I'm not sure if I've shown these before. Three or four years ago I was in Schaffhausen and received this pages --someone was cleaning house and they were about to be thrown out. A friendly watchmaker saved them, and gave me copies. They are tantalizing since they do provide some clues about IWC's cloisonne watch dials --but not many.
As I mentioned, cloisonne is a form of enamelware in which colored areas are separated by thin metal strips. I found this interesting definition on the Web:
"Cloisonne: French for “cloison” or “cell.” A technique in which metal wires are bent to form a design, enamel is then inlaid into the resulting “cloisons.” Although this can be done in copper, contemporary cloisonné is most frequently done in silver or gold. The Byzantine Empire, 6th century AD, was the setting for gold cloisonne pieces of a religious nature. In the same time frame, the Japanese were producing scenes of nature. In China, cloisonné has been used since the 13th century AD."
I had thought it was slightly different than Champleve, for which I found this definition:
"Champleve: French for “raised field” or “raised plain.” A technique in which enamel is inlaid into depressions in the metal, leaving metal exposed. The depressions are typically made by an etching process, although other methods exist. First done in the 3rd century AD by the Celts decorating their shields, this technique has been one of the favorite forms of enameling. "
In addition to some dial numbers ("cadre" is French for dial), note that several of the pieces are described as "c/email (fd. champ)". I 'm not sure what the "fd" represents, but I'll bet the rest means that these are "dial enamel (:émail" is French for enamel) --champleve". That is, I would think that they are technically champleve and not cloissomne.
Regards,
Michael
an undated photograph from IWC's old inventory records
another undated photograph
