Hermes Cape Cod Tonneau Snowflake Mosaic Jewelry Watch
In a sense, the ability to achieve snowflake inlays proves the strength of the brand’s jewelry inlays to a certain extent. At this year’s Basel Watch Fair, Hermes took out many masterpieces in one breath. Whether it is enamel or hollow, they are outstanding and show their superb watchmaking strength. One of them was a jewellery watch with snowflakes, which also shocked the four. The entire dial, barrel-shaped case, and signature ‘anchor chain’ lugs are pavé-set with diamonds, as beautiful as ice crystals.
Snow Mosaic (Snow Set) is not a snowflake-shaped mosaic, but a vague title. That is, the inlayer will select diamonds of different diameters and set them on the case. The arrangement of large and small diamonds is irregular, and it is entirely dependent on the skilled skills and meticulous thinking of the inlaying division to ensure that the large and small diamonds can be spread side by side. To complete such a work, we first need to choose the appropriate size from many diamonds of different diameters. The choice of diameter gradient must also be taken care of. Do the design and planning before setting, and complete the ingenious layout. It is not something that a general mosaic expert can do. And the moment of real mosaic is exactly the moment when the extraordinary talents of the mosaic artist emerge …
The value of snowflake mosaics:
1: manual value:
With the popularity of batch mechanized production technology, pure manual work is particularly valuable. Because of the randomness and uncertainty of snowflake inlays, not all craftsmen are competent, so the finished product is valuable.
2: Artistic value:
Diamonds of all sizes are set flat on metal. Under the sun’s rays, diamonds shine like snowflakes in the sun.
The disadvantages of snowflake mosaic:
1: The working cycle is too long:
Snowflake setting requires meticulous layout and pure manual operation. It is a difficult jewelry setting process, so the production cycle is quite long. It can be said that snowflake mosaic itself belongs to the category of advanced customization.
2: Diamond unit price is low:
Taking Jaeger-LeCoultre’s snowflake mosaic table as an example, diamonds ranging in size from 0.5 to 1.6 mm will be selected, so compared with dense setting, there are relatively more small-sized diamonds in the same area. However, craftsmanship alone is enough to earn back fares.
The difference between snowflake and pavé
Common points:
1: Many round diamonds are used. Each diamond is independently set on the metal and arranged on a flat surface with each other.
2: None of them are concealed inlays, and there is a metal separation between each diamond.
difference:
1: The size of a single diamond is different. Pavement is an orderly setting of diamonds of the same diameter. Snowflake setting is a random setting of diamonds of different sizes, but both can eventually form a flat surface.
2: Relatively regular pavé, which can be mass-produced through calculations. Snowflake mosaics, due to the irregular size of diamonds, mostly require the meticulous thinking, design and inlaying of individual jewelers in the process.