Fabergé’s New Compliquée Peacock Watch Dazzles With Marquetry and Craftsmanship

Fabergé is debuting a new variation of its Compliquée Peacock Watch this summer. This watch was created in collaboration with Master Craftsman André Martinez, an expert in miniaturist artistic painting on watch dials, and Workmaster Jean-Marc Wiederrecht of Agenhor; following the Compliquée Peacock's tremendous success at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève in 2015, where it won the High-Mechanical award. Each watch dial is absolutely unique and stars an abstract André Martinez design, inspired by lovely peacock feathers. With each design exclusively limited to ten numbered pieces, these masterpieces are wearable art for the wrist.

Fabergé has always collaborated with the best artisans in all fields of specialization to produce works that encapsulate the essence of the brand's past, present, and future. Martinez previously designed distinctive hand-painted dials for the Fabergé x Craft Irish Whiskey Co. Altruist Limited Edition and the Fabergé Altruist Wilderness watches. Every feather on each model of the acclaimed Compliquée Peacock Watch line has also been hand-painted by him.

The new Compliquée Peacock Arte Hand-Etched White Gold Watches, which come in two different colorways and are limited to ten numbered pieces per style, are collector's timepieces.

The dials are engraved using an 'intaglio' printmaking method from the 16th century called 'eau forte,' or 'etching,' in which an image or design is carved onto a plate using acid. Normally, this would be a metal plate, but Martinez skillfully used mother-of-pearl to create a one-of-a-kind appearance.

Martinez's lacquers are used to create gradations of color on the bottom of the etched part of the colorful dial before being covered in a transparent lacquer, to create a flat and taut depiction. The eye-catching feather pattern is entirely hand-painted, making each piece extraordinary.

The monochrome dial uses the same technique, but here Martinez's composition, which is primarily "encre de Chine" ink mixed with another substance to prevent cracking during the drying process, is used to fill the etchings. This unique approach also makes the watch water-resistant by preventing the ink from being dissolved by water.

The watch's outstanding mechanism was created in collaboration with Jean-Marc Wiederrecht and the Agenhor team. Fabergé and Agenhor have collaborated on the release of this limited-edition watch, which was produced particularly for Fabergé and pays respect to Maison's history, with the stunning Compliquée Peacock hand-winding movement, which is unique in its own right.

Aurélie Picaud, Timepieces Director at Fabergé, says of the collection: “The new Compliquée Peacock Arte Hand-Etched Limited Editions embrace all the things that fascinate me: the link to the Peacock Egg of 1908; the technicity, yet apparent simplicity, of the mechanism; the level of skills required to achieve these delicate watches; and the beauty of the execution in every detail. More than anything, these pieces reflect the fantastic harmony between the master craftspeople working on every single component of these watches, which stays true to Fabergé’s values.”

The Fabergé Compliquée Peacock Arte Hand-Etched Limited-Edition White Gold Watches,
for $52,500, are available to purchase at selected Fabergé boutiques and on Faberge.com