Everything is made-to-measure and bespoke, only instead of fittings - a lot of sketches, instead of accessories - diamond trim, instead of a secret pocket - a clever function with a secret button. It is not surprising that a client waits several weeks for a tailor-made suit, while making unique watches takes several months.
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1. IWC Schaffhausen
Until recently, individual orders at the Schaffhausen manufactory were associated with the sophisticated Portugieser Sidérale Scafusia watch. In addition to several materials for the case, five colors of the dial, various shades of appliques and straps to choose from, the customer received a personal map of the starry sky depicted on the back of the watch. This map and astronomical indicators are calculated based on the exact coordinates provided by the purchaser. For such watches, collectors are ready to pay more than 750 thousand Swiss francs and be patient for almost a year. New IWC client offerAssociated with the Portugieser Constant-Force Tourbillon Double Moon. The customer can choose the material of the case, the color of the dial and strap, as well as apply a personal engraving on the back cover. The waiting time will be approximately three months: it will take two weeks only to assemble the most complex movement with a constant force tourbillon (it is also present in the Scafusia model). The cost of the order will be from 230 thousand to 255 thousand Swiss francs.
2. Bovet
The fad of the Swiss manufactory is the manufacture of custom-made dials using the technique of miniature painting on mother-of-pearl, as well as engraving. The company collaborates with five independent miniaturists from Switzerland, one artist lives and works in France, and this year the brand entered into an agreement with Russian jeweler-enamel Ilgiz Fazulzyanov (so now Bovetthere are also enamel miniatures). You can place an order directly in the boutique, where you should come with a specific idea or image. Next, you need to decide on the watch model - you can choose any, but for women the most advantageous Amadeo Fleurier 39 mm (painting completely covers the dial), and for men - a double-sided Amadeo Fleurier 43 mm watch (you can decorate both dials). The order is sent to Switzerland, where the artists do the initial sketch and render (on average, this takes two weeks). After the client has approved the design, terms and cost (prices start from 10 thousand Swiss francs), the craftsmen start to work. Making a miniature takes from three to nine months. Portraits and images with complex color reproduction may take additional time. The most expensive and special orders can be placed directly at the factory - such an order is accompanied by a personal invitation from the owner of the company Pascal Raffy, inspection of the production and a visit to the castle Château de Môtiers - historic estate of the Beauvais family.
3. Jaeger-LeCoultre
The famous Reverso model with a flipping case has long been an object of personalization, but in 2016 the watch manufacture offered a full bespoke service - Atelier Reverso. It is available only in flagship boutiques, including the Moscow store. A special virtual constructor will help you create your own unique version of Reverso, with dozens of options (including those developed by designer Christian Louboutin) are offered for some parameters (strap type, shade and dial material). In addition, you can choose the material of the watch case, diamond decor and even the type of movement (quartz, mechanic or automatic). The service only applies to Duetto ladies' watches (medium and small) and Duoface men's watches. All variations relate exclusively to the second dial of the watch - the first must remain invariably white in the Art Deco style with branded hands Jaeger-LeCoultre. The convenience of the virtual constructor also lies in the fact that the system automatically calculates the order price: it ranges from 300 to several thousand euros. The minimum waiting period is three months.
4. De Bethune
The enthusiastic collector and businessman David Zanetta and hereditary watchmaker Denis Flajolet call their work “the watchmaking art of the XXI century”, as the inscription on the logo of their brand, founded in 2002, says. And this art is primarily for collectors, so the brand offers various levels of personalization: engraving on the case back, special design of the dial, for example, in the form of the Mayan calendar or the Chinese calendar. Finally, the most poetic option is an individual map of the starry sky on the branded blue blued steel dial in the DB25L and DB28 Skybridge models, tied to the date and place of birth of the customer. Zanetta often invites such clients to visit a manufactory in the Swiss city of Oberson.
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5. Vacheron Constantin
The clients of the world's oldest watch manufacture were the King of Egypt Ahmed Fuad I and his son Farouk, New York banker Henry Graves Jr. In 2006, the Atelier Cabinotiers workshop was created, designed to fulfill all the wishes of collectors. Any new project requiring complex technical developments is accompanied by an engineer, mechanic, watchmaker, designer and specialists from the Vacheron Constantin R&D department… Each client receives a personal agent who communicates with the manufactory, and a confidential password to access the site, where you can personally follow the progress of work. The required time and funds are limited only by the imagination of the customer. Bespoke projects are kept in the strictest confidence, but with the consent of customers, the manufactory has released some of them. The Philosophia, for example, has only an hour hand on a 24-hour dial, and a minute repeater will help you find out the exact time. And the Vladimir watch can boast 17 complications. In the last jubilee year, the most complex watch - Ref. 57260 with 57 functions, it took eight years to develop.
6. Breitling
The manufactory producing men's sports chronographs and aviation watches offers Diamond Works diamond inlay service for all Breitling models.- Chronomat, Superocean, Breitling for Bentley and of course the Galactic ladies' models. You can decorate different parts (body, bezel, strap ears, bracelet, clasp) and in different combinations. Setting diamonds on the bezel takes from 30 minutes to three hours, on the case - from one and a half to three hours. The most labor-intensive is the bracelet: its decor requires up to 50 hours of work. In addition to colorless diamonds of the classic brilliant cut, baguette-cut stones are used, as well as black diamonds, which look good on the brutal Cockpit B50, Avenger and Emergency II models. It is important that diamonds of the highest quality are used for inlay (the purity of stones is not lower than VVS - "very, very small inclusions"), and each finished watch model is accompanied by a certificate indicating the color, purity, weight and cut of the diamonds. The term for order execution is from three to six months.
7. Ulysse Nardin
The Le Locle-based watch manufactory has a varied arsenal to create unique models for special orders (we are talking about the basic calibers). First of all, this is the setting of colored stones (for example, for a client from Nigeria, the hour markers in Classico watches were made of emeralds) and numerous ways of decorating the dial of classic models. In the technique of champlevé and cloisonné enamel, as well as lacquer miniatures on mother-of-pearl, the craftsmen depict birds and favorite horses, masterpieces of architecture and portraits of famous people on watches. In 2013, another know-how appeared, opening up endless possibilities for personalization: the Stranger musical clock, arranged like a music box. On a special disk with vertical pins, you can record any melody, which then, when you press a button, will sound the teeth of a musical comb. The cost of ordering models in a rose gold case with an individual melody starts from 120 thousand Swiss francs.
8. DeLaneau
From the first day of its existence, the DeLaneau watch company has served private clients, personal orders for the manufacture of watches and today account for about half of the annual production. Communication between the client and the studio is here called "co-creation", it is such a mutual process that allows the customer and the performer to hear each other. There are four types of DeLaneau cases to choose from: round Rondo with a diameter of 36 mm or 42 mm, rectangular Atame and square with a Dome temple, as well as two shades of gold (white or red), which best suits the skin tone. Caliber list includes classic Blancpain movementswith two hands, tourbillon or jumping hour function. The lion's share of the time (more than one month) is taken by the process of coordinating the design of the dial. The very delicate process of creating an enamel miniature requires at least 100 hours. The masters of the manufactory master nine types of work with enamel: cloisonné, champlevé, grisaille, payonne, plique-à-jour and others. On average, custom-made watches will take from three to six months and will cost the buyer 80,000 - 350,000 Swiss francs.
9. Graff
The young watch division of the British Graff - he was barely seven years old - also offers the Bespoke Watch service. Obviously, one cannot do without a diamond decor, because Graff fans are great connoisseurs and collectors of diamonds. The masterly executed diamond pavé often hides the most complex movement with a tourbillon, minute repeater or chronograph. For one client a watch was made with a double tourbillon in full pavé covering the case, dial, rotor, case back, bracelet and lugs. Another women's model, GraffStar, was studded with a mosaic of triangular cut diamonds. Any bespoke Graff models obey the aesthetic canons of the brand: they are distinguished by a recognizable faceted bezel, a crown inlaid with diamonds and a triangular-cut emerald at 12 o'clock.>
