Skull Watch

Fiona Kruger submitted this beautiful and intricate skull watch to us. She explains why she made it. "I just graduated from ECAL/University of Arts and Design Lausanne from the Master in Luxury Industry and Design (MAS LUXE) and was hoping to get my watch published on Skulladay. This was my personal project for my Masters, which, after a couple of unsuccessful attempts at finding a company to help me make it, I decided to make on my own. I designed the watch by myself working directly with several suppliers and a watchmaker in order to get it made and managed to get it done in 6 weeks (thanks to the bank of 'mum and dad'!)."

"The piece is one I am very passionate about. My enthusiasm for it was shared by the diploma jury which included Maximilian Büsser from MB&F, London designer Michael Anastassiades, Hugo Macdonald from Monocle and Simon Andrews, 20th century design specialist from Christies London. They enjoyed the fact that it is a vey different looking piece, and also a project where I had to take a great deal of risk to get it done."

"I have attached images of the watch as well as the pages from my diploma catalogue relating to the work (this is a mixture of inspiration images and scans from my sketchbooks). Below is some text on the piece:"

"Memento Mori reinterprets the theme of mortality in horlogery, drawing inspiration from the 17th century skull watch of Mary Queen of Scotts, Mexican Dia de Los Muertos decoration and beautifully decorated skeleton movements found in today’s luxury watches.
The pieces of the skeletonised dial are layered to make up the form of a skull, echoing the layers which make up a mechanical watch movement. Each piece is decorated and assembled by hand resulting in a unique timepiece rich in tradition, know how and symbolism."

"Technical specifications:
Case: Solid silver, hand engravedCrown: Silver
Movement: ETA 2824 Mechanical movement
Dial: Gold and rhodium plated brass, laser cut and engraved
Hands: Blued steel
Glass: mineral hand cut glass
Bracelet: Blued Calf leather
Buckle: Silver
The photographs of the watch were taken by ECAL/Damien Ropero."

This is a truly a work of art and a beautiful piece of jewelry. I love the intricate open details of the skull that allow viewing of the clock work gears. Doing this in 6 weeks is an impressive feat. I find the sketches and photos from the design process as interesting as the final product. They give us insight to the layers and thought process in the creation of the watch. I love seeing this high level of artistry come into our mail box. It's a pleasure to share and view.