Marking Time, Art Deco Style
This alarm clock with its iridescent peacock blue guilloche enamel face is a work of art. Made in Switzerland in 1925, each stylised Art Deco letter has been painstakingly painted in gold in reverse on the back of the glass before being put over the guilloché face, as has the seconds dial and the other lettering. The hands are made of filagree brass, and once held paste that was luminescent, so you could always tell what time it was, even in the middle of the night. Traces of the paste, which has cracked and become brittle over the last century can still be seen on both the hour and minute hands.
The theme for “Smile on Saturday” this week is “timepieces”. Luckily for me, I am a collector of antique clocks, so this was an easy theme. In fact, the most difficult thing was to choose which piece to photograph. I chose this one partially because it is so beautiful, but also because photographing the guilloché face was quite a challenge. I hope I have done this beautiful timepiece justice.
Guilloché is a decorative technique in which a very precise, intricate and repetitive pattern is mechanically engraved into an underlying material via engine turning, which uses a machine of the same name, also called a rose engine lathe.
Marking Time, Art Deco Style
This alarm clock with its iridescent peacock blue guilloche enamel face is a work of art. Made in Switzerland in 1925, each stylised Art Deco letter has been painstakingly painted in gold in reverse on the back of the glass before being put over the guilloché face, as has the seconds dial and the other lettering. The hands are made of filagree brass, and once held paste that was luminescent, so you could always tell what time it was, even in the middle of the night. Traces of the paste, which has cracked and become brittle over the last century can still be seen on both the hour and minute hands.
The theme for “Smile on Saturday” this week is “timepieces”. Luckily for me, I am a collector of antique clocks, so this was an easy theme. In fact, the most difficult thing was to choose which piece to photograph. I chose this one partially because it is so beautiful, but also because photographing the guilloché face was quite a challenge. I hope I have done this beautiful timepiece justice.
Guilloché is a decorative technique in which a very precise, intricate and repetitive pattern is mechanically engraved into an underlying material via engine turning, which uses a machine of the same name, also called a rose engine lathe.