A single primary color—blue—crafted into an infinite array of shades, each captured within hand-engraved enamel using the champlevé technique: Les Volumes du Temps is a masterclass in watch design and artistic craftsmanship.

A single primary color—blue—crafted into an infinite array of shades, each captured within hand-engraved enamel using the champlevé technique: Les Volumes du Temps is a masterclass in watch design and artistic craftsmanship.

Its surfaces and volumes interact, converging toward the hours and minutes, which are displayed on rotating discs. Featuring a case and dial crafted entirely from gold, Les Volumes du Temps is a remarkable achievement that once again unites the art of watchmaking with contemporary art, in pursuit of deep emotion and the truly exceptional.

In this unique piece, the time is presented within a 3D landscape of unprecedented depth. The dial is structured through volumes defined by bold lines and gentle curves, which hover above two moving discs that indicate the time. It is a virtuoso work—designed by Fiona Djukanovic, a student at the Académie de Meuron—in which champlevé enamel takes center stage.

The piece will be auctioned at TimeForArt on December 5th; the proceeds will go toward supporting young talent at the Swiss Institute.

The initial concept was somewhat audacious: the idea was to combine volumes, flat backgrounds, and variations of a single color to literally sculpt time—all without the use of hands. For a watch designer, this was a nearly impossible challenge, given the intricate—and at times even contradictory—nature of the surfaces, perspectives, and volumes involved.

To realize this, Jaquet Droz turned to its artists and craftspeople to develop a shared language—an aesthetic grammar—that would unify every component into an original, cohesive creation: Les Volumes du Temps. The piece is structured around two central elements positioned opposite one another. Their shape is so unique that no geometric term exists to describe them: two straight sides of a triangle, with a third side that is slightly curved to fit perfectly against the profile of the 41 mm white gold case.

Furthermore, their thickness varies—reaching a peak at the center, which draws the eye toward the hour and minute displays, and tapering off at the edges to blend harmoniously into the thickness of the surrounding ring. Before being enameled, the surface is hand-engraved with a sunburst pattern.

Flanking this "X"-shaped form are two large champlevé enamel surfaces, composed of some forty parallelepipeds in an infinite array of blue shades—all achieved through hand-applied Grand Feu (high-fire) enamel. Each motif tapers as it nears the hour and minute displays, again guiding the gaze toward their respective discs and creating a dynamic that complements the cantilevered volumes. Each disc also features a hand-applied sunburst finish, as does the central circle that overlays them, pointing toward each hour and minute. The resulting radiant effect gives the piece an appearance that shifts depending on the angle of the light, constantly sculpting a new Volume du Temps (Volume of Time).