WATCHES WITH THEIR PERSONAL LITTLE WORLDS
VIEW ARTICLE
PARIS — What does a watch say about you? Mahmood Qannati would let you know, “Something you need it to.” The objective of his Bahrain-based model is to present shoppers a approach for his or her wrist ornaments to convey no matter they want.
“We make ‘wearable artwork objects’ that may inform the story of who you’re or seize a significant second in your life,” Mr. Qannati, founder and chief govt of Qannati Objet d’Artwork, mentioned in an interview in April in Paris, the place he was overseeing the ultimate manufacturing of the corporate’s first assortment. “We provide full customization as a result of that, I consider, is the way forward for luxurious.”
That assortment, known as Celebration of Time, was launched earlier this month in Paris. It included six Quantum timepieces and 6 Eternity bracelets (costs on utility), in addition to a thirteenth piece that he plans to donate to a charity public sale.
In early 2018, Mr. Qannati, a advertising and marketing govt in Bahrain’s capital of Manama who had no skilled ties to observe or jewellery making earlier than becoming a member of the trade, determined to create an organization to make well-crafted objects that mirrored his fascination for historical civilizations.
On a go to to the Louvre museum in Paris in 2019, he found a stone-carved determine titled “The hero Gilgamesh overpowering a lion,” wherein the traditional Mesopotamian king was depicted with a cuff on every wrist. “I spotted that the idea of males sporting an decoration on every wrist had its roots in civilizations going again 4,500 years,” Mr. Qannati mentioned, and it prompted him to incorporate each watches and bracelets in his line.
On the recommendation of the jewellery influencer Katerina Perez, whom he reached out to on Instagram, Mr. Qannati started working with two French jewellery and métier d’artwork specialists: Frédéric Mané, a designer, and Jothi-Sèroj Ebroussard, a jeweler and sculptor. “Nobody wants a watch to inform the time,” Mr. Qannati mentioned. “My goal was to indicate their completely top-notch craftsmanship.”
A few of the items, just like the Gladiators Quantum watch, had been topped with a flat glass, whereas others have domes, just like the First Civilization Quantum and its matching Eternity bracelet, which characteristic two miniature white-gold figures of Adam and Eve, encircled by a grey serpent, reaching for an apple crafted of Oregon sunstone.
Different themes embody the Jurassic period, System 1 racing and Bahrain itself, celebrated with the “Pearl of the Gulf” Eternity bracelet that notes the nation’s pearling traditions with a tiny boat sculpted in brown silver sails on a blue sea of larimar.
The watches’ Swiss automated mechanical actions are assembled by Regence Manufacturing, a watchmaking manufacture in Meyrin, exterior of Geneva, and the straps are made by Atelier du Bracelet Parisien, referred to as A.B.P., in Paris.
Mr. Qannati mentioned the gathering might be seen by appointment in Paris, and he additionally invited shoppers to suggest their very own designs. “This assortment is the conclusion of a dream,” he mentioned. “We hope to fill a distinct segment for these within the luxurious market on the lookout for really distinctive items.”