Four years in the making, Greubel Forsey’s Art Piece 1 is a Franco-British triumph of ingenuity and micro creativity at its most well, micro. Willard Wigan was ridiculed at school by both teachers and fellow pupils for being unable to read – this is in the days before it occurred to educational authorities to check for dyslexia, which Willard has. His escape was to immerse himself in sculpture, and his idea was to make items so small they could not be criticised.
Over the years Willard hit the small time with increasingly detailed and micro subject matters including the Obama family and astronaut Buzz Aldrin faithfully replicated in the eye of a needle. He has also created stunning artworks on grains of sand, a 1/13th grain of rice, or on the lush canvas of a pinhead.
Now, four years in the making, SIHH 2013 unveils what high-end watch makers Greubel Forsey call Art Piece 1, a collaborative effort with 55 year old Willard in which a tiny artwork, an African style mask, is placed inside a magnificent Greubel Forsey watch, and magnified 25 times in order for us to see it.
Greubel Forsey has developed an optical lens small enough to be fitted into the crown of the watch, so that the sculptures — fitted on a rotating hemispherical structure — can be seen inside the timepiece when it is held up to the eye facing sideways.
Because the works are microscopic, the sculptor has learned to control his nervous system and breathing to ensure he does not make even the tiniest movement. Wigan, when working, enters a meditative state in which his heartbeat is slowed, allowing him to reduce any hand tremors and work between heartbeats.
Willard had no interest in watches until he was invited by Greubel Forsey to their workshops, and within half an hour he was inspired to work with them. After learning of Willard Wigan’s incredible nano-sculptures five years ago, Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey decided to ask the artist if he would be interested in collaborating with them on a long-term project. The fruits of this will take the form of a co-creation combining the respective micro-universes of Robert Greubel, Stephen Forsey and Willard Wigan.
As the name of the watch suggests, this will not be the only collaboration between the artist and the watchmakers.
The watch, a 44-45mm diameter timepiece with the trademark 30 degree double tourbillon in one corner of the dial, set on a leather strap with a buckle, and a distinctive blue plate on the dial, is expected to sell for five million Swiss francs.
Future projects could include works on Greubel Forsey dials, and for micro-sculptor Willard Wigan, that must be like the ceiling of the Sistine chapel for Michelangelo.
