Armin Strom for Only Watch

Armin Strom has just release it's unique piece for Only Watch, the Manual Hunt Slonem Edition. The dial side features a screen onto which an expressive painting of American artist Hunt Slonem’s contemporary art has been transferred. 

The watch is housed in a 43.4 mm titanium case, featuring the manually wound AMW11 caliber manufactured in-house, with off-center time display and seconds subdial. Its openwork spring barrel benefits from a 5 day power-reserve. 

A composition of pastel hues and powerful lines continues the artist’s famous “bunny paintings” series. Together with the watch, the successful future bidder will be acquiring a hand-signed original which takes up the colors and motifs of the timepiece in a 46 cm x 31 cm format. For his work entitled “Rex”, the artist has used metal pigments in oil paint as the base for his characteristic linear styling.

The Only Watch auction brings prestigious names in watchmaking togther and provides the opportunity to put their expertise to a good cause once every two years. Proceeds raised from the auction benefits Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research. In 2017 there are some 49 brands participating, although not all of them have donated wristwatches. The auction for the watches will be held on November 11, 2017, and prior to that, Christie's Auction House will take the pieces on a tour. 

MONACO, 27-30 September 2017

BANGKOK, 2-3 October 2017

SINGAPORE, 5-6 October 2017

DUBAI, 9-11 October 2017

HONG KONG, 23-24 October 2017

TAIPEI, 26-27 October 2017

NEW YORK, 29-30 October 2017

LOS ANGELES, 1-2 November 2017

GENEVA, 9-11 November

For more details, please visit: http://www.onlywatch.com/

Artist Jeff Koons Collaborates with Louis Vuitton

French fashion house has announced a collaboration with Jeff Koons which will launch on 28 April 2017. 

The 51-piece collection of handbags and scarves are based on Koons' Gazing Ball paintings, a series of hand-painted reproductions of works by the old masters. Koons' paintings included a blue glass gazing ball 'floating' on a painted aluminum shelf attached to the front of each painting, so that the viewer could be brought into the painting itself.

The collections featured artworks include the Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Van Gogh's Wheat Field with Cypresses and Peter Paul Rubens' Tiger Hunt. Each bag has the original artists name in bold letters on the front. As usual, Louis Vuitton's monogram logo is included, but an additional logo is made up of Jeff Koons initials, plus a hanging tag of his highly recognizable inflatable rabbit sculpture. 

"Pushing its know-how to new limits, Louis Vuitton has employed the most advanced techniques and craftsmanship to faithfully reproduce the artworks on the canvas of the bags," said the French fashion house.

"By re-presenting these celebrated pieces on Louis Vuitton bags, Koons once again invites viewers to consider these works anew, opening the museum to the world and encouraging us to experience the old masters in novel ways."

Now you can have your art and take it with you wherever you go!

Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Papillon Automate

Out of the house of Van Cleef & Arpels is another stunning work of art that one can forget also tells the time. The dial is full of soft shades of blues, greens and mauves, and is reminiscent of a scene from Monet's garden. Resting on top of the dial set with round and pear-cut diamonds, blue and mauve sapphires, champlevé and paillonné enamel, and a mother-of-pearl, plique-à-jour, is a blue enameled butterfly. Not a static butterfly by any means, this butterfly beats it wings during each hour, more frequently so when worn. Since Van Cleef & Arpels know how the owner of the watch will love the movement of the butterfly, the wings can also be activated on command by pushing the button on the side of the case, and they will then beat five times consecutively. 

The diamond set white gold case measures 38 mm and the crown is set with an additional diamond. The watch has a blue alligator strap and a diamond set white gold pin buckle.

Pre-Basel - Arnold & Son HM Falcon

Arnold & Son has just released a the HM Falcon Unique Piece as part of their Métiers d’Art collection. The hand painted falcon is set on a mother-of-pearl dial and the artist uses delicate nuances of colors and tones, using tiny brushstrokes and texturing gradually to build-up the entire image, which results in a stunning finished design, full of depth. 

Human love of falcons goes back many centuries. In ancient Egypt, the falcon was deified as Horus, the god of the sky and kingship. In other civilizations and cultures, the falcon symbolizes vision, agility and victory. Falconry can also be traced back to early China, where records indicate they were being used by humans to hunt. They were also used as royal gifts in the Heian dynasty in China, dating back to 2205 BC.

The unique piece comes with an ultra-thin A&S1001 manufacture movement with over 90 hours of power reserve; and is housed in an 18-karat rose gold case, with a brown alligator strap. The case can also be adorned with a diamond set bezel if desired.