As we’re still waiting for all of these questions to be answered, we wanted to take a closer look at this rare handcraft complicated Patek and break down what we love, and love a little less.
As far back as 3000BC, remnants of cloisonné enamel jewellery have been found in the regions of the Far East, used to hold pieces of stone or gems in rings or other decorative jewels. Cloisonné enamel was used by many great civilisations from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Byzantine, and spreading to China later on.
The process consists in using a thin wire, in order to contain the enamel before cooking it so as to fix it in place. Patek generally use a thin gold wire less than 0,5mm in diameter in order to form the contour of the desired design, before applying the enamel with a brush, mixing the enamel preparation so as to create the desired colour. The wire is fixed onto a dial where both sides have been enamelled beforehand - this is necessary as when firing the dial, it could contract and distort the dial as the enamel hardens - enamel is thus applied on both sides so as to keep the dial as flat as possible.