Eclectic Sunday: intimate moments with the Fabergé Visionnaire Tourbillon

Fabergé lets their timepieces tell the story of the jewellery house – with the Visionnaire Tourbillon as an apt narrator


Fabergé
– a traditional name famous for gemstones and jewellery, most prominently the Fabergé eggs, has impressed me with its forceful return to the watchmaking world. Visionnaire is the name of their collection of complicated men’s pieces – quite aptly so, since it debuted a number of mechanical masterpieces developed by Jean-Marc, Nicolas and Laurent Wiederrecht of Agenhor.

So, the ambition is high, and delivery accordingly since only 2013. This is all the more astonishing as the watchmaking development team at Fabergé consists of only three people, and this already includes their director, Aurelie Picaud (we featured her in our recent article on women in watchmaking).

Faberge Visionnaire Tourbillon flying Renaud Papi(Fabergé’s Visionnaire Tourbillon in rose gold/black DLC)


Ms Picaud openly admits that she has not the collectors in mind when creating a timepiece, instead she starts from the rich historical legacy of Fabergé and then creates the watch around such as to highlight aspects of this legacy.

Telling stories, this is the essence. And I think that the inaugurational Visionnaire, the Visionnaire Tourbillon, exemplifies this in a compelling way:

Faberge Visionnaire Tourbillon flying Renaud Papi



Created together with Renaud & Papi, the complicated watchmaking centre of excellence, the watch shows a flying tourbillon embedded into 6 trapezoids, finely guilloched elements framed golden, partly hiding, partly revealing the mechanism below. The elements, of course, resemble the idiosyncratic opening shells of the Fabergé eggs, which encapsulated a hidden secret or gem – in this case the tourbillon movement.

This all is so artistic, graphical, and charming – for those who know this is typical for the jewellery house, and the makers appeal to the cognoscenti such that they have elected to hide the brand name between two trapezoids:

Faberge Visionnaire Tourbillon flying Renaud Papi guillochage (Dial detail of the Visionnaire Tourbillon, note the hidden Fabergé logo (5 o’clock) and the fine finishing of the trapezoids)


On the back, we essentially find just a power reserve indication (72h) and lots of square guillochage on the main plate of the Cal. TOF14:

Faberge Visionnaire Tourbillon flying Renaud Papi guillochage movement Cal. TOF14(Movement with German Silver plates in guilloché decoration)


Two versions existed, in rose gold/black DLC as above, as well as in platinum/blue, both in 44mm:

Faberge Visionnaire Tourbillon flying Renaud Papi guillochage (Fabergé’s Visionnaire Tourbillon in platinum/blue)


This is not a loud watch, despite its bold elements – quite to the contrary, this is a subtle, an emotional watch, which needs time and leisure to really appreciate. It is a companion best savoured alone, with good music and a drink to match.

Faberge Visionnaire Tourbillon flying Renaud Papi guillochage wristshot



I can imagine an evening just for myself, listening to Vladimir Horowitz’ masterpiece recording of Mussorgsky’s ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ from 1951.

Faberge Visionnaire Tourbillon flying Renaud Papi guillochage wristshot



The ‘Pictures’ themselves are a musical narration of a visit Mussorgsky paid to an exhibition of a late friend of him, casting the various scenes and emotions into music.

The Visionnaire Tourbillon attempts the same for Fabergé, and invites the wearer to follow into a rich history or arts and crafts.

Faberge Visionnaire Tourbillon flying Renaud Papi guillochage wristshot

To quote Mr Horowitz:

“… I played everything wrong, except that I found the emotional climate of the piece—l found the spiritual essence. That’s what you have to look for first.”

Sometimes it pays out to look aside the common paths!

Ornatus Mundi

Comments:

4 replies
  1. ปั้มไลค์
    ปั้มไลค์ says:

    Like!! Really appreciate you sharing this blog post.Really thank you! Keep writing.

    Reply
  2. Martltime
    Martltime says:

    I have to say I like what I see! Something you don’t get everyday at a high level. I like your blog and that you show something different.
    Would be cool to make a series about some watches that are already discontinued. For example, old Frässdorf projects, or Tasaki Odessa Tourbillon which was created by Hajime Asaoka.

    Reply
    • the eclecticum
      the eclecticum says:

      Hi Martin:

      definitely an idea! We’ll frequently try to identify interesting & unusual watches that are not that much talked about, like the Paul Gerber we featured today.

      Thanks for there encouragement, and stay tuned!

      Cheers,
      ‘the eclecticum’

      Reply

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