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Lot Essay
Charles Girardier (1759–1839) was one of Geneva's most gifted enamellers and a maker of animated pocket watches whose automatons attracted European royalty. After his death without heirs, the maison lay dormant for nearly two centuries.
In 2018, Swiss collector Patrick A. Ulm revived the name, acquiring original Girardier pocket watches and building a modern manufacture around the historical signatures of enamel work and mechanical theatre. The Magic 8 is the result.
Executed in Grand Feu enamel using the camaïeu technique—subtle shades of a single colour layered and fired repeatedly to create a graded, monochromatic effect—the surface shifts from deep to light purple across its expanse. Each firing carries the risk of cracking, and the technique demands exceptional control to achieve a smooth transition between tones.
At 8 o'clock sits the watch's defining complication: a "double seconds" mechanism that composes and decomposes the figure 8 across the dial in a hypnotic 60-second cycle. Two asymmetrical hands rotate in opposite directions, creating the illusion of an infinite loop, an achievement in its own right.
In 2018, Swiss collector Patrick A. Ulm revived the name, acquiring original Girardier pocket watches and building a modern manufacture around the historical signatures of enamel work and mechanical theatre. The Magic 8 is the result.
Executed in Grand Feu enamel using the camaïeu technique—subtle shades of a single colour layered and fired repeatedly to create a graded, monochromatic effect—the surface shifts from deep to light purple across its expanse. Each firing carries the risk of cracking, and the technique demands exceptional control to achieve a smooth transition between tones.
At 8 o'clock sits the watch's defining complication: a "double seconds" mechanism that composes and decomposes the figure 8 across the dial in a hypnotic 60-second cycle. Two asymmetrical hands rotate in opposite directions, creating the illusion of an infinite loop, an achievement in its own right.