Highlights: Metiers d’Art at Phillips Hong Kong
Artisanal masterpieces in varied forms.
With the Geneva sales over, the auction season now moves to Hong Kong, where Phillips is staging a pair of sales: Toki, a theme sale dedicated to watches related to Japan, and the traditional The Hong Kong Watch Auction: XIX.
Taking place over three days from November 22-24, the sales total 346 lots, including a notable line-up of metiers d’art timepieces decorated with artisanal techniques. They range from an enamelled Bulgari Serpenti to a Vacheron Constantin Les Masques quartet. We round up metiers d’art highlights from the two sales.
The catalogues with online bidding for Toki and HKWA XIX.
TOKI Lot 65 – Patek Philippe Rare Handcrafts “Kimono” Ref. 5077P-097
Patek Philippe’s annual Rare Handcrafts offerings are often centred on several themes, and in 2013, resulting in several models with Japanese motifs, including this Calatrava ref. 5077P with a cloisonné enamel dial.
The technique of enamelling is well known: a mixture of silica sand, metal oxides for colour, and oil is painted on a surface before being baked in an oven at temperatures exceeding 800°C. to melt the paste to form enamel.
Cloisonné adds an additional layer of complexity by employing gold wires to form the motif, with the enamel painted into the cells form by the wires. Here the wires form a cherry blossom motif typical of traditional kimono fabric.
According to Phillips, only four examples were produced with this dial, with the present watch being the first to emerge at auction.
This watch has been in the collection of the original owner since 2013 and remains unworn with all accessories and packaging. It has an estimate of HK$600,000-1 million (or about US$76,900-128,000).
TOKI Lot 64 – Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox pocket watch ref. 73100.21
Both affordable and intriguing, this is an oval-shaped Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox alarm but in pocket watch format with a miniature enamel painting on the case back that portrays a young gentleman reading. In addition, the 18k yellow gold case is set with fifty-six half pearls, while the bow is ribbed and the dial, floral-pattern. Usually, it was made in 1972, during the Quartz Crisis, and later sold at a Tokyu Department Store in Sapporo.
It’s equipped with the manual-wind cal. K910, the same movement found in the wristwatch version of the Memovox. Launched in 1950, the Memovox is a functional alarm of the buzzing type that is one of JLC’s best known models. But it is almost always in wristwatch form, and the occasional desk clock, but rarely seen as a pocket watch.
Notably for a watch of this age, this is “full set”. It has the original guarantee dated 1978, service invoice, hang tag, and presentation box. Additionally, there is a JLC archive extract indicating the watch was made in 1972.
Offered with no reserve, this Memovox pocket watch has an estimate of around HK$78,000-120,000 (or about US$10,000-15,400).
TOKI Lot 66 – Chopard L.U.C XP “Blue Horn Dragon” maki-e
In 2009, Chopard debuts its first L.U.C. XP Urushi collection in collaboration with Yamada Heiando, a workshop specialising in traditional Japanese lacquer known as maki-e.
The watches were essentially an ultra-thin L.U.C watch with a maki-e dial. Each dial was meticulously hand-painted under the supervision of Kiichiro Masumura, a master maki-e artisan bestowed the title of a Living National Treasure by the Japanese government.
This example depicts golden blue-horned dragon against a night sky rendered in maki-e that includes the raden technique of inlaid mother-of-pearl to form the dragon’s iridescent horns.
Housed in a L.U.C XP case of 18k pink gold, the watch is accompanied with all its boxes and papers.
This has an estimate of around HK$80,000-155,000 (or about US$10,300-19,900).
HKWA Lot 963 – Vacheron Constantin “Les Masques” Indonesian Wayang Topeng
The following four lots originally formed the four-piece Metiers d’Art Les Masques set, with each watch containing a miniature sculpture accurately reproducing a tribal mask from an ancient culture found in the Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva, one of the world’s greatest museums of tribal art.
Each mask is a solid-gold miniature finished and painted by hand to resemble aged wood, bronze, or any of the other materials used for the actual masks.
The four are now being sold separately, making one of Vacheron Constantin’s most unusual recent creations more accessible. (Unfortunately there is only one presentation box for all four watches so each watch includes all accessories except a box.)
The first watch depicts a mask from wayang topeng of Indonesia. It’s a traditional theatrical art form found across the Indonesia archipelago that’s essentially a dance drama with actors wearing masks that tell traditional stories of the region.
The watch is inspired by the tale of Prince Panji and Princess Kirana, with the mask representing the prince with a moustache and raised eyebrows, wearing an elaborate head cloth.
The presentation of the mask is typical of VC’s Metiers d’Art watches. The intricate miniature mask is positioned at the centre of the tinted sapphire dial, while the hours, minutes, day, and date are indicated in apertures along the periphery of the dial.
The sapphire dial bears metallised print of a poem by Michel Butor, a French writer and poet, that references the same themes as the mask and the play that inspired it. The translucent dial also reveals some of the mechanics below, including the four discs and some gears of the cal. 2460 G4.
Estimated at HK$320,000-500,000 (or about US$41,000-64,100), this Les Masques is accompanied by its original certificate.
HKWA Lot 964 – Vacheron Constantin “Les Masques” Congo Ngaré-Mohongwé
The second watch in the set continues with the same template. The dial bears a precise replica of a Mahongwé-Ngaré mask from Congo. Despite being solid gold, the mask has been intricately detailed and perfectly resembles the weather wood of the original.
Likewise, the mask is surrounded by metallised print of a Butor poem on the tinted sapphire dial.
This is housed in a platinum case and has an estimate of HK$320,000-500,000 (or about US$41,000-64,100).
HKWA Lot 965 – Vacheron Constantin “Les Masques” Chinese Qidan
The next watch features a miniature sculpture an aged, slightly ghostly mask from the Liao dynasty (907-1125) of Northeast China, where it was tradition to bury members of the highest classes with gilt-bronze masks and wire mesh outfits.
The miniature mask in the watch is modelled on the museum’s original, and like its counterparts, this funerary mask is a spot-on replica. In the same fashion, the mask is ringed by metallised poetry.
Estimated at HK$320,000-500,000 (or about US$41,000-64,100), this Les Masques has an 18k yellow gold case that echoes the mask.
HKWA Lot 966 – Vacheron Constantin “Les Masques” Alaskan Tlingit Indian
The final watch in the quartet features a Tlingit mask of Native American shamans of Alaska. According to lore, shamans tapped into the spiritual energies of nature and animals by performing intricate dances and rituals while wearing costumes that included masks like this. Such rituals were believed to do many things, ranging from curing illness and fighting one’s enemies.
While the original mask is in wood with horsehair on its top, the miniature replica in the watch is entirely solid gold, yet convincingly replicates the original, a testament to the fineness of the micro sculpting.
This is in 18k white gold and estimated at HK$320,000-500,000 (or about US$41,000-64,100).
HKWA Lot 850 – Audemars Piguet skeleton pocket watch Ref. 35775BA
Typical of Audemars Piguet (AP) in the 1980s and 1990s, this is an elaborately decorated pocket watch with a skeletonised movement under an open-worked dial depicting four birds and laurel leaves. Both the case, bow, and open-worked dial are set with brilliant-cut diamonds.
Turning the watch over reveals purely mechanical beauty: the artfully skeletonised cal. 5020 with slender, graceful bridges covered in flowery engraving.
Relatively compact in size, making it a dress pocket watch, this measures 42.7 mm in diameter.
According to Phillips, only one other example with a bird motif has been sold publicly, and though similar, it is not identical, implying this could be unique.
This watch is accompanied by a blank certificate, digital extract from the archives, and hang tag. It has an estimate of HK$120,000-200,000 (or about US$15,400-25,600).
HKWA Lot 851 – Bulgari Serpenti Scaglie
Unquestionably the most iconic wristwatch by Bulgari, the original Serpenti is a snake-form bracelet coiled around the wrist, entirely decorated in enamel and gemstones. The model has since evolved into simpler variants, but the elaborately decorated top-of-the-line models remain impressive examples of goldsmithing and enamelling.
The example dating to 1971 features enamelled orange and yellow “scaglie” links on Bulgari’s signature flexible Tubogas bracelet. Each link is engraved and then covered in translucent enamel. The serpent’s eyes are two large emeralds.
Lifting the head of the serpent reveals a small dial to indicate the time, under which is a Jaeger-LeCoultre cal. 426 movement.
Notably, this includes copies of the original drawings for the watch, and an invoice dated 1971. It has an estimate of HK$620,000-1.2 million (or about US$79,500-154,000).
Preview and auction
The sale and preview exhibition will take place at Phillips Hong Kong in the West Kowloon Cultural District.
Preview
Open daily November 16-24, 2024 from 11:00 am-7:00 pm
Auction
November 22 – 2:00 pm (TOKI lots 1-115)
November 23 – 2:00 pm (HKWA: XIX lots 801-920)
November 24 – 2:00 pm (HKWA: XIX lots 921-1031)
(All times are local to Hong Kong, GMT+8.)
G/F WKCDA Tower
Cultural District
8 Austin Road West
Kowloon, Hong Kong
The catalogues with online bidding for Toki and HKWA XIX.
This was brought to you in partnership with Phillips.
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