Ulysse Nardin celebrates the Year of the Rabbit in the traditional Chinese Zodiac with the Classico Rabbit, a 40mm rose-gold-cased limited edition watch with a stunning champlevé and cloisonné dial depicting the symbol of good fortune for 2023.
Starting with a sketch, artisans at Ulysse Nardin’s dial workshop Donzé Cadrans carve directly into the rabbit motif dial, creating individual “cells” that they then fill with enamel. The artisans then fire the enamel, smooth and polish it. They then carefully enrich the scene by chiseling metal elements onto the surface.
Ulysse Nardin also applies textured cloisonné elements to the dial for added three-dimensional effect.
To do this artisans create compartments using a very thin gold wire to deposit enamel with hyper precision. For the Classico Rabbit, this gold-wire folding represents up to fifteen working hours per dial, according to Ulysse Nardin.
At the Donzé Cadrans workshop, this high-level of craftsmanship is applied to a wide range of Ulysse Nardin watches. Collections benefits from the application of an array of enameling techniques, including Grand Feu, Cloisonné, Champlevé and Flinqué.
The Le Locle-based watchmaker will produce the Classico Rabbit in a limited-edition series of 88 timepieces, each powered by the UN-815 automatic movement. The watch arrives with a black alligator strap with a rose-gold buckle and a clear sapphire caseback.
Price: $45,900.
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