Baume & Mercier presents the second timepiece created from one of the works of the French painter Pierre Soulages, who passed away on 26 October 2022. This new original creation, the result of an extraordinary collaboration with the painter and the Soulages museum in Rodez, pays homage to him by embodying, with strength and beauty, the intense legacy he left behind. The Hampton Polyptyque Edition-Musée Soulages 10th Anniversary model is inspired by a painting from the Outrenoirs series, titled Peinture 324 x 362 cm, 1986, Polyptyque I Edition.
Just over a year ago Baume & Mercier chose to contact the Soulages museum, an international point of reference for the work of Pierre Soulages. In 2005, the artist donated a collection of 250 works and 250 documents to the Communauté d’agglomération du Grand Rodez. The museum was created precisely to accommodate this donation: it is an extension of the painter’s atelier and an expression of the legacy of the Aveyron, to which he was so attached.
In spring 2021, Pierre Soulages and his wife Colette invited the Baume & Mercier team to their villa in Sète, who were immediately fascinated by the artist’s simplicity and availability. Soulages arouses immediate empathy beyond the talent that distinguishes him. The curator of the museum was also present at the meeting and all participants were warmly welcomed. Pierre Soulages suggested a display of the time as invisible as possible and proves to be an available and generous guide in the horological interpretation of his pictorial universe. The painting that inspired the clock face is taken from this series. Peinture 324 x 362 cm, 1986, Polyptyque I is an oil on canvas measuring 324 x 362 cm, a gigantic polyptych composed of four overlapping elements measuring 81 x 362 cm, exhibited at the Soulages museum in Rodez.
The Hampton Collection
Heir to a model from the Maison dating back to the 1960s and inspired by the Art Deco of the 1920s, the watch is a significant homage to art and has embodied, since its launch in 1994, the watch of form par excellence dear to Baume & Mercier . The sober and minimalist design elegantly enhances the work depicted in the smallest details, acting as a frame for the vertical and horizontal overlays that make up the painting and decorate the dial.
From the exploration of black to the transposition of light, the challenge involves great technical and aesthetic complexity, which required innovative 3D printing technologies. The miniaturization of a work of such considerable dimensions, which consists in reproducing a 324 x 362 cm painting on a 48.11 x 31 mm case with a thickness of 10 mm, requires a level of skill and technique that makes the particularly exciting project for the Baume & Mercier teams. The use of laser-cut brass and stones from the Levant has created a widespread matt finish. The use of an electroplating process made it possible to color the dial with electrolysis on a thickness of 0.2 microns. Furthermore, a semi-matt protective lacquer with a thickness of 10 microns was used. Thanks to these materials and processes it was possible to free the volume, shape the material and sublimate the alternation of shadow and light.
The dial of the Hampton Polyptyque Edition – Musée Soulages 10th Anniversary watch is a black composition that recalls the texture of the painting, in which vertical and oblique traces alternate, and gives strength to all the visual variations of the work. The hour and minute hands, also black, end with 750/1000 rose gold hemispheres, a choice by the artist who expresses his creative strength and figurative vision of time.
Rectangular in shape, the DLC-steel case was micro-sandblasted and then treated with Pacvd deposition (plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition) of a layer of hydrogenated amorphous carbon ions 2 microns thick, to give it a hardness of 6,000 Vickers. It is protected by a scratch-resistant domed sapphire crystal that has been treated with anti-reflective coating on both sides. The Baume & Mercier signature is made through a metallization process under sapphire crystal. Above the caseback, also protected by sapphire crystal and secured with four screws, the words Hommage à Pierre Soulages n° xxx/328 are engraved.
A Swiss self-winding mechanical movement (ETA 2892) powers this timepiece with refined finishes, such as the bridge with perlage decoration. Visible through the transparent case back, the black oscillating weight is decorated with Côtes de Genève motifs. In addition to displaying hours and minutes, the watch offers a power reserve of 42 hours and a water resistance of up to 5 ATM (approximately 50 m). The watch is completed by a cellulose strap, internally lined with apple fibre.
