In the 17th century, the European watchmaking industry enjoyed a high reputation in Beijing and was highly favored. In 1680, the second emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Kangxi, founded a number of watchmaking workshops at the imperial court, and gathered craftsmen from all over the country to learn the art of watchmaking from missionaries. Thousands of clocks were produced in these workshops, but the biggest challenge was how to make the springs flexible and elastic, but the results were unsatisfactory. Most of these products are just imitations of European clocks, and the quality is slightly worse. The Chinese also used translucent enamel and folded gold and silver to make clocks and watches, but the results were hardly comparable to the craftsmanship of Geneva and English craftsmen. Kangxi died in 1722, and the workshops he founded soon disappeared.

When visiting the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva, we see that the birthplace of enamel clocks in Geneva, the birthplace of enamel clocks, explains Chinese enamel clocks like this. He made it clear that more than 300 years ago, the Chinese emperor was so fond of enamel watches, but with the combined efforts of craftsmen from all over the country, the craftsmanship could not match the delicate and beautiful enamel watches in Switzerland, so they had to be imported from abroad.

When we further read the information and understand the history of the development of enamel clocks, we will find that at the end of the 17th century, pocket watches were invented in Europe, with their small and lightweight carrying characteristics, so that reading time became within reach.

By the 18th century, the technology of manufacturing pocket watches had reached a very high level. Watchmakers have made pocket watches wear gold and silver and even made extremely difficult enamel processes on pocket watches, extremely luxurious, owning a pocket watch has become a symbol of the status of gentlemen and celebrities, and owning an enamel pocket watch has become the embodiment of the noble status of the royal nobles, so it has also created many exquisite enamel watch brands, most of the familiar enamel watch brands such as Patek Philippe, Jaquet Droz, Vacheron Constantin, Breguet and other well-known enamel watch brands in the world are established during this period, a enamel pocket watch with exquisite workmanship and complex functions, It often takes several years to make.

In Switzerland more than 300 years ago, pocket watches were indispensable and beloved by aristocrats, especially those painted with enamel patterns. Since the precious enamel pocket watches are all handmade, most of them are one-of-a-kind bespoke pieces, which are precious.

In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, in order to please the emperors of the East, the Western aristocracy presented the enamel ware representing the highest level of craftsmanship in their country to the emperor of the current dynasty, which was deeply loved by the emperors of Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong and other dynasties. Emperor Kangxi was extremely fond of enamelware, even by the dragon bed where he stayed and the Taihe Hall of the Manchu Dynasty, and he was even more fond of enamel clocks.

According to records, Emperor Kangxi opened a manufacturing office in the Yangxin Palace, specializing in the research and development and manufacturing of enamel clocks. After the death of Emperor Kangxi in 1722, the development of enamel watches came to a standstill. In addition, during the Guangxu period, the Qing government was worried about internal and external troubles, and the only Daming Feu enamel clock manufacturing process was lost at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and the court enamel artists were exiled to the people. Before and after the Second World War, world-renowned enamel watch brands such as Patek Philippe Vacheron Constantin and other Earl of Vacheron Constantin launched their own high-end enamel watches in the 40s of the twentieth century.

In 2007, Kong Lingjun, the seventy-sixth grandson of Confucius, founded Kong's (Beijing) International Watch Co., Ltd. in Beijing, with the dream of reviving Chinese enamel watches for several generations, with enthusiasm, hired Wang Ruiyu, who has 55 years of enamel experience and studied under the court enamel heirs, to develop enamel watch technology. After hundreds of failures, five years, countless gold, silver, enamel and gemstone pigments, with the ideal and belief that Loulan will never be returned, the first fast enamel watch was finally successfully produced, the enamel that was not completed by the predecessors was completed, filling the gap that China could not make miniature enamel, and fulfilling the dream of several generations of enamel masters for nearly three centuries!

In 2014, Kong made a stunning appearance in Basel and received inscriptions from many world-class watchmakers such as Mr. Duff and the queen of cloisonné enamel, Ms. Anita. Became the first enamel watch brand in China to participate in Basel.

The historic Swiss International Watch Museum, in the face of enamel from the East, unreservedly gives the highest artistic evaluation of Kong's enamel, and treasures the Kong's enamel watch forever. The Kongs watch is the only Chinese brand enamel watch in the collection of the International Watch Museum in Switzerland.

For four consecutive years, Kong's enamel participated in the Baselworld Exhibition in Switzerland, competing with the world's famous watches! It is no wonder that the director of the Swiss International Watch Museum commented on Kong's enamel as "the ultimate art of the Orient", and Mr. Duff, chairman of the World Association of Independent Watchmakers, wrote an inscription for Kong's "applaud the beautiful enamel craftsmanship". The president of the French Association of Watch Collectors wrote: "It is an honor to visit the enamel from China, and I hope that China and France will exchange views on the cultural heritage of watches. “

In 2017, it was the fourth consecutive time that Kong's participated in the Baselworld Watch & Jewellery Fair, and the City of Basel specially held a reception dinner for Kong's and the Chinese watch delegation at the City Hall and raised the five-star red flag.

Although the Kong's enamel watch is 300 years later than Europe, because of China's long historical and cultural accumulation and excellent craftsman spirit, the Kong's enamel watch technology is completely comparable to the top foreign watch brands, and the competition on the same stage is not inferior, breaking the technical barriers that only the top European brand watch brands can manufacture enamel watches.

Nowadays, there are only about 10 masters who have mastered the art of enamel watch making abroad, and Kong's has trained more than 40 enamel craftsmen in ten years, and I believe that Kong's will be more and more solid on the road of focusing on the development and production of enamel watches!

When it comes to enamel, Jaeger-LeCoultre has done a great job, especially with its miniature enamel. Through the brand's rare craft workshops, the enamel painters painted the world's famous paintings on a small dial. Every detail is flawless under the microscope lens, which shows the mastery of the craft!

Jaeger-LeCoultre's own enamel technique, the enamel painters in the workshop use extremely thin quill brushes to paint a variety of works on plates, whether it is a painting by Mucha in the Czech Republic, ukiyo-e by Katsushika Hokusai in Japan, or dot painting by the French painter Seurat.

The glaze is modulated according to the needs of the different colors, and the painted work is fired in a furnace at a temperature of up to 17 to 22 degrees Celsius. As long as the temperature is not well controlled in the middle, it must be "cut and retrained", which makes people admire the skills, patience and perseverance of these masters.

Among the miniature enamel works in the exhibition, the impressive works can be divided into miniature enamel mix-and-match creations, as well as combinations with gold carving techniques.

What is mixed with miniature enamel? Western enamel techniques, combined with masterpieces such as "Ten Horses in the Spring Mountain" by Xu Beihong, the father of Chinese painting, or "Surfing in Kanagawa" by the Japanese ukiyo-e master Katsushika Hokusai, combine enamel with ink paintings, ukiyo-e created on wooden panels, and even the unique "dot painting" style of Seura to produce a unique beauty.

On the other hand, there are works that combine gold engraving, including the Flip series of enamel watches "Four Seasons - Spring", "Four Seasons - Summer" and "Four Seasons - Autumn", which are timepieces inspired by the paintings of the Czech painter Mucha. In addition to the miniature enamel on the dial and the gold carving of the perimeter, they combine these two complex techniques to create a sense of layering. Each piece takes about 100 hours of enamel painters to make, which is time-consuming and laborious, and has also made these world-famous works on the dial.

On the back, you can see a famous painting, but on the front of the watch has a completely different process. The guilloché pattern carved by the craftsmen is presented on the dial and covered with translucent fire enamel (blue, green, brown, etc.) in different colors, making the front and back of the watch very "beautiful".

Enamel is an ancient decorative technique in which artisans use mineral powders to create intricate and bright patterns, which are then fired repeatedly to leave a never-fading image. This decorative technique, which retains its original appearance in the face of the passage of time, has a natural commonality with timeless timepieces. Since ancient times, enamelling has been one of the brightest colors that decorates Haute Horlogerie. Today, there are very few artisans who master the art of enamel, and even fewer watchmaking brands still have their enamel workshops, and during the 2018 Geneva Watch Fair, we visited Ulysse Nardin in Switzerland's enamel workshop to get up close and personal with this ancient and mysterious craft.

Ulysse Nardin has a long history with the art of enamel, and since the 1980s, Ulysse Nardin has been working with the é Cadrans SA enamel workshop to carry out a cultural revival of enamelling in the watchmaking industry. Founded by the master enameller, the famous enamel plate factory was a partner of Ulysse Nardin for a long time until 2011, when the family decided to abandon the business and was bought 100% by Ulysse Nardin as a member.

The Ulysse Nardin Crussensden gilt enamel dial takes 50 hours and 26 steps to complete.

When Ulysse Nardin bought ansSA, the enamel dial factory continued to accept orders from other watch brands, as before, and many other top Swiss watchmakers can be found in the factory. At a time when there is a shortage of enamel craftsmen, this open-source approach to the industry is of great significance both for the inheritance of enamel craftsmanship and for the watchmaking industry.

The enamel workshop has only eight people, but each has its own job, and is particularly skilled in cloisonné enamel, pévé enamel, translucent enamel and Grand Feu enamel, so there is no shortage of models that use these enamel dials in Ulysse Nardin models, such as this year's gilt Grand Feu small seconds, which uses Grand Feu enamel dials.

At present, the enamel plates in the factory are made in the same tradition as they are made by hand, and even the tools that have been used for more than half a century are still in service. For example, in order to select the larger particles of mineral pigment powder, the craftsman must wash it by hand in a special glass jar – water is added to the powder, the glass jar is shaken by hand, the thin powder is lifted and then discarded, and the powder is left at the bottom of the powder to be the right size for firing.

An open flame ignites the enamel dial in the oven, which is how the name of the Grand Feu enamel technique comes from.

The white dial, fired by the Grand Feu enamel process, does not turn yellow or discolored even after decades or hundreds of years.

Solid-coloured Grand Feu enamel is the most famous craft of this workshop. A senior craftsman is responsible for sprinkling the enamel powder evenly on the copper tires of the dough plate, and the amount of powder is controlled by the hand, and then the dough is moved to the electric furnace for firing.

Before firing, it is sprinkled with flammable substances, so that an open flame will be lit soon after entering the electric furnace, and the temperature will be pulled to more than 820 degrees, and the high temperature can be burned to produce a richer and richer color, which is the origin of the name of the Great Flame.

A noodle tray needs to go through about four dusting and firing processes to achieve sufficient thickness of the dough pan. Every firing can cause cracks and bubbles to become obsolete, which is why every Grand Feu enamel dial is particularly valuable.

Cloisonné enamel process: 0.07 mm of gold wire is bent on the same artwork as the dial pattern to create a consistent line curvature, and after folding, it must be repeatedly compared with the dial pattern for fine-tuning.

After the pattern is completed, the glaze of various colors is filled in and fired.

The production of the cloisonné enamel plate requires the collaboration of two craftsmen. A craftsman works to sketch the pattern, after which he bends a 0.07 mm thick gold thread into the same arc as the outline, and then glues it to the plate with vegetable glue, and so on gradually encloses the outline of the pattern with gold thread.

After this, another craftsman can apply the appropriate blocks with a pen dipped in enamel paint to trace the vivid pattern. The loading and firing process is also repeated several times to achieve the desired thickness, and finally the surface is polished to remove the excess enamel and gold thread.

Ulysse Nardin gilt enamel Year of the Dog with in-fill enamel.

In addition to cloisonné enamel and Grand Feu enamel, Ulysse Nardin's ansSA enamel plate factory also produces engraving péflé enamel, in which the outline of the pattern is engraved on the plate and then filled in with the enamel for firing.

Ulysse Nardin gilt enamel Year of the Dog is an example of this process. The concept is similar to cloisonné enamel, except that the outline is made of gold wire; One is the use of engraving technology, which can be regarded as the same.

Translucent enamel is made by a craftsman who applies the enamel pigment to the dial that has been mechanically engraved and decorated.

Filigree and pélviné enamel require more elaborate craftsmanship and experience, and the craftsmen in the workshop have more than 30 years of experience to be competent. Similarly, the craftsmen responsible for firing the Grand Feu enamel are approaching retirement age.

The younger generation of craftsmen, one of whom fires translucent enamel for the carved plates, and the youngest, who deals with the tiny bubbles on the enamel plates – will take a long time to become skilled craftsmen. It is precisely because it is not easy to train craftsmen that enamel dials are more precious, and those watches with enamel dials embody the beauty of craftsmanship and are precious.

Today, enamel watches have long since become collectors' favourites beyond their chronometric function, embodying the brilliant colors of time, not only as a craft, but also as a classic art.

Nowadays, there are fewer and fewer people who have passed on this ancient skill, and there are only about ten people in the world who have mastered the art of enamel. Among all the decorative techniques related to watches, enamel not only has a long history, complex production techniques, scarce quantities, and exquisite firing, but also has a high degree of artistry and shows strong creativity. So for most people, the work of an enamel watch master is available but not sought.

Kong Lingjun, the founder of Kong's enamel, said that the difference between the enamel watch and other watches is that it can use the unique technique of enamel firing to present the beauty of another art, for example, oil painting is painted with oil, landscape painting is painted with ink, so enamel is made of glaze attached to the metal surface after high temperature firing, enamel can be preserved for 10,000 years without fading, the charm of enamel watch is that each dial is unique, the only one in the world, each is a unique product.

Making an enamel watch is not only a craft, drawing an enamel watch is also an art, the top enamel masters also need to have a high attainment in painting, they need to be able to be familiar with modeling, color, lines, etc., but also have the master's personal creation, so Kong Lingjun believes that "the enamel watch is not a commodity, but a work of art." As one of the very few artists who can leave a signature on the enamel dial of a top watch brand, Anita Porchet once said, "The quality of a work depends first on the artist's feelings, and then on the technique." ”

Among the "seven traditional crafts" of Genevan watchmaking: watchmakers, assemblers, goldsmiths, braceletmakers, engravers, enamellers and lapidologists, enamel painting is the most difficult to make. Enamel is a work of art condensed over time.

Despite today's advanced technology, the production of enamel dials must still be done by hand, and no mechanical equipment can replace the enameller. In the watch dial this square inch, to create such a nuanced picture, not to the outstanding skills of the enamel master, a mature enamel master training needs at least more than ten years of tempering, not to mention the top enamel master, with a thousand miles to describe it is not an exaggeration, hundreds of years of history of enamel, the development of so far, the industry recognized as the top enamel master no more than ten.

In the enamel world, the master is not only familiar with the complex chemical changes behind the enamel painting, but also has superb painting skills, but also can do the heart, eye, and hand on the dial, in view of the above situation, the current industry enamel master is very scarce.

Omitting the complicated chemical terms, enamel is the process of grinding, filling, and smelting some minerals similar to glass, and then forming rich colors to decorate jewelry, clocks, etc. The main materials used to make enamel are silica sand, lime, borax and sodium carbonate, which go through a series of processes and the hands of skilled craftsmen to complete a beautiful transformation.

The whole process of enamel production is made by a series of complex procedures, time-consuming and laborious processes, an enamel dial, need to go through dozens of careful repeated coloring, firing, and experience a very high risk of damage, in order to become a strong color and never fade enamel, and the enamel production process has many unpredictable factors, such as different heating during firing, etc., even if the same glaze is used, it may not be able to burn the same color.

In addition, the firing of enamel is affected by the composition, quality, granularity, furnace temperature, heat and other factors of the raw material, and different colors need to be fired repeatedly and repeatedly.