Get Woke: The Best Modern Table Clocks

Patek Philippe table clock

Home timepieces don’t have to be sleepy. These contemporary table clock designs from Patek Philippe, Cartier, Panerai, and others will tempt collectors.


By Kareem Rashed

Patek Philippe table clock
Patek Philippe, Pendulette de Table, Réf: 25001M-001 (Photo: Patek Philippe)

Dating back to the Renaissance era, clocks have long been a canvas for watchmakers’ creativity. Thanks to their generous surface area, clocks afford watchmakers the ability to flaunt their handicraft skills, from intricate engravings to elaborate enamel paintings. “During the 1920s, clocks from great jewelers and watchmakers surpassed mere mechanics and became outstanding works of art,” says Lee Siegelson, an esteemed dealer of estate jewelry and objects whose collection includes several museum-worthy art deco clocks. “The makers of these clocks designed increasingly complex and ingenious creations to continually outdo themselves and each other.”

Part of the allure of timepieces lies in their balance between form and function: they aren’t purely decorative, yet are more than just machinery. A great watch doesn’t simply tell the time—it has brains and beauty in equal measure. In that sense, table clocks are the ultimate symbol of the watchmaker’s talent: utilitarian mechanics housed within an artful package. So, while there is no shortage of options for telling the time today, there still isn’t anything that does the job quite as attractively as an exquisitely designed table clock.

Although table clocks may not be as ubiquitous as they once were, the range available today is as diverse, and desirable, as ever. Many of the most storied watch brands create a select few clocks annually that are prime examples of their watchmaking virtuosity—pure catnip for connoisseurs. More than just beautiful objets, these clocks celebrate the enduring appeal of craftsmanship in the face of an increasingly digitized world.

Patek Philippe table clock
(Photo: Patek Philippe)

PATEK PHILIPPE

Patek Philippe has a rich heritage of creating exceptional clocks, including one gifted to J.F.K. in 1963 by the people of West Berlin depicting the time in Moscow, Washington, D.C., and Berlin. Their latest is “The Hour Circle,” a unique Bauhaus-inspired design that is meant to be viewed from above. The clock’s surface is a study in the art of enamel, with inqué and guilloché designs coated in a vibrant transparent blue.

Cartier table clock
(Photo: Cartier)

CARTIER

Cartier’s annual high-jewelry collections showcase the breadth of their atelier’s technical abilities and always include a select number of one-of-a-kind clocks. This piece, in white gold, agate, onyx, turquoise, and diamonds, features a dial made of faceted amethyst. The mystery clock setting, which Cartier has championed since the 1920s, utilizes hour and minute hands affixed to clear crystal disks connected to a movement in the clock’s base, giving the illusion that the hands are floating within the dial.

Boucheron table clock
(Photo: D. Siegelson / Boucheron)

BOUCHERON

The art deco era was arguably the table clock’s heyday, with numerous brands upping the design ante to create clocks on par with the fashions of the day. This piece, from the collection of Lee Siegelson, was designed for Boucheron in 1929 by Verger Frères, a leading clock manufacturer, and features a movement by Vacheron Constantin. Constructed at the same time as the Chrysler Building, the clock’s design is quintessential deco, with graphic, architectural lines rendered in nephrite, agate, gold, enamel, and coral.

Panerai table clock
(Photo: Panerai)

PANERAI

For its first-ever table clock, Panerai scaled its iconic Radiomir dial up to 65 mm and encased it in a glass sphere. As with all of Panerai’s watches, the dial features luminous indices and an engraved logo. An open back, also topped with convex glass, allows a magnified view of the P.5000 caliber at work inside. The movement is hand-wound using the oversize polished-steel crown at the clock’s top and has a power reserve of eight days.

Chanel table clock
(Photo: Chanel)

CHANEL

A striking monolith of polished obsidian provides the backdrop for this clock’s elaborate dial, embellished with three-dimensional carved mother-of-pearl and sculpted gold. The floral motif recalls the lacquered chinoiserie screens that Coco Chanel collected in her famed Paris apartment. An exhibition back reveals the openwork movement, which is wound with a gold key that is, naturally, studded with diamonds.

Vacheron Constantin table clock
(Photo: Vacheron Constantin)

VACHERON CONSTANTIN

Part of a series of 12 clocks released to commemorate the brand’s 250th anniversary, this one-of-a-kind piece is capped with an arch of black tourmaline, highlighting the beauty of the stone’s natural inclusions. The transparent cabinet offers a full view of the constant-force, manually wound caliber 9260, which boasts an impressive 30-day power reserve. In a display of the house’s decorative savoir-faire, the Roman numerals and silver guilloché feet are coated with precious Grand Feu enamel, a notoriously difficult material.

L'Epee table clock
(Photo: L’Epee)

L’EPÉE 1839

L’Epée has been solely dedicated to crafting exceptional clocks since 1839, even producing wall clocks for ultra-luxe Concorde jets—the only timepieces ever to grace a civilian plane. Their Destination Moon clock draws on the Space Race craze of the 1960s, with a body that unmistakably resembles a toy rocket. The winding crown is at the rocket’s base, leading into a mainspring barrel cleverly disguised as a ladder, complete with a tiny silver astronaut. The time is displayed via two rotating discs towards the rocket’s top, the one concession to reality in this whimsical design.

 

Depth Perception

The conceptual artwork of artist Charles Lutz takes on luxury, consumption, and ego.


By Rachel Felder

The artist Charles Lutz at his Brooklyn studio. (Photo: Christopher Garcia Valle)

Inside an imposing industrial building in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, near a noisy stretch of highway, there’s something you might not expect to find: images of vintage Rolex watches, silk-screened on canvas and transformed into artwork that’s provocative, assertive, and unconventionally beautiful.

In one piece, a detail of a vintage advertisement for a stainless-steel Rolex Explorer has been blown up onto a canvas that’s shaped like a curvaceous number seven from a slot machine. Another painting features a magnified image of a gold Submariner appropriated from an old Rolex brochure; the canvas’s surface has been deliberately retextured to resemble the guilloché detailing on a watch dial. A third painting simultaneously recalls the bezel of a Submariner and a roulette table; the six-foot canvas even features a cut-out circle where the spinning wheel would be.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYwTsmkHM2Q/?taken-by=charleslutz

The pieces are by conceptual artist Charles Lutz, the 35-year-old provocateur who burst onto the New York art scene in 2007 with a series of paintings that duplicated Warhol silk screens. Now, with these new pieces, which Lutz has dubbed his Transaction paintings, the artist continues to explore issues of value, appropriation, and originality, as well as the nature of luxury and consumerism. For Lutz, a Rolex serves as a symbol of affluence. “Even though it’s a Swiss watch, I feel like it’s kind of the American idealism of what luxury watches represent,” Lutz says.

Lutz sporting his recent Rolex acquisition. (Photo: Christopher Garcia Valle)

Dressed in a low-key outfit of jeans and a leather jacket, the boyish-looking artist could almost pass as a current student at his alma mater, Pratt Institute, an easy stroll away. And he talks about his paintings, which also include appropriated images from Crown Royal Canadian Whiskey and tulips from Dutch still life paintings with a youthful enthusiasm. “The Submariner is printed the same exact way as the Dutch still life,” Lutz says. “They’re both derived from digital files. You have this skim of content that is talking about the same thing, and the process is what ties them together, in a way. The idea of value is within each of the images, but the process is the way of conveying the correlation between the different subject matters.”

Perhaps it’s not surprising that Lutz, who was born and raised in Pittsburgh, points to the work of hometown hero Andy Warhol as his earliest inspiration. He was about 8 years old when he was first introduced to the pop master’s work at the Carnegie Museum of Art; when the Andy Warhol Museum opened in 1994, Lutz, then in high school, spent hours in the galleries. “Being able to get that exposure was really transformative,” he says.

 

Ten Minutes With Alexandre Peraldi

An interview with Baume & Mercier’s brilliant Design Director.


Peraldi, who joined Baume & Mercier in 2001. (Photo by Magali Girardin)

Do you remember your first watch?

Yes, very well. It was square plastic Casio with a calculator and a lot of small push buttons.

Are you sentimental about any personal watches?

Yes, about nearly all of them. Each has a special story and sentimental value. For example, one of my first luxury watches came from my uncle. He had decided to leave it to me because of my love for watches and but also the engraving on the caseback: 1967—the year he purchased the watch and also my birth year. Another important watch for me is a Classima chronograph gifted to me by my previous boss. I received it one year after the launch of this model and commemorated the strong success of the design.

What makes a beautiful watch?

First, the pleasure you have to wear it! Second, the perfect quality of its finishes and the importance and time spent on all of its details.

What is your favorite complication or watch feature?

I like the moon phase. It is very simple and a bit poetic. I also like the minute repeater. It is so complex inside and really amazing to hear.

How did you become part of the watch world?

After finishing art school, I took the chance to join the Cartier design team for accessories. After two years, I began working on designing watches for Yves Saint Laurent (at the time, Cartier had the license for their jewelry, accessories, and watches). After some success with these collections, I started to design watches for Cartier…. The rest is history.

How does the watch industry attract the next generation?

That is difficult to answer today, as many young people do not wear watches. Yet, there are constantly new watch brands and designs created for this young clientele. They are very creative, very cheap, and certainly a good way for the next generation to discover the watch universe. As for traditional watches, we need to communicate differently to the younger consumer and even change our mindset in terms of design. We are working on it!

What is your favorite time of day?

Early morning. When the day is just beginning, and everything seems possible, yet nothing has been done. When you are alone at the office, and you have time for you. It is time for reflection and time for creation. I need this part of the day.

Baume & Mercier Capeland Cobra

What is your favorite Instagram account?

There are a lot…. A few of my favorites are @hirozzz (Hiroaki Fukuda), a great Japanese photographer. @sebmontazstudio (Sebastien Montaz), another cool photographer from our mountains. And @indianmotorcycle, with our new partnership.

What is your favorite place to visit?

Japan. Definitely! I love the kindness of Japanese people, the beauty of their arts, the vast tradition of craftsmanship, the spirit of nonstop learning, and the beauty of all the different landscapes.

Who is your favorite artist? Museum?

What a difficult question. There are a lot! If I had to choose, for example, to take a single book of artwork with me to an isolated island, Leonardo da Vinci would be the one. In a totally different field, Alexander McQueen is another genius. And for the museum, I love the Louvre in Paris and the British Museum in London.

If you could turn back time, where would you go?

Far, far, far away in the past. Perhaps before the presence of humans on the earth. Wild and pure!

What is your favorite design object?

The Chaise Longue of Le Corbusier and the Panton Chair of Verner Panton.

What do you collect?

When I was young, a lot of different things. Now, nothing. It is too time-consuming.

Which watch brand do you most admire?

Vacheron Constantin. And also François-Paul Journe.

Who is currently the most influential person in watches?

The younger generation: Millennials.

Is there a dream watch you would like to own someday?

Yes, a minute repeater, but perhaps this dream has to stay a dream.

How do you define style?

A mix of elegance and confidence without extravagance.