Rebellious, loud, and vivid, the revolutionary’s personality is unwavering in every form, which is why these attributes are highly prevalent in the graffiti art form. One would seldom imagine horology to be inspired by the creative genius of a street artist, but when Cyril Kongo and Richard Mille got together, there was bound to be more than just random color splashes across a complicated dial.
The 30-piece limited-edition timepiece resulting from this union’s fruit is called the RM 68-01 Tourbillon Cyril Kongo. Cyril exclusively paints each of the thirty pieces, and the results are fabulous. In addition to the artist’s hand-painted micro-art, the timepieces also boast NTPT carbon cases and a TZP ceramic bezel. The Grade 5 Titanium screws hold everything together. The special tourbillion employed in this ensemble comes with a variable inertia balance wheel with a power reserve of 42 hours.
The micro-art technique will soon catch up. “It took the development of special tools and over a year of experimentation for me to be capable of painting on a watch some five centimeters (two inches) square,” said the artist. “Certain pieces (watch components) were barely a few millimeters long, some even smaller, and I had to put the lettering directly on them, enough for visual effect but without using much paint to avoid throwing off the balance of the movement. It’s as though, starting from a complete automobile, I had to paint the chassis, the engine, each piston, etc.”
[ Via : Designboom ]
