Commissioning Horological Art - A Watch Collector’s Experience
Lovers of horses, airplanes, yachts and cars can choose from many specialised painters if they want a piece depicting their favoured object for the walls of the home or office. While Salvador Dalí’s surrealist “melting watch” paintings are amongst the 20th century’s best known artworks, a search for current day artists specialising in the figurative depictions of watches generates barely a handful of names, though most of whom show their works on Instagram. This is the story of my first commission, a graphic of the Voutilainen GMT-6. The Voutilainen GMT-6 by Alex Eisenzammer (@watchoniste), commissioned by the author High-tech capture Particularly when wristwatches are the subject of art, I follow the original Latin definition of ars, “skills” or “craft”. Therefore, I regard flawless photography of watches as art, as with the Voutilainen 28 “Sarasamon”, captured by specialist watch photographer Guy Lucas de Peslouan. But perfect photographic illustrations tread a thin line between art and technology. When the photographer’s skills are not at the highest level and Photoshop is heavy-handedly applied, the results are hardly suited to truly capturing a watch, yet find often a place in press releases from brands. Voutilainen 28 “Sarasamon”. Image – Artsight/Guy Lucas de Peslouan The art of rendering watches or movements with software is very popular with manufacturers. CGI specialist Blade Render describes its philosophy as desir...
Time+Tide
