Tag Archives: GrandFeuEnamel

STREAMLINER TOURBILLON CONCEPT CERAMIC: A NEW CREATIVE TERRITORY FOR H. MOSER & CIE.

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H. Moser & Cie. Introduces the Streamliner Tourbillon Concept Ceramic

For the first time in its history, H. Moser & Cie. is venturing into the world of ceramics, opting for this technically demanding material to enhance the flowing lines of its most iconic collection: Streamliner. The cushion case and integrated bracelet are crafted from anthracite grey ceramic with alternating polished and satin-finished surfaces. With neither indices nor logo, the Red fumé Grand Feu enamel dial illuminates this crisp architecture, while the flying tourbillon with double hairspring injects dynamism. With the Streamliner Tourbillon Concept Ceramic model, the Schaffhausen-based Manufacture underscores its commitment to watchmaking that is forward-looking, precise, masterful and resolutely timeless.

Ceramic: a decisive, self-evident choice. The Streamliner collection marks H. Moser & Cie.’s entry into this new territory. With its cushion case and integrated bracelet made entirely from anthracite grey ceramic, the Streamliner Tourbillon Concept Ceramics boldly asserts its personality and character. The material naturally embraces the organic lines of the collection, cultivating the aesthetic without constraining it. The surfaces play with the effects of light in a masterful choreography. Vertical satin finishing on the bracelet, subtle polishing on the edges, circular satin finishing on the case: the characteristic finishes of the Streamliner find in ceramics a demanding medium for expression. They are hand-applied to reveal the depth of the material, its density and colour. An intense, absorbing dark anthracite grey.

Unalterable, lightweight and hypoallergenic, ceramic offers unexpected comfort and a durability suited to everyday use. Pleasant to the touch and almost warm for a mineral material, its most distinctive feature is its absolute stability. Unaffected by time, it is synonymous with mastery and precision. A material defined by its future-oriented expression.

At the heart of this restrained anthracite grey lies a striking contrast: a Red fumé dial of a rare chromatic depth. True to its unique approach, H. Moser & Cie. has reinvented the ancient art of Grand Feu enamelling, bringing it firmly into the modern era. A textured pattern is engraved on a white gold base to create a hammered effect. Two enamel pigments, washed, ground and applied in a gradient, create a vibrant colour generated by successive firings. Never pixellated, always alive. The result is an intense, luminous, almost incandescent Red fumé dial, devoid of indices and logos in line with the brand’s minimalist philosophy.

At 6 o’clock, a one-minute flying tourbillon energises the overall composition. The HMC 805 automatic calibre that drives the watch is equipped with a double hairspring designed and produced in-house by H. Moser & Cie.’s sister company, Precision Engineering AG. This pair of matching hairsprings improves accuracy and isochronism, compensating for the effects of shifts in the centre of gravity when the springs expand. The bridges and main plate, finished in anthracite grey, offer a subtle contrast to the red gold oscillating weight, emphasising the contemporary elegance of the movement.

With the Streamliner Tourbillon Concept Ceramic model, H. Moser & Cie. is embarking on a new chapter and expanding its creative horizons by incorporating a material as exacting as it is radical into its creative language.

H. Moser & Cie.’s own and unique take on Haute Horlogerie.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS – STREAMLINER TOURBILLON CONCEPT CERAMIC

Reference 6805-2100, anthracite grey ceramic model, Red fumé dial, integrated bracelet in anthracite grey ceramic

Case
Anthracite grey ceramic
Diameter: 40.0 mm
Height without sapphire crystal: 11.0 mm
Height with sapphire crystal: 12.8 mm
Screw-in crown adorned with an engraved “M”
See-through sapphire crystal case-back
Water-resistant to 12 ATM

Dial
Red fumé Grand Feu enamel with hammered texture
Hour and minute hands with Globolight® inserts

Movement
HMC 805 automatic calibre
Diameter: 32.0 mm or 14 1/4 lignes
Height: 5.5 mm
Frequency: 21,600 vibrations/hour
Automatic bi-directional pawl winding system
Skeletonised oscillating weight in 18-carat red gold with engraved H. Moser & Cie. logo
Power reserve: minimum 3 days
Original double hairspring
One-minute flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock with skeletonised bridge
Anthracite finish with Moser double stripes
Partially skeletonised bridges

Functions
Hours and minutes

Bracelet
Integrated bracelet in anthracite grey ceramic
Folding clasp with three blades, engraved with the Moser logo

Tourbillon Red Gold – Catrina Skull by Jaquet Droz

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The hours and flowers of La Catrina

Her name is Catrina. She is one of the very few female incarnations of death in the Mexican Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos). Jaquet Droz has adopted this unusual, exuberant and disruptive character in line with its own approach to master craftsmanship. The result is a unique piece in red gold that exhibits a mastery of micro-painting, paillonné and grand feu enamel, for the benefit of a single collector.

A web of mythology surrounds it. It is not known precisely what year she was born. 1912? 1913? This calavera, the emblematic figure of the Mexican Day of the Dead, seems to have sprung from the imagination of an illustrator. And while the first female calaveras appeared in 1889, it was not until 1930 that this one was given her official name – Catrina. The great lady has spanned the decades with consummate ease. Now, a century later, she has crossed continents to appear at the Jaquet Droz workshops in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

With this unique piece, Jaquet Droz is demonstrating its independence. Not to mention its audacity. By moving away from the masculine clichés of the skull, Catrina offers a neo-romantic vision of the Mexican floral. Contrary to custom, here we see a richly coloured figure surrounded by a wreath of flowers. In keeping with the naturalist spirit that has inspired it for nearly three centuries, Jaquet Droz has appropriated this dazzling floral myth of Mexican culture.

The figure of Catrina occupies the right two thirds of the dial. It’s all about the details: the two whites divided between the face and the smile, with two different levels of contrast, the minute variations in pink and violet, the shades of the gold dots with the two hands in red gold, and the green, sometimes bright and clear, sometimes dark and threatening.

This contrast is underscored by the diversity of craftsmanship on display. Catrina’s head is in micro-paint, but the floral base on the left of the dial is in grand feu enamel. The foliage is hand-engraved on a 1.1 mm thick gold dial. Each leaf has a different depth, and is filled with enamel powder and fired several times.

In this case, the gold dots are not hand-painted, but rather paillons. The technique, which Jaquet Droz has been using for nearly three centuries, consists of capturing tiny hand-chiselled motifs in gold leaf under a thin layer of invisible varnish. In the same spirit, the lightness of the freehand micro-painting contrasts with the watchmaking rigour of the tourbillon visible at 12 o’clock. Within its ocular orbit, it features a high-precision mechanism with an 8-day power reserve. The choice of a flying tourbillon, with no upper bridge, offers a bird’s-eye view of the watch’s regulating organ. This ballet, orchestrated to the micron, offers a precise measurement of time in defiance of Catrina – herself unconcerned with the whole concept – and with a rigour to which she seems oblivious.

On the back, this great lady of Dia de los Muertos asserts her femininity with a final flourish that is only visible to collectors. Its mother-of-pearl oscillating weight is decorated with two gold star appliques edged with multicoloured foliage. Created entirely by hand by Jaquet Droz artists, the Catrina Skull in a 39 mm red gold is a model for a unique collector.

“Create your own. As unique as you are”

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel

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Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Master Ultra Thin collection represents the quintessential contemporary dress watch and in 2025, the collection is enriched with a new interpretation of the Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel. With a dial in anthracite grey Grand Feu enamel enhanced by a hand-guilloché sunray pattern and set in a 18k pink gold (750/1000) case, the new watch is offered in a limited edition of 50 pieces.

Inspired by in-house Savoir-faire in Grand Feu Enamel and Hand -Guillochage

The anthracite grey dial provides a dramatic backdrop for the tourbillon and the date display, and reflected light dances across the sunray pattern of the guillochage with every movement of the wrist. The hand- guilloché pattern is a work of immense precision and skill: each of the 180 ‘sun rays’ required six passages of the hand-operated rose engine lathe, making 1,080 lines altogether. Guided only by the eye and hand, the master guillocheur must ensure that every line is absolutely straight, evenly spaced and perfectly aligned, radiating out from the centre to the edges of the dial. In addition, the date sub-dial is hand-guilloché in a circular pattern (known in French as azurage) to create a subtle texture that contrasts with the sunray.

When the guilloché work has been completed, the dial is handed over to the master enameller, who begins the delicate task of applying the enamel. It requires five layers to achieve the desired intensity and depth of colour, with each layer followed by firing at 800ºC and carefully managed cooling.

Harnessing a legacy of Tourbillon Expertise

Since Jaeger-LeCoultre developed its first tourbillon movement in 1946, the tourbillon has been a key element in La Grande Maison’s pursuit of timekeeping precision. Invented to counteract the impact of gravity on the oscillations of the escapement, the delicate mechanism consists of a cage, within which the balance wheel and hairspring rotate. Over the course of almost 80 years, the Maison has invented many new tourbillon configurations and different hairspring shapes, the latter made possible because it is one of the few Manufactures to possess the specialised skill of shaping hairsprings in-house.

The movement powering the Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel is the latest generation of Calibre 978, which won an international chronometry prize in 2009, the year of its launch. The calibre has become Jaeger-LeCoultre’s mainstay tourbillon movement and was comprehensively updated in 2019 to harness new technology. Comprising 77 components, including a titanium cage, the tourbillon weighs less than half a gram. It is equipped with a flat, two-level hairspring designed with a specific curve at the attachment points to help ensure that the oscillations are as regular as possible, thus delivering a high level of timekeeping accuracy. The pink gold bridge is enhanced by High Watchmaking finishes, including bevelling, straight graining and drawn flanks, all meticulously executed by hand. With its finely handcrafted anthracite grey dial and mechanically sophisticated calibre, the new Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel epitomises La Grande Maison’s philosophy of uniting technical virtuosity with enduring beauty and timeless aesthetics.

TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Case: 18k Pink Gold (750/1000)
Dimensions: 40 mm diameter x 12.13 mm thick
Calibre: Automatic Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 978
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds on tourbillon, date, tourbillon
Power Reserve: 45 hours
Dial: sunray-pattern guilloché with anthracite grey Grand Feu enamel, applied indexes, Dauphine hands
Water resistance: 5 bar
Strap: Black alligator, with small-scale lining
Buckle: Interchangeable pink gold double-folding clasp
Reference: Q13224E2
Limited edition: 50 pieces