Italy’s varied landscapes, art and traditions give Patek Philippe plenty to work with. For its Watch Art Grand Exhibition in Milan, the manufacture has created 25 Rare Handcrafts pieces reserved just for the Italian market: we’re looking at six dome clocks, one table clock, four pocket watches and fourteen wristwatches altogether. Their subjects range from roadtrips in a Cinquecento to Venetian lace and a portrait of Dante. The finest enamel, engraving, guilloché and wood marquetry give each one its own unique Italian story.

 

The collection will be shown at CityOval from 2 to 18 October, and forms part of a much larger exhibition of around 500 timepieces and objects. Important and historic pieces from the Patek Philippe Museum will be displayed and demonstrations by watchmakers and artisans will be held at the exhibition – pretty much a must-attend for any watch nerd in the area.

 

A journey across Italy

 

Beginning the Rare Handcraft collection are four different Calatravas following a quintessential Italian road trip from behind the wheel of the iconic city cars produced by Fiat – the Cinquecento. Each is a six-piece edition in white or rose gold, combining cloisonné enamel with miniature paintings. A Clous de Paris pattern frames the dial on the bezel, while classic dauphine-style hands tell the time. Each watch is supplied with an alligator leather strap, matching the tone of the dial. In the “Amalfi Escapade” (Ref. 5177G-053), a turquoise car rounds a famous cliffside bend overlooking the Fiordo di Furore bridge, at the Amalfi Coast. “A Trip to Puglia” (Ref. 5177G-054) sends a red car past a cluster of trulli, the region’s distinctive stone houses. Then there’s a yellow car in “Stop-off in Chianti” (Ref. 5177R-010) crossing a vineyard beneath a sky turning red at dusk, while “Arrival in Como” (Ref. 5177R-011) reaches a lakeside town of brightly colored houses, with ripples and sailboats in the water and a light haze over the hills.

 

 

Beyond the road trip, Patek also turns Italian cities into clocks and pocket watches. The “Italian Stamps” dome clock (Ref. 20183M-001) takes imagery from old postage stamps depicting monumental fountains from each city. The fountains and city names are engraved by hand beneath the enamel while a paillonné compass rose motif nods to the country’s explorers. The clock face has a marble hour circle carrying engraved Roman numerals picked out in blue lacquer, surrounding gilt trapeze hands and a hand-guilloché dial center. The “Rome by Night” dome clock (Ref. 20184M-001) is a tad bit moodier. Rendered in monochromatic grisaille enamel au blanc de Limoges, the picture draws Rome’s monuments out of darkness, with gold stars above and reflections in the Tiber river below. Two engraved dove appliqués are perched above the white lacquer hour circle.

 

 

And on the “City of Milan” table clock (Ref. 25028M-001), the Piazza del Duomo stands at the center of a map built in concentric circles of blue, green and turquoise enamel. The streets carry on across the clock’s side panels, which had to be meticulously aligned with the dial.

 

 

The city of Venice supplies two pocket watches with very different textures. The yellow-gold “Burano” (Ref. 992/193J-001) shows the island’s colorful houses and the canal in cloisonné enamel. On the water, there’s wave-patterned guilloche with gold and silver lead embedded beneath the enamel giving a sparkle to the reflections. The “Venetian Cruise” (Ref. 995/147G-001) in white gold catches the view from a mahogany pleasure boat entering the Grand Canal at daybreak. The artwork for the boat has a remarkable lifelike surface, assembled from 334 tiny pieces of wood veneer and 15 even smaller inlays.

 

 

A pair of Golden Ellipses move inland towards the “Venaria Palace” in Turin. The rose-gold Ref. 5738/50R-027 looks down the palace’s 80-meter Galleria Grande hallway, using cloisonné enamel and miniature painting to depict its long architectural perspective. The white gold Ref. 5738/50G-050 concentrates more on the palace’s painted ceilings instead. These Ellipses are limited to five and six pieces respectively.

 

 

Wood marquetry takes over on the 10-piece “Sunset in Tuscany” with the Golden Ellipse (Ref. 5738/50R-017). Housed in rose gold, pieces of wood veneer form a village beneath a glowing evening sky, with the gold-toned calfskin trap picking up the warmth of the scene.

 

 

Three Calatravas return to the coast during summer, each in an edition of six. Beneath the enamel scenes, wave-pattern guilloche remains visible through a translucent coating with diamonds running along the bezel and lugs. The yellow-gold “Bay of Naples” (Ref. 5077/100J-010) sees lemon trees against Capri’s Faraglioni rock towers rising from the water. “Capri Beach” (Ref. 5077/100R-072), in rose gold, is full of small holiday details: parasols, beachgoers and foam breaking against the rocks. On the white-gold “The Pink Bay” (Ref. 5077/100G-082), bougainvillea flowers dominate the foreground in hot pink, purple and red, as a yacht sits out on the water beneath a changing sky.

 

 

Sicily has two citrus-inspired dome clocks of its own. “Sicilian Lemons” (Ref. 20185M-001) borrows the bright colors and decorative character of traditional-style pottery with Sicilian majolica. Using Longwy enamel on faience, the clock show lemon fruits and Mount Etna reflected in the Mediterranean. Time is told through an ivory, finely crackled hour circle with orange markers and hands. “Sicilian Oranges” (Ref. 20179M-001) uses cloisonné enamel instead for the orange trees in the foreground while a softer miniature painting depicts Palermo in the distance. Some 15 meters of gold wire outline the trees and fruit, while the blue-accented hour circle takes its cues from a Sicilian church clock.

 

 

The next three pieces look at the work of Italian artisans. The “Florentine Mosaic” Calatrava minute repeater (Ref. 7040/250G-011) recreates the appearance of hardstone marquetry through enamel work, drawing on a floral table decoration from 17^th century Florence. Tiny markings even suggest the inclusions found naturally in stone, while 168 diamonds frame the dial.

 

 

The “Ravenna” dome clock (Ref. 20180M-001) focuses on the mosaics of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. Its star-studded motifs continue into the center of an hour circle with blue Arabic numerals. Then we have the smaller “Millefiori” dome clock (Ref. 10039M-001) which interprets the Murano island’s colorful glass canes in enamel. The 5-piece clock has a mother-of-pearl hour circle set with dark orange sapphire markers.

 

 

Italian paintings get some love too with its own pocket watch in “Dante” (Ref. 995/151G-001). Inspired by Sandro Botticelli’s portrait of the poet, it uses cloisonné enamel and miniature painting to set his profile against a deep blue sky scattered with stars in gold powder. Drawings inspired by the Divine Comedy narrative frame the portrait. The white gold pocket watch also comes with a stand incorporating rutilated quartz and a base of lapis pyrite.

 

 

The collection also turns to Italian sculpture with the “Crouching Lion” Ellipse (Ref. 5738/50G-039). Set in white gold, the scene depicts Pasquale Ricca’s sculpture with a background of Naples’s San Francesco di Paola Basilica. Worked in the monochromatic grisaille enamel au blanc de Limoges, its dark image captures the lion’s volume, the texture of the stones and the shadows across the square.

 

 

Two Calatravas then pay tribute to Burano lacemaking. “Lacework in Pink” (Ref. 5077/100R-069) has pale pink embroidered flowers in a rose gold case while “Lacework in Blue” (Ref. 5077/100G-080) gives the same craft a cooler palette in white gold. Both six-piece editions layer champlevé enamel with silver leaf on the flower beneath translucent paillonné enamel, then add fine engraved details to the floral pattern.

 

 

Last but not least, the “Italian Stuccoes” pocket watch (Ref. 995/148G-001) takes inspiration from the ornate ceilings of Renaissance and Baroque palaces. It has translucent green enamel with a guilloché sunburst pattern that show throughout the case back, partly covered with raised swirls and shells that recreate the volume of molded stucco. Inside, the opaque white enamel dial completes the reference to plaster.