[BONUS] 417. Natural Selection: Marie Curie's Skull

One of the diptychs from my new Natural Selection portrait series which is on display at Krause Gallery in NYC through November 24.

Marie Curie & Skull made from vintage watch parts by Noah Scalin

This piece includes several watch hands that were painted with the radioactive element radium, which was discovered by the portrait subject Marie Curie.

Marie Curie (1867-1934): developed the theory of radioactivity and fundamentally changed modern physics and chemistry, becoming the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. Extended exposure to radiation from her work ultimately caused her death and to this day her papers are so radioactive the have to be kept in lead-lined boxes and only handled while wearing protective gear.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 5.32

Todd A. Schall-Vess shared with us this "photo I took of billboard on [Interstate] 64/95".

Crop shot of just the skull watch

Full billboard (minus the store info), so you can see it's a Rolex, Cosmograph Daytona.

My husband and I have seen this billboard many times. Since that stretch of interstate moves to quickly, I've yet to be able to take a clear photograph of it. It's my favorite ad to see. Head on over to the Rolex website to see more photos and a video of this skulltastic watch.


Keep sending those pictures in to our submissions address. Just keep in mind that since we only post simulacra once a week it might take a little longer than normal for it to be posted.

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.