In 1904, Adolphe Stoclet, a Belgian engineer and financier, asked the Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt to create mosaic murals for his mansion in Brussels. Among Klimt's sketches was The Kiss, arguably his most famous painting.
More than a century later, Jaeger-LeCoultre's new Atmos clock, a limited edition of 10 pieces, pays homage to the painting with a cabinet featuring The Kiss. The clock's launch coincides with the 150th anniversary of Klimt's birth.
'Besides watches with complications, we also make iconic items such as the Atmos clock and jewellery timepieces,' says Janek Deleskiewicz, artistic director and designer at Jaeger-LeCoultre. 'For the new Atmos Marqueterie, the way we recreated Klimt's painting on a cabinet made of wood is similar to the way we do enamelling on the dial of a watch. We produce the image we want on the surface, whether it is a dial or a cabinet. We have recreated a few other paintings by Klimt for our Atmos clocks, such as Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.'
The clock is powered by gas, which functions with the differences in temperature in the room. The cabinet showcases wooden marquetry with more than 1,200 small pieces of inlaid wood such as paolo amarela, Ceylon lemonwood, Andes boxwood, tulipwood burl, walnut and maplewood. In true Klimt fashion, some pieces of inlaid wood are covered with gold leaf. With a press of the button embedded in it, the cabinet automatically opens to show the Atmos clock, which is housed in a crystal glass inner cabinet.
Besides displaying the hours and minutes, the new Atmos clock also has day, month and perpetual moon-phase indications. The mother-of-pearl dial features a silver-toned brass month wheel and a moon disc in petrified wood set with diamonds. The clock is armed with the mechanical movement, Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 582, which comprises 386 parts and was put together by hand. The mechanism is eco-conscious, and requires power equivalent to a 15-watt light bulb.
Jaeger-LeCoultre also debuted the Duometre a Quantieme Lunaire 40.5 at this year's SIHH.