Pocket watch with back in miniature painting on enamel.

A painting by the French artist Claude Joseph Vernet (1714–1789) entitled “ Landscape at Sunset” (1773), inspired the decoration of this unique piece in Grand Feu miniature painting on enamel finished with flux, a transparent enamel, according to the Geneva method.

Starting with a base layer of white enamel, the artist built up his picture in small deft touches using a tiny brush and working with a palette of 17 enamel colors made of finely ground metallic oxides mixed with rare oils. This exacting procedure called for 35 firings at temperatures ranging from 800°C to 830°C. Several final coats of flux protect the piece and intensify its brilliance. The dial in white enamel over yellow gold presents yellow-gold applied Breguet numerals and yellow-gold hands. An Ethiopian opal cabochon (0.17 ct) adorns the crown.

This pocket watch is accompanied by a yellow-gold handcrafted stand on an oval-shaped base in spangled white marble.

It houses the caliber 17’’’ LEP PS manually wound movement with small seconds.