For TimeForArt, one of the world’s greatest enameller artist, Anita Porchet, and master watchmaker Romain Gauthier have reunited their expertise to create an exceptional, unique timepiece: a C by Romain Gauthier Platinum Edition, featuring an 18k white gold movement and sublimated by a miniature painting Grand Feu enamel dial signed by Anita Porchet.
The piece captures the unfettered creativity of its two makers, demonstrating their inclination to honour heritage and tradition, while engaging new modes of artistic engagement.
Given full carte-blanche for the very first time, Anita Porchet drew inspiration from Century botanical illustrations and the spiritual reverence found in Chinese ink wash paintings. Maxwell Hearn, head of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s renowned Department of Asian Art, writes that the aim of Chinese painters is “to capture not only the outer appearance of a subject but its inner essence as well—its energy, life force, spirit.” This ambition is channeled and realized with astounding beauty by Anita Porchet.
Rendered in soft black strokes, the subject is rendered in the style of Qu Ding, a Song dynasty master painter. Raw, spontaneous, rich with contrasting light and dark tones contrasted with the bright red lines of the small-seconds dial, the piece is a reflection on the powerful relationship between nature and humanity.
Together, this gem-like masterwork captures the divine transcendence that can only be accessed in the natural world. The background, a rare fusion of two enamels, imbues this once-in-a-lifetime piece with a flawless balance and sublime beauty.
This extraordinary artistic dial perpetuates the watchmaker’s high-caliber work that Anita wished to highlight by writing Romain Gauthier’s name on her artwork herself. A harmonious blend of the brand’s legacy and future, a modern and casual approach contrasted by precious materials and refined craftsmanship. It is an exceptionally unique piece of C by Romain Gauthier Platinum Edition that perfectly reflects Gauthier’s vision: The Evolution of Tradition.
Presentation of the creators
Anita Porchet
Born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, Anita Porchet is a renowned enamel artist who has carved out a special place for herself in the world of watchmaking by creating the most beautiful enamel works on prestigious watch dials.
Passionate about art since she was very young, it was at the age of 12 that a member of her family introduced her to enamel, a craft through which she felt free to express and practice her other passions which are painting and music, an opening to the beauty and to the art in a very broad sense.
This discovery will push her to continue her studies at the Beaux-Arts before launching herself independently as an enamel artist. She then collaborated with some of the greatest watch Maison and won glorious distinctions in this field, such as the Prix Gaïa in the category of Artisanat-création by the Musée international d’horlogerie in 2015 and the Hommage au Talent awarded by the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie in 2016.
Now established and seeking to preserve her creative freedom by maintaining her independence, Anita Porchet draws her inspiration from the world around her and particularly from nature with which she feels connected. For her, beauty is not unique with many different forms: graphic, classic, periodicals… Through her autonomy, she does not try to develop her artistic path, she tries to explore new ones, all as different from each other, all as beautiful.
Romain Gauthier
Romain Gauthier was born in 1975 in the Vallée de Joux, the cradle of fine Swiss watchmaking. It was here that Romain developed his passion for traditional haute horlogerie, his grasp of mechanics and engineering, and his eye for design.
Having studied precision mechanics at a technical college, Romain qualified as a maker of precision machinery in 1997. A year later, he started his first job as machine programmer-operator at a horological components manufacturer that he helped turn into one of the best-performing facilities in Europe.
In 2005, he creates his own brand of exceptional timepieces in the Vallée de Joux, the heart of the finest Swiss watchmaking. Romain perfectly masters the know-how he has developed living, studying, and working in this picturesque valley renowned worldwide for its watchmaking expertise. Romain is deeply grateful of this heritage which allows him to create exceptional timepieces of pristine quality in limited numbers for collectors with a nocompromise approach to haute horlogerie.
His vision is to preserve this rich heritage with improved techniques while exploring new horizons. Watchmakers are responsible for this traditional savoir-faire and Romain is proud to contribute to its evolution, using the best of what is available today, which he sees as Evolution of Tradition.
Every Romain Gauthier timepiece is unique thanks to its high level of hand-finishing. Each movement is made inhouse, from A to Z, from the manufacture of the smallest pinion to the assembly and adjustment of the entire movement.
Two art lovers that everything brings together – united by the same values
It is not by pure chance that Anita Porchet and Romain Gauthier have united their know-how and even more for a piece dedicated to supporting today’s most visionary artists. Both artists in their respective fields, they have the desire to preserve their creative freedom thanks to their autonomy, but also to protect the traditional and artisanal know-how, while making them evolve and integrating them into the current world.
Anita and Romain are two passionate people who create and realize their works of art with no compromise approach, with an eye for detail and beauty. They are two craftsmen who advocate the values of the handmade and who do not give importance to time.
Timeforart
TimeForArt is a curated benefit auction of exceptional timepieces from the world’s greatest watchmakers, with 100% of the proceeds directly enabling today’s most visionary artists, through Swiss Institute’s exhibitions, public programs, education & community engagement workshops – all free of charge.
TimeForArt is a biennial auction, and provides a year-round platform for exchange between horological and visual arts. TimeForArt will be introduced as its own dedicated chapter of the Phillips New York Watch Auction in December 2022.
C by Romain Gauthier x Anita Porchet Technical Specifications
Edition
- Unique piece of C by Romain Gauthier Platinum Edition with Anita Porchet’s Grand Feu enamel dial
Features and indications
- Off-centred hours and minutes
- Small seconds at 7 o’clock
- Platinum case
- 18k white gold dial, movement bridges and mainplate
- In-house movement featuring stop-seconds mechanism
- Sporty rubber strap
Dial and hands
- Miniature painting on Grand Feu enamel, 18k white gold
- Off-centred hours and minutes
- Small seconds at 7 o’clock with 5-second intervals marked by tapering bright red lines 18k white gold hands
Movement and finishing
- In-house, hand-wound movement
- Dimensions: 32.10 mm x 5.50 mm
- Power reserve: 60 hours
- Number of jewels: 24
- Number of components: 154
- Balance frequency: 28,800 vph / 4Hz
- Components made from: White gold, stainless steel, steel, brass, and German silver
- Finishing: Superlative decorations by hand
Case
- Material: Platinum
- Dimensions: 41mm x 10.05 mm, lugs to lugs: 49.5 mm
- Water resistance: 50m/5atm/160ft
- Crown for winding and time-setting at 2 o’clock
- Crown surrounded by a grey rubber ring
- Sapphire crystal with interior anti-reflection coating, front and display back.
Strap and buckle
- Supplied with grey rubber strap with specially developed, satin-finished and polished platinum pin buckle.
