The Pearl Diver by Raúl Tena is not a watch that happens to include art; it is conceived from the outset as an object of sculpture in which timekeeping is invited in as a guest. Presented at Dubai Watch Week 2025 as the inaugural Art to Watch piece, it crystallises five years of development with an impressive roster of independent Swiss specialists, from Voutilainen-Cattin for the case to Télôs Watch SA for the movement and Comblémine and Atelier Miniare for the decorative arts. Limited initially to five examples and then intended to evolve through fully bespoke commissions, The Pearl Diver positions the brand as a niche independent voice aiming at collectors who see horology as intimate, three-dimensional art rather than serial product.
The front of The Pearl Diver is dominated by a hand‑engraved solid gold sculpture executed by Olivier Kuhn, treated with a patina that recalls the chromatic depth of aged marine artefacts rather than a bright, freshly polished alloy. This central element rises above the dial plane as a genuine three‑dimensional relief, giving the composition the feeling of a miniature tableau rather than a flat watch face and turning every shift of light into a change of mood. Nested within this sculptural environment is a natural Gulf pearl, selected one by one for size and colour, which anchors both the literal theme of pearl‑diving and the emotional link between human craft and the raw material of the sea.
Around this micro‑sculpture, the time display unfolds on an enamel dial crafted by Atelier Miniare, with a luminous ground decorated in miniature painting, each detail laid down by hand under the loupe. The enamel surface gives a gentle depth and warmth, while the painted motifs act as a visual bridge between the central figure and the peripheral indications, avoiding the common pitfall of Métiers d’Art dials where the display appears like an afterthought. Encircling the composition, a steel minute ring bears Eastern Arabic numerals, a direct cultural nod to the watch’s debut in Dubai and to the Gulf tradition it honours. The ring itself combines a circular‑brushed central surface, where deep black inscriptions provide crisp legibility, with satin‑finished edges that catch the light like fine ripples when the watch is moved on the wrist.
Movement RT01: Architecture and Finish
Under the Voutilainen‑Cattin case beats the RT01, a hand‑wound mechanical movement developed and assembled by Télôs Watch SA in close collaboration with Raúl Tena. The calibre offers jumping hours and retrograde trailing minutes, a pairing that creates a deliberate, almost cinematic choreography on the dial each time the minute hand sweeps back to zero as the hour display advances. The power reserve exceeds 60 hours, which suggests a carefully balanced barrel and gear‑train design that can comfortably bridge a weekend without winding while keeping torque in the range needed for the jumping and retrograde mechanisms.
Decoration is entrusted to Comblémine, and the movement can be admired through a sapphire back that is itself an aesthetic component rather than a simple aperture. The crystal receives a double anti‑reflective treatment on both sides, improving the visibility of the hand‑finished surfaces, and a double metallisation process that hides functional elements such as screws and the O‑ring. This metallisation is not used here as a bold logo carrier, but as a subtle, textural motif reminiscent of fine engraving that frames the calibre and keeps the visual noise down, in line with the overarching pursuit of purity in the lines. While the press material does not list the traditional vocabulary of anglage, côtes or perlage in detail, Comblémine’s involvement implies a level of hand‑finishing coherent with the positioning of the piece and consistent with the collaborative circle around Kari Voutilainen.
From a technical standpoint, combining a jumping hour with retrograde minutes requires careful energy management so that the instantaneous actions do not disturb amplitude. Télôs has deep experience with such constructions through its work for independent brands that use retrograde minutes and jumping hours, and that know‑how appears here in the form of a display that privileges fluid motion and reliability over theatrical but fragile complication architecture. The hand‑wound choice suits the nature of the object, reinforcing the ritual dimension of interaction between collector and artwork rather than delegating everything to an automatic module hidden behind a rotor.
Case and External Elements
The Pearl Diver is housed in a 44 mm case executed by Voutilainen‑Cattin, a manufacture renowned for its work with high‑end independents where small details of curvature and interplay of surfaces matter as much as the raw dimensions. The case is offered in steel, titanium, gold or platinum, giving wide latitude for future bespoke executions while keeping the underlying architecture constant. A double anti‑reflective sapphire crystal covers the dial side, allowing the wearer to appreciate the full depth of the sculptural composition without intrusive reflections that would dilute the effect of the patinated gold and enamel layers.
On the wrist, a 44 mm watch with this kind of verticality will have undeniable presence, yet the choice of titanium and steel among the options and the likely attention paid to lug geometry suggest that careful thought has gone into wearability. The caseback repeats the double anti‑reflective approach and the double metallisation discussed earlier, binding front and back into a coherent design language rather than treating the reverse as a purely technical zone. The watch is delivered on a hand‑stitched alligator leather strap produced in Geneva by Atelier du Bracelet, a choice that reinforces the Geneva‑centred ecosystem behind the project, and the package is backed by a five‑year guarantee, underlining the brand’s confidence in the robustness of both mechanics and artisanal components.
Ending and Conclusion
The Pearl Diver is presented as Art to Watch No. 1, and that numbering is important: it signals intent to build a coherent body of work rather than a single showpiece. Raúl Tena, with his background as an aeronautical engineer, explicitly frames his watches as a meeting of precision and emotion, structure and meaning, and in The Pearl Diver this philosophy feels genuinely integrated rather than glued on as marketing language. The collaboration network is impressive on paper, yet what matters is that the resulting object does not read like a catalogue of famous names; instead, the engraving, enamelling, movement and case appear to be aligned around a single, clearly articulated narrative of Gulf pearl‑diving and independent Swiss craft.
By launching at Dubai Watch Week 2025 with a piece limited initially to five examples and then opening the Art to Watch line to full co‑creation with collectors, the brand aims straight at a segment that values discretion, individual storytelling and authentic hand‑work over broad recognition. Each future creation is meant to be developed with its owner, turning the watch into a personal sculpture that happens to tell time with an idiosyncratic jumping‑hour, retrograde display rather than a conventional pair of hands. In that sense, The Pearl Diver succeeds not only as an inaugural model, but as a clear mission statement for an independent house that wants to speak to instinctive, emotionally driven collectors who regard their watches as private artworks first and instruments second.
