Collection 2023
MOSAÏQUE II
It is in keeping with Geneva’s time-honored watchmaking tradition that Stéphane Barbier-Mueller set out to pay tribute to the art of mosaic together with his friend François-Paul Journe, primus inter pares of independent Haute Horlogerie. The result is a subtle equilibrium, a lotus blossom of semi-precious stones sublimated by a mechanical movement signed F.P.Journe. The result is an exceptional timepiece, the quintessence of Genevan high craftsmanship: MOSAÏQUE II.
A unique timepiece for Only Watch 2023
After the first MOSAÏQUE watch that was presented at Only Watch 2017, MOSAÏQUE II rekindles the initiative five years later with a dazzling, more complex creation visualized by Geneva-based designer Eric Giroud. A work of art whose exterior refinement magnifies the mechanical perfection within.
Projecting the illusion of simplicity, MOSAÏQUE II is the result of over 400 hours of research and development and 600 hours of production. In all, a process involving more than 1,000 hours, 12 high craftsmanship trades, a selection of finest hardstones that saw the traditional rules of creation upended, and a legendary caliber signed F.P.Journe.
What each stone commands
Cadraniers de Genève and Boîtiers de Genève: as purveyors of the finest watch dials and cases, respectively, their craftspeople constantly pushed boundaries throughout the project. The stones were selected first and foremost for their aesthetic consonance.
While jade, blood jasper, nephrite jade, carnelian and opal perfectly capture the palette for colorimetric harmony, they all exhibit varying cutting and polishing tolerances, different degrees of hardness and transparency, as well as particular surface states. Add to this the complexity of three-dimensional cutting and the fact that each stone reacts differently according to its inherent hardness and friability, and one begins to grasp the challenges posed by polishing alone.
The champlevé technique, predominant in watch decoration, was used to create the design. Small troughs were carved into the metal – on the dial, case back and case middle – with 10th of a millimeter precision, to accommodate each stone, with the top edge of the fine separations defining the mosaic’s design. Polishing the platinum, palladium and different hardstone surfaces to achieve absolute harmony diverse materials was as prodigiously complex as it was challenging. The result is perfection.
An exceptional movement, signed F.P.Journe
Given the high bar for excellence set by this watch, Geneva-based watchmaker François-Paul Journe agreed to equip it with one of his own movements. The hand-wound mechanical caliber 1304 – at the heart of the legendary Chronomètre Souverain – was designed and manufactured at his workshop in the heart of Geneva. The Barbier-Mueller watch is the exception to the watch designer’s self-imposed rule of never making his movements available for a watch other than an F.P.Journe.
Constructed in the classic tradition of chronometry, caliber 1304 features an extra-slim movement only 4 mm thick, with the plate and bridges in 18-carat rose gold plate. The two barrels of this homogeneous movement deliver a highly linear force to the escapement for over fifty-six hours.
Every gesture is at the service of excellence.