Almost all decorative flourishes from engraved cases to enamel dials and faceted applied indexes exist apart from the movement Skeletonising a watch enjoins art with physical sciences right at the heart of the timepiece, touching the mechanical components and the architecture holding it directly.

Watch Presence through Skeletonising: Horology’s first foray at elevating a watch into timepieceĪ watchmaker’s primary task is engineering – the mainspring delivers enough torque to the gear train which in turn encourages the escapement and balance to consistent impulse and amplitude. From there, horology as a feat of engineering and a study of astronomy and time was enjoined with artistry. From an economics standpoint, the 16th century watch was not only a feat of innovative engineering but also that of an exclusive precious object – they were expensive and while there was a practical needed for decoration (to retard corrosion for instance), it eventually became a means of signifying worth for object and owner.

Wrist presence might appear to be a modern construct heralding from the first avant garde watches like Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak but really what we recognise as “wrist presence” today, literally started out centuries ago as watch presence when watchmakers started lavishing decoration on pocket watches as a way of elevating watches beyond their utility and function and into a status symbol.

15th century armwatch