‘Eggshell’ ruptures with the birth of life,
These fragments should be abandoned,
But was reborn with the hands of craftsmen,
Become a permanent art.
The ‘magic’ that regenerates the shards is the eggshell inlay craftsmanship. As the name suggests, [Eggshell Inlay] is an inlay technology that attaches the extremely fragile broken egg shell to the base. It is hand-crafted to create a natural fragmentation and interesting decorative effects.
Origin of the mosaic process
Egg shell inlay is actually a kind of inlay craft, and inlay craft is a big category in China’s traditional arts and crafts. As early as 6500 years ago in the Yangshao cultural period, the ancestors living in today’s Liyang now use mussel shells to inlay dragons Animal shapes like tigers and tigers are the rudiments of mosaic technology. In the West, this process is called ‘Mosaïque’ (‘mosaic’ mosaic technique). It originated in Sicily in the third century BC, where the earliest pattern inlaid with glass and marble cubes was found here. , Can be described as an innovative move at the time.
Mosaic technology has continuously evolved and developed, and micro-mosaic technology has appeared. This expression technique was particularly popular in Italy at the end of the 18th century. The ancient craftsmanship that was originally only used in large decoration such as walls, murals, ceilings and floors, but now also crosses the scope of expression and is miniaturized. It is used in watchmaking craftsmanship, and tries to create dials with a variety of materials, such as Jaquet Luo uses an eggshell to create an elephant hour and minute dial.
Jacques Dro’s ‘shell inlay’ art
The creation of this watch was inspired by a trip to Vietnam. Local paintings using quail eggshell mosaics to create unique paintings inspired Jacques Dro, and tried to apply this mosaic technology to miniature watchmaking. A miniature work full of poetic flair rises above the dial: an elephant symbolizing wisdom and strength stands in a golden rice field, and is safe and sound. This is a wonderful scene presented by the craftsmen exuding superb craftsmanship and artistic innovation.
The eggshell was selected as the material for the dial creation, because it is not deformed, does not change color, does not deteriorate, which is conducive to long-term storage. It has a simple, subtle, simple and natural charm and is well received by people. Jacques Droe chose brown and yellow quail egg shells, based on its own texture and natural texture color, instead of secondary coloring, giving people a beautiful feast of nature.
This meticulous dial contains the craftsmanship of the craftsmen. They first select carefully according to the color, shape and purity of the extremely delicate and fragile egg shell fragments, and then select the selected ones based on the shell’s curvature and hue. More than 2,000 eggshells were manually assembled on the red gold dial into the desired pattern.
Then, carefully apply a layer of clear lacquer on the mosaic pattern. Finally, polish the pattern to make the whole uniform and create a stunning deep visual effect. The whole process takes about 200 hours to complete, so it is limited to eight.
The ice-like scenery is condensed on the dial, the rolling hills, the cascading terraces, and the calm auspicious elephants, embedded in it, like an ancient oriental travel invitation, exuding Qingyuan poetry.
The black onyx hour and minute hands and the dazzling red gold bezel highlight the beauty, and the profound dial pattern reflects the essence of Jacques Dro’s creativity and travel spirit.
‘Some watches tell time, some tell a story’