WRIST ICONS goes cloisonné! BIG FISH

This beautiful yellow gold Bulova watch has a cloisonné dial made by Marguerite Koch who used work as an artist for the Stern Frères company. The watch has a really gorgeous dial picturing swimming fishes under water. The dial and watch are in pristine condition incredible after more than 60 years.

Now what is cloisonné?

This watch is all about the dial. Cloisonné is a form of enamel art.

First we have to know what actually is enamel? The art of enameling involves a soft glass made of silica, red lead, and soda. When mixed and heated with iron, chromium, or other elements, the resulting liquid appears in intense colors. This enamel is then applied to watch dials using a goose quill in a lengthy, delicate process.

Check the outline of the fishes on the dial of this beautiful Bulova. Notice its solid, 3D borders? That’s the mark of a cloisonné enamel (‘cloison’ being French for compartment). The segments of this refined dial such as the big fish are outlined by soldering or adhering wire of 18k gold. The intricate work begins with the enameller laying out the design with fine gold wire, as thin as human hair , then adding successive layers of enamel to each region within the wire design to achieve the desired color, then fired in a kiln.

In the late 40 and 50s the biggest brands such as IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Longines, Patek Philippe, Rolex, and Vacheron Constantin had some of their watches offered with cloisonné dials. Besides these big names some of the cloisonné dialed watches were also offered by nowadays lesser known brands such as Cyma, Eska and Bulova and Universal Genève. These dials were made by dial producers such as Stern Freres. This particular dial maker was from the same family that now owns Patek Philippe. Stern Freres made cloisonné dial for Patek Philippe, Omega and Rolex. These dial were often recognizable from the star inscription at the back although for Rolex they sometimes used a specific supplier code. Beyeler was notable as well, mainly for the dials it made for Rolex and Vacheron Constantin.

During the 1940’s there were no more than a handful of artisans capable of producing this kind of work. The most known artists are Carlo Poluzzi, Nelly Richard and Marguerite Koch. One of their best and most elegant artist from Stern Freres was Marguerite Koch, a renowned artisan from Geneva who also created artwork for Patek Philippe, Rolex and Vacheron Constantin. When looking at the dial of this Bulova dial we immediately recognized similarities with the artwork of Marguerite Koch. We reached out some high profile collectors and dealers to get their opinions. Two of them who have handled these pieces agreed with this opinion among them the most well-known Patek Philippe expert, John Reardon.

This is the first cloisonné watch that WRIST ICONS is offering. We saw the first cloisonné dial made by Marguerite Koch watch during an auction in Geneva. We immediately fell in love with her art. It's beyond nice. These dial are so refined and elegant. It’s the pinnacle of enamel dialed watches. According to our opinion only a few of the cloisonné dials are nowadays still really interesting, predominately the watches of the bigger brands and those with pictures that are even these days appealing. Most of the enamel dials that are offered to the general public have boring pictures of geographical continents or countries, buildings such as lighthouses or caravels ( boats). But to us the most interesting motifs are the dials that have nice decorations of mythological figures such as dragons, Neptune or flora and fauna such as animals or a tropical forest.

Condition

This particular Bulova Cloisonné has been kept all original. We picked it up from a dealer who bought it direct from the first owner. It is upon the new owner to service the watch. The watch runs and keeps time.

As with all of our pre-owned watches this watch comes with a full 12 month WRIST ICONS warranty that will be invoked from the day of purchase. Please check our website to have a look at the high resolution pictures on a macro level. You will see every detail at its best.

• Brand: Bulova
• Model: Cloisonné enamel fish dial
• Year: circa 1956
• Case: yellow golden unpolished anti-magnetic stepped case. Dim. 35 x 40 mm
• Inscriptions case back: ANTI-MAGNETIC, SELF-WINDING, SHOCK-RESISTANT, WATER PROOF, 18 K GOLD, B468291. The code L6 dates this watch to 1956
• Condition: Very good condition
• Dial: classic white enamel dial signed Cartier Paris with black roman numerals and blued steel hands and sapphire cabochon winder. Dials has some tiny hairlines in the enamel between 10 and 11 and 4 and 5.
• Movement: This is an American made Bulova with an American 10BPAC, one of the very few American automatics.  This watch has an excellent reputation for craftsmanship, it's high-end 23 jewel movement and it's thin profile and it beats with 18000 A/h with a power reserve of 41 hours
•  Strap: Original Bulova leather strap
• Box/Paper: Original Bulova box
• Condition:    Excellent