French luxury house, Hermès showcases the maison's ultimate love of art once again through the creation of 12 one-of-a-kind "Slim d'Hermès Koma Kurabe" timepieces with dials made from French porcelain and embellished using a traditional Japanese technique of miniature painting in various shades of red, called Aka-e.
Aka-e gold painting technique.
From the ateliers of Sèvres, a major centre of porcelain making in Europe for more than three centuries located near Paris, all the way to Kyoto, the Slim d'Hermès Koma Kurabe is an exquisite homage to the famous Japanese horse race organised once a year in Kamigamo Shrine (built in 678 AD), a Shinto sanctuary on the banks of the Kamo River. Crowds continue to flock there from all over the country in order to pray for peace and good harvests, while enjoying the sight of the horses on a beautiful spring day.
The timepiece is the first time in the watch industry that French porcelain is combined with the Japanese art of Aka-e painting, created by the expert brush of master artist Buzan Fukushima, one of the few artisans remaining in Japan who still practices the technique that enjoyed its hey day in the 19th century.
The artisan pours the barbotine (soft liquid porcelain known in English as grout, slurry or slip) onto a plasterboard substrate that will absorb the water and retain only the clay. The paste thus captured is cut to the required size on a metal base, before several days of drying. Then comes the so-called biscuit firing, followed by full polishing in order to eliminate any remaining flaws. It is then time for the delicate enamelling operations requiring four to six fine-layered applications of a colourless glaze, and as many firings. After this, the plate is suspended in the furnace by means of the prior perforations made along their edge, before being cut and shaped to form dials.
The porcelain becomes a work of art in the hands of Buzan Fukushima. The master deftly wields his brush to create subtly graded shades of red and ochre, which he coats with a fine layer of gold to complete his work of art. Three firing operations are required to fix the motif of this scene.
Housed behind this limited edition slim watch is the finely crafted Swiss mechanical self-winding, ultra-thin H1950 movement with a 42-hour power reserve. All these are enclosed in a round 39.5mm white gold case with sapphire crystal, and fitted with a matte havana alligator strap.
The Hermes Slim d'Hermès Koma Kurabe timepiece.
Buzan Fukushima, a master of Aka-e painting, at work.
