‘Anywhere Métiers d’Art Azur’ by Krayon beckons to discover and explore. Blue, a primary colour connected to the sky, the ocean. The colour of the infinite, the horizon, of peace and serenity.
Absolute mastery of technique, materials and know-how – Krayon’s latest creation is an ode to the
inspired craftsmanship that for over four centuries has defined finest watchmaking and decoration.
Is it not by nurturing these ancestral techniques, by reinterpreting them with a contemporary vision,
that we ultimately ensure they will endure?
Thus comes into being an exceptional, individually crafted creation that pays tribute to this precious
heritage, by calling on the rare artisan-craftspeople who still master these skills and their secrets.
Infinite hues of blue
The magic of miniature painting, at play with a myriad hues of blue, on a sublimated dial, merging age-old mastery and modern inspiration.
Hinting at the mysterious cosmos at night-time, the sky turns azure with a shining sun, each day anew
on a journey each can imagine and set out on for themselves. For an exceptional watch, the noblest of precious metals – Krayon chooses 950 platinum.
Beyond the technical prowess of its movement and the artistic sensibility of its dial, this platinum watch, the brainchild of watch designer Rémi Maillat, founder of Krayon, brings age-old Swiss traditions into the present, delighting connoisseurs and appreciators of refinements that have become all too rare.
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A manifesto for the love of discovery, of exploration, to follow in the traces of the great voyagers of the 15th century who braved the seas and oceans to chart the unknown. Krayon celebrates this spirit of adventure with Anywhere Métiers d'Art Azur, a timepiece designed to captivate collectors and lovers of rare refinements, one that offers a singular complication: the indication of sunrise and sunset, at the precise location chosen by the wearer, anywhere in the world.
Whilst this hyper complication, a tailored ephemeris intimately linked to its wearer, distinguishes
itself by its ingenuity, the finesse of the dial echoes the miniature painting techniques of master
enamellers of centuries past. The harmonious curves of the case and the contemporary sense of
balance that emanates from the whole make this a unique timekeeper: an elegant watch that yet
again demonstrates, through hand-finishing artistry taken to new heights, all the savoir-faire of the
independent Swiss watchmaker.
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What if you could tell the exact time of sunrise or sunset at any location on the planet? Wherever you
happen to be – or imagine yourself to be. Truly anywhere on Earth. Anywhere is an unprecedented
complication in the world of fine watchmaking. Anywhere tells the time of our intimate relationship
with Earth, with our place on it. Because, at the end of the day, there is no place more important than
yours, the one you see, where you are or in your mind’s eye, or in your heart.
This watch is a hyper complication, an ephemeris intimately linked to its wearer. Rémi Maillat is a watchmaking engineer, who with the tip of his pencil, he transforms undreamt of concepts into watchmaking intricacies. His creation, Anywhere, indicates the length of the day and the time at which the sun rises and sets, whilst displaying the ephemeris at a point on the globe chosen personally by the wearer of the watch, placing him or her at the centre of a universal and intimate horology. This emotional dimension of time and space, at the nexus of a most personal sense of place and concrete geography, is what drives Krayon. This interpretation of time takes the form of a watch that goes beyond convention and habit. It is like every dawn and every dusk, never the same as the last or the next, always experienced in a personal way.
The latest addition to a Krayon’s family of unusual hyper complications, the new Anywhere Métiers
d'Art Azur watch creation, with its 432 components, is an ideal of serenity and technical sophistication.
It continues in the spirit of the Anywhere Edition Only Watch 2021, its exceptional dial combining
technical prowess with contemporary artistic inspiration.
A tribute to the métiers d’art, the family of crafts that are akin to forms of art, the visual language of
Anywhere Métiers d'Art Azur whispers discovery and beckons to embark an inner journey. The choice
of a multitude of blues amplifies the purpose of this Anywhere watch, like an invitation to
contemplation, before sunrise. That magical moment when nature, in suspension, awaits the light.
To achieve this effect, a myriad small alveoli have been hollowed out into which a Swiss enamelling
artist has patiently deposited, by hand, each dab of lacquer until the desired spectrum of blue hues is
obtained, producing an outcome of unparalleled finesse.
Rare and precious, platinum enthrals with its silvery-white appearance; its brightness responds
particularly well to shades of blue. It is not only one of the world’s heaviest and densest materials but
is also distinguished by unique physical and chemical properties, such as its exceptional resistance to
corrosion. Paradoxically, it is also soft, elastic and extremely malleable. Machining and polishing
platinum is therefore particularly challenging and requires a high level of expertise.
Krayon uses only 950 platinum, an alloy composed of 950 ‰ (per thousand) of platinum meticulously
crafted in Switzerland. For an exceptional watch, only the noblest of precious metals.
Rarity, elevated.
Watch and watchmaking connoisseurs consider timepieces with date functions or astronomical
indications to be masterpieces of mechanical engineering, not only because of their level of complexity
but also because these calendar displays trace back directly to astronomical observations made by the
earliest civilisations eons ago.
For those who grasp the full scale of the achievement, a date watch becomes a connection to the
cosmos, a link that is all the richer with symbolism because it is founded on the bedrock of horological
science.
The calendar is a mechanical solution to an astronomical problem. From ancient Egypt to Rome via the
Greece of Antiquity, from astronomers to mathematicians, including clergymen, the history of the
calendar has mainly revolved around the question of fitting the lunar and solar calendars into a scheme
of whole numbers.
Anywhere Métiers d'Art Azur indicates hours and minutes by means of two hands, placed in the centre
of a dial that seems suspended in the centre of the watch. It is surrounded by an annular zone on which
circulates, in perpetual movement, a small sun that indicates the time over 24 hours. The ring-shaped
display is divided in two: a diurnal sector (sky blue) and a nocturnal sector (midnight blue), whose
respective lengths are in constant flux, indicating by their positions the sunrise and sunset times that
can be read on the rehaut.
To integrate this geographical factor, Krayon devised a mechanical positioning system, using rakes and
rockers instead of a fixed cam. The relative position of the two sapphire discs is determined not only
by the reference position, but also by the calendar. To this end, Anywhere Métiers d'Art Azur indicates
the date and month on a subsidiary dial at 6 o'clock.
This is a double calendar, for which all months last 31 days. It therefore requires only five annual
adjustments, easily and quickly effected via the crown in both directions. Whilst these sources of
inspiration are anchored in the past, Rémi Maillat has reinterpreted them, even transcended them
with his contemporary vision.
Krayon Anywhere Métiers d'Art Azur is equipped with the Calibre C030, meticulously designed,
developed and entirely assembled in Neuchatel, Switzerland, by Rémi Maillat, Krayon's founder and
master watchmaker. This calibre is in the direct lineage of that created for the one-off Anywhere
specifically made for the Only Watch 2021 charity auction.
With its apparent simplicity, its width, its thinness in relation to its complexity (only 5 mm), and its
manual winding mechanism, Anywhere’s technical sophistication (432 components, 86 hours of power
reserve) leaves its mark on the beholder, surprising them with its ability to define a geographical and
temporal space tailored to the wearer.
According to a principle dear to Rémi Maillat, the purchaser will be able to set the watch to the city or
location of his or her choice for the indication of sunrise and sunset.
A watchmaking designer-engineer and the founder of Krayon, Rémi Maillat also has a precious talent:
the ability to turn mathematical calculations into fantastic watchmaking creations; with the selfevidence
that comes with simplicity. Whether he is working on commissions for renowned clients or giving substance to his own imagination, this gifted engineer is a true master of the technical complexities of the art of watchmaking. For him, a successful concept begins as a sketch from the tip of his pencil; hence Krayon, as in crayon, the French word for pencil.
After unveiling his first Everywhere creation in June 2017, Rémi Maillat presented a bespoke timepiece
in 2018, Everywhere Horizon, which was awarded the Best Watchmaking Innovation Prize by the Jury
of the 2018 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix.
In 2020, Rémi Maillat presented Anywhere, true to the concept of the art of the singular measurement
of time. A marvellous synthesis of mathematics, artistic watchmaking, poetry in details and a genuine
philosophical dimension.
In 2021, Krayon participated for the first time in the Only Watch charity auction; his first Anywhere
Métiers d'Art watch, a one-off created for the charity event, with a magnificent sunset by Claude
Monet sold for four times its estimate. In 2022, the Krayon brand returns with this new opus, Anywhere Métiers d'Art Azur. With its multitude of blues, the watch is an invitation to escape, to discover and to dream. It is up to each and every one of us to let our emotions inspire us. Only 15 pieces will be produced and offered for sale.
Technical Specifications
Model:
• Krayon Métiers d’Art Azur
• Limited Edition of 15 pieces
Case:
• Material: 950 platinum
• Diameter: 39mm
• Thickness: 9.5mm
Dial :
• Métiers d’Art in miniature painting, hand-crafted, in multiple shades of blue
• Hour and minute indication at the centre
• Day and night indication
• Sunrise and sunset indication on the periphery, set to location desired by the client
• 24-hour indication
• Simple calendar at 6 o’clock
• Month indication
Calibre:
• Diameter: 35.40 mm
• Thickness: 5.00mm
• Power reserve: 72 hours
• Frequency: 3 Hz
• Hand-wound mechanism with stop-work
• 55 rubies
• 432 components
Strap:
• Blue grained calfskin
• Buckle and pin in 950 platinum
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