Rare Handcrafts

In the course of their career, miniature marquetry specialists build up a range of wood varieties enabling them to craft their creations. They perceive in the wood veins and colors exactly how they can put each tiny piece of veneer to good use.

Marquetry is a decorating technique traditionally used for furniture, small wooden objects, woodwork and cabinets. Its use in watchmaking is relatively recent.

When marquetry experts study a landscape or the silhouette of an animal, they imagine how they will instill life and movement into their work. They make a line drawing which they then use to cut out the contours. According to their inspiration and the patterns chosen, they use their entire palette of wood, mostly in natural colors, which they cut and assemble, glue and paste.

A row of diamonds or other stones can change the appearance of a watch by adding a touch of refined distinction. Watchmaking meets Haute Joaillerie in the delicate art of gemsetting, which requires accurate vision and a deft touch.

Gemsetting involves assembling and fixing stones or diamonds on a piece of jewelry or a watch. The gemsetting on Rare Handcrafts watches is entirely hand-crafted by the gemsetter, who ensures the brilliance of each stone by positioning them in the right direction with great precision and regularity. Timepiece makers have always worked closely with jewelers, especially since, historically speaking, many watchmakers came from this field.

However, gemsetting serves to enhance timepieces and has thus had to adjust to the constraints of watchmaking. Ultra-thin movements; new, sometimes unlikely alloys; decorations applied to every part of the watch from bracelet to dial as well as the lugs, case middle and bezel: all these elements influence the choice of gemsetting techniques.

Guilloché work is a decorative technique that, thanks to mechanical machines driven by human hands, offers the possibility of creating magnificent, very fine and regular engraved decorations on dials, movements, cases and bracelets, among others.

Over time, guillocheurs, or engineturners, have used different types of machines, modifying them where necessary in order to improve them or to create new motifs.

By turning the crank with the left hand and simultaneously managing the pressure of the burin (graver) with the right hand, the principle is to keep the latter moving so that it makes narrow grooves in a geometric and repetitive way.

The magic of enamel happens in the furnace, where the material fuses with metal. Enamellers are like alchemists, mastering metal, colors and fire to create an objet d’art that will endure through the ages.

Enamel is a soft material composed of various minerals and metal oxides used to cover the surface of the medium by fusion in order to achieve a vitrified, uniform, glossy and smooth layer.

The enameller grinds the enamel into very fine grains and washes it several times to remove impurities. The substance is then mixed with water so that it can be applied to carefully prepared surfaces. At this stage, there must be no trace of imperfections if one is to achieve a uniform, clear and smooth enamel.

Once dried, the enamel is placed in a furnace heated to over 800°C, thus enabling it to adhere to the metal base while becoming extremely hard and virtually inalterable. Depending on the complexity of the technique chosen, an object can be returned to the furnace up to 30 times. Once finalized, enameled decorations are known for their exceptional protection against oxidation, their lasting brilliance and their enduring resistance.

The delicate art of hand engraving enables the most refined decorations to emerge from the metal by playing with light. In watchmaking and jewelry-making, the engraver’s work is carried out under a binocular microscope, at a scale requiring the greatest attention.

Of all the fine craftsmanship skills, engraving is the closest to free-hand drawing, except the paper is replaced with metal and the pencil with a burin (graver), which is the engraver’s main tool. It is kept sharp and represents a natural extension of the engraver’s hand, penetrating the material to make clean cuts or sculpt volumes.

Depending on the work to be done, the engraver will choose the most suitable tool and will need to make it for a particular project.

On its Rare Handcrafts models, Patek Philippe likes to include engraving as it enhances the beauty of micro-marquetry or enamel work.

Come and discover the 2023 Rare handcrafts collection in Geneva, at the Patek Philippe Salons from 1st to 15th April 2023.

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