“Today, my watch is my reflection. It reflects everything I am and what I love in life: the time to do things well, gentleness, strength, precision…To travel the world with this timepiece on my wrist is, without words, the most intimate witness of my life’s most intimate witness.” These are the words expressed by one of Artisans de Genève’s latest private clients.
The client, whose career took him to many cities across the globe, approached the atelier with his Rolex GMT Master II reference 116710 with the express purpose of personalizing his watch with references to the cities to which he had traveled. In addition to wanting the watch to display several time zones and inscribe the cities he had visited, the client expressed the desire to have the color blue be at the core of the personalization – blue representing the many oceans he has crossed throughout his life. An avid fan of all things culinary-related, the client and atelier agreed to incorporate rose gold as an element in the personalization, as this color perfectly represents the richness of the culinary arts.
Artisans de Genève answered the call with the “World Traveler” Project, a bespoke 40mm timepiece that beautifully reflects aspects of the client’s life. Offering a GMT function with three time zones, the watch has been reworked with a midnight blue ceramic bezel bearing the names of 24 of the client’s favorite cities. While Paris is typically the city used to represent the GMT+1 timezone, the “World Traveler” Project has Geneva instead. It is highlighted in rose gold, which leads one to believe that the anonymous client’s home base is the Swiss city.
The signature dial is flame-blued and circular-grained with a 24-hour display so that the client can read the time of the 24 cities at a glance. The Dauphine hands are a departure from the traditional hands found on a GMT-Master II 116710. The new hands are a reference to the antique watches admired by the client. The H&M hands are flame-blued and the rose gold GMT hand is skeletonized. With a gold painted tip, a blued lollipop seconds hand completes the look.
The 3186 caliber is entirely hand-skeletonized, with a transparent sapphire case back allowing each detail of its movement to be viewed. A solid gold rotor powers the automatic-winding caliber, also visible through the open case back. All in all, the finished product is an exceptional timepiece befitting a world traveler.
For another personalization from Artisans de Geneve, see the Rolex Datejust With One Hand for Gigi Buffon.
NOTE: Artisans de Genève is an independent company specialized in the personalization of timepieces. We are not affiliated with ROLEX SA nor authorized by them to intervene on their products for any reason whatsoever. This personalization was ordered by a customer, who owns a Rolex® timepiece, for his private use. It is an example of our know-how and the personalization services we offer at our customers’ request.