The de Grisogono Luna Watch is first born in the deft pencil strokes of the in-house designers. The contours of the watch are then given specific measurements and degrees of curvature under the expert supervision of the engineers in the R&D department, taking into consideration the technical constraints relating to the making of such a model. In this original tandem between watchmaking and jewellery, the jewellery artisans have also sculpted the model by creating a wax prototype and shaping the supple material so as to achieve the closest possible resemblance with the initial design. The hand-crafted wax model, along with 3D modelling, then serve to fine-tune the shape of the watch and endow it with perfect proportions. Within this audacious process, even the slightest change in its measurements means rethinking the entire piece.
In this instance, the supreme quest for the most appealing possible shape involved more than 20 intermediate wax model stages. Before the watch is crafted in the noble and precious medium of gold, a last brass model is then produced and used to make the final necessary adjustments. After selecting all the gems that will serve to adorn the watch, the lapidary sizes and adjusts the stones in step with the advancement of the setting work.
More than six months dedicated to researching the perfect shape, curve, purity and balance for the watch. From first sketch to the wax model, from 3D modelling to the mock-up, along with gold casting, gemsetting and polishing.
The gemsetter follows a setting plan spread out in front of him and based on the mock-up in order to show the various positions of the stones. His talent and his ingenuity enable him to highlight the beauty of each gem.
Beneath his skilled fingers, the metal gradually vanishes, giving pride of place to the radiant precious stones. Shade by shade, one diameter after another, his keen eye peering intently through the microscope alternates between traditional, bezel and ‘wild’ settings – the latter being a distinctive in-house de Grisogono technique.
The case of the watch is adorned with a traditional setting and a random bezel setting, while the dial features the signature ‘wild’ setting. A generous 4.7mm-diameter diamond sparkles exultantly on the workbench. The gemsetter carefully places it at 6 o’clock. The stones rimming the bezel accentuate the curve of the bezel gracefully hugging the shape of the model. This complex rail setting is distinguished by baguette-cut gems set almost vertically due to the extreme rounding of the upper section. For ‘wild’ setting, he cleverly combines more than 35 different stone diameters in a liberated technique that creates a truly unique composition.
