Dolce & Gabbana new watch collection: a tribute to the “Italic hour”
Frank Sans C has once again managed to surpass himself and got two exclusive timepieces from Dolce & Gabbana on set. Palermo and Venezia are – extremely rare – fine watchmaking pieces. The “Manifattura Italiana” collection pays tribute to the most famous of Italian clocks.
Maybe the stars have aligned or maybe it was a stroke of luck… Either way, for his new video Frank Sans C managed to get two “Manifattura Italiana” Dolce & Gabbana watches of fine watchmaking and craftsmanship. The brand only produced ten pieces of each, so when I say that having them on set is almost a miracle, I really mean it!
It would be a mistake to think that Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana never do anything else but Haute Couture and ready-to-wear. Both designers have even managed to successfully try their hand in the watchmaking world.
The “Manifattura Italiana” collection from Dolce & Gabbana pays tribute to the most famous of Italian clocks.
The “Manifattura Italiana” models are carefully manufactured in Switzerland and in Italy by the skilled hands of the watchmakers and master craftsmen and under their eyepieces. The collection displays six models, each model pays tribute to an emblematic Italian clock, and bears the name of the city where the clock is located: Napoli, Venezia, Palermo, Milano, Firenze and Roma.
The Dolce & Gabbana watches express both the Swiss watchmaking savoir-faire and the Italian talented craftsmanship.
“Baroque” is the first adjective that comes to mind when we look at this richly adorned watches. Guillochage, gold engraving, enamelwork, shaping of mother-of-pearl, fine stones and gemstones… the different areas of expertise of the Italian craftsmen add up to create unique timepieces.
The decoration is made in the ateliers, near Milan, but the mechanical core is produced at Geneva. The automatic DG 01.01 calibre with a microrotor is the first exclusive movement from Dolce & Gabbana. The watchmakers assemble it entirely by hand.
On the Frank Sans C set, the Palermo and Venezia models naturally catch the light.
Dolce & Gabbana Manifattura Italiana Palermo watch: the chromatic intensity of the lapis lazuli
Clearly, it was the clock of Palermo, in Sicily, that inspired this pink gold Palermo watch.
Lapis lazulis cabochons embed the dial, it features on the central part, the small seconds counters, and the nine markers.
Let’s note that there is no clear link between the fine deep blue stone and the old building, but it certainly echoes the beauty of the Mediterranean Sea that borders the Sicilian capital city.
The piece perfectly echoes the talent of the masters craftsmen who have entirely adorned the horns and the bezel with geometrical patterns.
Dolce & Gabbana “Manifattura Italiana” Venezia watch: a day in Venice
The Clock Tower is a Renaissance building of the Piazza San Marco; it is one wonderful example of an astronomical clock.
The 24h dial is livened up by several mobile elements: a hand decorated with the sun, the earth and the moon, and the zodiac signs.
Its other particularity, and not the least, is to display the time according to the so-called “Italic hour”. The system was used until the 18th century, when Italians used to count the hours from sunset.
The pink gold Venezia watch displays daytime hours in white opal and night hours in black jade. In the centre, a small masterpiece made of sardonyx features the sun and the moon.
It is powered by a modified version of the DG 01.01 calibre to displays time on 24h.
VENEZIA model: 45,000 euros
PALERMO model: 37,500 euros
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