L`Duchen Art Collection

HOW IT’S MADE?

The unity of miniature painting and watchmaking art forms an impressing result. L'Duchen Art Collection is a place where the watchmaker's precision and artst's imagination and skill come together.

ENGINE

Art Collection timepieces are powered by trusted Swiss calibers Soprod and ETA for automatic watches and Ronda for quartz.

TECHNIQUE

Dials for Art Collection timepieces are created by hand in lacquered miniature technique. The making of each dial takes more than 80 hours of artist's work and average 10 layers of lacquer and paint.

CREATION

First the dial surface should be prepared for applying paint. Preparation includes sanding, applying primer and gold or silver leaf or mother-of-pearl. Painting process itself could be devided into three major steps: underpainting, overpainting and detailing. Each step and each layer of paint is covered by lacquer and dried up before laying on a new one. Such technique allows to create images with 3D effect. Underpainting is the first step in painting process. It helps to define color values for further painting. At this step the first layer of paint is applied on dial. During the underpainting, brushes used by an artist are thicker, than on further steps.

Then the artist goes to overpainting. This step is intended to modify the underlying painting with a very small amount of pigment mixed with laquer. Paint layers should be very thin, especially when the picture is painted over the mother-of-pearl or gold leaf. It such case all layers should be transparent and thin in order to make the original beautiful structure visible through the paint and laquer.

The next step is detailing. It might consist of several layers of paint alternating with laquer. Detailing layers are painted using the thinnest brushes made from a natural weasel fur. Only such brushes allow to make the smallest brushstrokes in miniature painting. Detailing is the most complicated part, that requires great accuracy and patience.

When the picture on dial is complete, it's covered by a few layers of special protection lacquer, that is dryed in a special furnance and then polished.

The full creation of one Art collection watch takes 3 months from the generation of an idea to its final realization in watch. L’Duchen customers also have an opportunity to create custom watches with a dial of their own design in only one piece.