20207M-001

A round-the-world race This unique piece in Grand Feu cloisonné enamel charts a round-the-world yacht race on a terrestrial globe, inspired by cartographer Gerardus Mercator’s map of 1569, interpreted in a modern style. To reproduce this map, the enameller made full use of his great technical skill. Tracing the contours of the meridians and longitudes required about 48.6 m of gold wire (~22.96 g). He then lent a subtle vibrancy to his almost monochrome seascape with a palette of mainly transparent and opaque enamels in 8 shades. Finally, he depicted the boats embarked on their adventure, indicated the route by a dashed line and created relief effects suggesting the mountainous regions of the continents, working with 4 colors of miniature painting on enamel. Each enameled plate underwent 14 firings at a temperature of approximately 770°C. The hour circle, in blue, adorned with a striated spiral pattern inspired by ocean waves, presents baton-style hour markers and trapeze hands, all embellished with rhodium plating. This piece is powered by the caliber 17’’’ PEND mechanical movement rewound by an electric motor.