SpotlightA Puzzle In Time: Louis Moinet Savanna Tourbillon

The Louis Moinet maison has a longstanding legacy of hand painted dials. Models from their Moon Race Series—for example: Man On The Moon, Last On The Moon—have miniature paintings of Apollo 13 and Luna 24 spacecrafts, the astronaut’s suit, embellished with hand engraving and materials like black aventurine. Their watches from their bespoke Islamic Collection with models such as Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Minute Repeater and Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque tourbillon showcased an iconic mosque from the Middle East on mother-of-pearl dials. But with their latest line—Savanna Tourbillon—the les ateliers that invented the world’s first chronograph complication, has managed to further complicate the already complex art of miniature painting. This line showcases a jigsaw puzzle construction similar to the Rolex Day-Date 36 launched earlier this year. Earlier in 2023, the maison had launched lion, leopard, and elephant iterations. Before the year ends, the brand have come out with more fauna-themed versions of these puzzle dials, with the cobra and panda editions.

In this particular line, the Swiss manufacturer chose to divide their 40.7mm dials into 81 pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, then have master artists paint each piece individually, and unite the pieces back on the rose gold case to showcase realistic portraits of natives to the Savanna grasslands—the lion, the African elephant, the leopard, the cobra and the panda. The latest two iterations stand out for their individual qualities. It’s a marvel how the micro painting of the cobra dial showcases details such as the piercing red eye, the slithering forked tongue and the green scaly skin. This reptile epitomises power, strength, and certain religious and spiritual communities believe it wards off evil spirits. The fluffy panda, on the other hand, appears naughty, happily chomping on bamboo shoots. The animal symbolises tranquility and endearment.

It's a marvel how the micro painting of the cobra dial showcases details such as the piercing red eye, the slithering forked tongue and the green scaly skin. This reptile epitomises power, strength, and is believed to be a protector against evil spirits

The fluffy panda appears naughty, happily chomping on bamboo shoots. The animal symbolises tranquility and endearment

Intricacies Of The Savanna Hand-Painted Dials

The Savanna Tourbillon watches are nothing short of heirloom novelties, given the sheer amount of time and technique invested in producing each dial. The 18-karat 5N rose gold models belong to the collection titled Métiers d’Art—the French term for ‘art professions’. The collection pays ode to master artists who give their blood, sweat, tears and entire lives to perfect their craft that is usually generational. While métiers d’art dials usually display guilloche, engraving, and enamel techniques—among other crafts—the Savanna dials are micro-painted in acrylic. “Each Savanna Tourbillon has been conceived as a canvas for virtuosic artists and thus expresses the perfect merger of métiers d’art with haute horlogerie,” says Jean-Marie Schaller, CEO and creative director of Louis Moinet.

Master craftspeople working for Louis Moinet have to paint 81 jigsaw pieces in acrylic that go on to form the Savanna Tourbillon

Two gaping holes in the dial are of accommodating watch parts—the central gap is for the hour and minute hand, and at six o'clock for the tourbillon cage

For the craftspeople assigned to paint the Louis Moinet Savanna Tourbillon dials, ironically this might have been their toughest assignment. Every step of the long process of dial-making is equally tedious. Even after two gaping holes in the dial to accommodate watch parts—the central gap for the hour and minute hand, and at six o’clock for the tourbillon cage—the master craftspeople working for Louis Moinet still have 81 jigsaw pieces to paint in acrylic that go on to form the Savanna Tourbillon. Further, all the 81 pieces interlock on four levels. This will reveal the edges of each jigsaw piece, which is why the craftsperson must also paint the edges before putting together the complete puzzle.

Occupying the lower half of the painted face on the dial is a flying tourbillon positioned slightly off-centred in its cage

The mechanism with the gravity corrector is hand-wound, and contains twin barrels that release energy together, while it beating at 28,800vph and offers a 96-hour power reserve

All three Savanna animals are majestic personalities, rather stars of the safaris—and sadly, even hunting games—in the Savannas, conducted to popularise these grasslands. However, the realistic route taken by the brand for their portrayal means the miniature artists have had to capture the crinkled skin, natural spots, strands of fur, blades of Savanna grass, yellowing of green leaves, and even the glint in the eyes of the majestic beasts.

Miniature artists have managed to capture the crinkled skin, natural spots, strands of fur, blades of Savanna grass, yellowing of green leaves, and even the glint in the eyes of the majestic beasts

One breather, however, is the absence of hour markers or indices. The faceted and skeletonised hour and minute hands in rose gold have luminescent matter at the tips to ensure that the wearer can read time under any condition.

Mechanics Of A Savanna Tourbillon

Generating some kind of movement on the dial is the flying tourbillon, occupying the lower half of the painted face. This tourbillon is slightly off-centred in its cage. The mechanism with the gravity corrector is hand-wound, and contains twin barrels that release energy together, while it beating at 28,800vph and offers a 96-hour power reserve.

A protective domed sapphire crystal glass, screwed-down fluted crown, and a leather strap complete the look.