The first Lady Compliquée Peacock, which was unveiled at Baselworld in 2015, won the Ladies’ High Mech prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève the following autumn. Remaining aesthetically faithful to Fabergé’s jewellery tradition, it had a dial paved with diamonds, tourmalines and tsavorites, hour and minute discs made of mother-of-pearl and a diamond-encrusted bezel. There followed equally luxurious and radiantly colourful Emerald and Ruby versions, along with the Winter, with its delicate blue-tinged mother-of-pearl, and then last year’s Black Sapphire version in black and white. In a strategy that runs somewhat counter to that of other watch brands, who tend to begin by unveiling a simple model, which they then dress up with jewels, Fabergé has taken its Peacock collection further down the road to simplicity with this year’s Black model. There are no precious stones, and no colours, apart from the essential black and white. Two years ago, when this women’s collection was first unveiled, few could have predicted its evolution into this simple, elegant and supremely well-considered black version, in my opinion one of the most beautiful watches of Baselworld 2017.
The elegance of black
The Lady Compliquée Peacock Black comes in a 38 mm white gold case topped by a domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, and a sapphire crystal caseback. The matt black lacquered dial is complemented by an hour chapter ring and semi-circular minutes scale in black-painted mother-of-pearl. Left of centre, the highly polished and stylised body of the peacock contrasts with the silver feathers, delicately etched using LIGA technology. The lacquered “eyes” of the feathers pick up the black of the background.
Technology in the service of poetry
Any reference to simplicity is probably misguided when talking about a watch named the “Lady Compliquée”. While the new Peacock Black has been stripped of all embellishments, and its dial is innocent of any hands, its retrograde display is driven by a highly complex mechanism. Just as the peacock displays its tail feathers to attract the opposite sex, the bird in the centre of the dial fans out its feathers as the hours tick by, for the enjoyment of its lucky wearer. Four mobile feathers move simultaneously and in perfect harmony, but at different speeds and at different angles, every 15 minutes, until they reach 60 on the graduated minute scale, when they return to the beginning. One hour has passed. The generous hour ring around the outside of the dial also moves, bringing the figure corresponding to the current hour alongside the crown.
This ballet is governed inside the watch by the manually-wound calibre 6901, developed by Agenhor exclusively for Fabergé. The complex and innovative 242-piece mechanism includes a 12-toothed cam for the hours, and the AgenFAN system comprising two superimposed series of toothed gears of different sizes that activate the movement of the peacock feathers. The AgenPIT system, another Agenhor innovation, makes it easy to adjust the movement while protecting the balance spring from damage and ensuring optimum precision.
The idea for the animated peacock on the Lady Compliquée Peacock comes from one of the famous eggs created by Peter Carl Fabergé in 1908, the Peacock Egg, which Tsar Nicholas II gave to his mother (it can be admired at the Musée de l’Horlogerie in Le Locle, Switzerland). The rock crystal egg encloses a diminutive golden tree, on which a sumptuously coloured peacock is perched. When removed from its branch and placed on a table, a clockwork mechanism makes the peacock walk and unfold its green enamel tail feathers. The Lady Compliquée Peacock Black is a far cry from this flamboyant display, using only white gold and black lacquer to pay a contemporary tribute to its inspiration, and doing so with style. The watch will be available in boutiques from autumn 2017, priced at CHF 34,500.
