Visually, the new Visionnaire Chronograph Dynamique for men and the Fabergé Clover for ladies could not be more different. Yet at their beating heart, they rely on a singular development by movement designers Agenhor that places all the movement elements required for timekeeping around the periphery, leaving the centre free for something different.
Visionnaire Chronograph Dynamique
In the Visonnaire collection, the free space at the centre is used for two different functions: a central second time zone indication in the form of a digit viewed through a magnifier, or a central chronograph that displays the elapsed time in hours, minutes and seconds from a central axis. The chronograph, by its very function, is considered a sporty watch, but Fabergé’s latest version, the Dynamique, pushes the envelope further with its all-black look and contrasting orange accents. “Fabergé is rarely associated with sport,” explains the brand’s Timepiece Director Aurélie Picaud, “so we wanted to correct this with the Visionnaire Chronograph Dynamique. Since we did not fully exploit the sporty potential of the chronograph when we first launched it, we had plenty of room to excel ourselves with this new model for 2018, which is perfect for people with a dynamic personality.” The new model builds on the design of the original chronograph in black ceramic and black DLC titanium, as well as the one-off piece presented for Only Watch 2017, adding further touches of orange for the minute indications and all of the chronograph scales and hands.
Fabergé Clover
Fabergé fans will no doubt be delighted to see that this new model in the Dalliance collection has an egg-shaped case that recalls the famous Fabergé eggs. But it is not just the case but the entire design of the watch that has been inspired by a special Easter Egg that Tsar Nicholas II gave to his wife Alexandra Feodorovna in 1902. “With Fabergé Clover we combine the romance of the past with something geometric and technically challenging in the current time,” says Aurélie Picaud. “It is the duality of the piece that feels contemporary – a new breath of life for an intricate token of love created over a century ago.”
In this case, it is the AGH 6911 manually-wound calibre that powers the watch, leaving the centre free for a splendid depiction of a lucky four-leaved clover that is hand-painted on grand feu cloisonné enamel by the renowned Switzerland-based artist Anita Porchet. The hours and minutes are indicated by dragonflies moving around a circle surrounded by 50 brilliant-cut diamonds. A geometric background in blue, black, red and green grand feu enamel contrasts beautifully with the centrepiece and is framed by a bold bezel set with 36 baguette-cut diamonds (8.91 carats). All this is housed in an 18-carat white-gold case with a white-gold crown set with a 0.10 carat diamond. The Fabergé Clover is logically paired with a vivid green alligator leather strap and has an 18-carat white-gold buckle set with 14 baguette-cut diamonds (0.22 carats).
