both my tools and my techniques,” she states. The finished falcon keeps the warmth and roughness of wood while achieving an unusually precise architectural appearance.<o:p></o:p>

For more information, click <a href="https://www.vacheron-constantin.com/ww/en/home.html">here</a>.&nbsp;

Vacheron Constantin teams up with six artists

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