You know the saying “It takes a village to raise a child”?
Well, with his new Kennin-ji Temple Masters Project, Peter Speake-Marin has assembled almost enough masters to populate a small Swiss village, all to work on a unique piece commissioned by a collector.
This collector, who is passionate about high-quality artisanal craft, believes that it is the people involved that give a timepiece its "soul". And with this special one-of-a-kind piece, you can’t argue with the talent assembled - Kees Engelbarts (engraver), Eddy Jaquet (engraver), Christophe Seewer (leather embosser) and Peter Speake-Marin (watchmaker).
The inspiration for this timepiece is a painting on the ceiling of the Kennin-ji Temple, commissioned to celebrate the temple’s 800th anniversary in 2002. The Kennin-ji Temple is considered to be the oldest Zen temple in Japan, and the painting of two dragons “rampaging across the ceiling” (the image the Abbot requested) covers about 175 square meters.
To capture the spirit of the huge painting, Speake-Marin designed a timepiece where the engraving covers just about every available inch of the watch – the dragons “rampage” on the dial, continue onto the case and even spill out onto the presentation box.
Speake-Marin is no stranger to dragons and engraving, but even he is stunned by the effect achieved. Not only is the engraving on the top and sides of the watch, but the movement is also engraved and the presentation box is embossed with a dragon motif to match the timepiece it houses. Managing the engravings on the watch and the movement, along with the presentation box and making sure they match aesthetically, was a real challenge.
"This is the most extraordinary engraving project I've ever been involved with," explains Peter Speake-Marin, "due to the complexity of the subject (two dragons instead of one), the incredible detail of the engravings and the fact that it isn't just one component that's engraved, but the designs cover practically the whole watch."
The Kennin-ji Temple Masters Project comes in a 42mm white gold case, powered by the in-house Speake-Marin SM2 movement. Its combination of handcrafted watchmaking and artisanal engraving and embossing make this a truly magnificent timepiece.
Click on the large photo at the top of the page to see more pictures
