Lundis Bleus is a two-men operation to this day. An independent brand that started out of a conversation between two watch school friends. Johan Storni and Bastien Vuilliomenet met in 1994 while attending the watchmaking school of La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland. We still remember the first time we met with Bastien in 2018 at the lobby of the Hotel Euler in Basel, Switzerland and we were quite impressed with their watches —considering the price point— but mostly by the quality of their dials. It was back in November 2016 when they released their first watch ref. 1100.
Their name Lundis Bleus stands for ‘Blue Mondays’. Back in the 16th century —what is now a commonly used phrase— this phrase used to be representative of freelancers because the best paid, most highly skilled workers would simply opt not to go to work on Mondays. This was called a “blue Monday” and was usually a good occasion to drink a glass or two, or perhaps even more. This tradition came to an end in the 1920s with the effects of the Industrial Revolution. Once independent, the watchmakers became workers. They gained in comfort with shorter working hours but somehow lost their freedom. Their logo is in itself a graphical interpretation of an alcohol molecule, to evoke the conviviality of their brand, and as a tribute to the long-gone spirit of the watchmakers from the Blue Mondays era.
Lundis Bleus Co-Founder Bastien Vuilliomenet
Let’s be clear, Lundis Bleus is not a manufacture, with the exception of their enamel dials that are all produced in-house. The manufacturing of all the other watch components is outsourced to partners known for many years and often long before the creation of Lundis Bleus. For the highly specialized crafts like hand engraving or miniature painting, they work with some of the finest Swiss artisans. But what makes their watches special is the fact that a lot of their dials are either made of natural stones or created using the old technique of kiln-red vitreous enamel, polished gemstones, hand engraving or having a complex multilayer design. Their dials are what make Lundis Bleus unique and worth the money. With production not exceeding 150 watches a year, these experienced artisans could easily compete in terms of dial making with many huge names out there. All it takes is to see one of their watches in person to understand why we say this. Their motto: “Soulful watchmaking.”
Things to Know About the Watch
Since ancient times, snakes have been a symbol of fertility, rebirth, guardianship, and healing. In Greek mythology, Asclepius —the god of healing— was often described standing with a rod having a snake coiled around it. Known as “The Rod of Asclepius”, it became the symbol of medicine. In this very peculiar and troubled period of times we are all facing, Lundis Bleus wanted to create a piece with a strong symbol of hope. This model is the starting point of an upcoming series of animal-themed unique pieces that will be unveiled, one-at-a-time, in the course of the year. The art of Cloisonné enamel technique was selected for this unique piece —and the rest to be unveiled.
The cloisonné technique consists of creating, by hand, the outlines of a design with many thin flat wires, and fire them onto a metallic base. The shapes created —also called cloisons— are then filled with thin layers of vitreous enamel, then the dial is fired in a kiln at about 830 degrees Celsius —1530 degrees Fahrenheit— for a few minutes to allow the enamel to fuse and bond to the metal. The flat wires used by Lundis Bleus are made of pure 24K gold. Thanks to its extreme pliability, pure gold wires allow reaching an incredible refinement of the details. It is also this very pliability that makes it so difficult to work with. Just by blowing on a 0.05 mm thick pure gold wire will twist it. The base plate for the dial is usually made of sterling silver, but they sometimes also use gold. For the Lundis Bleus "Vipera Aspis Blue Green" ref. 1120 Unique Piece they chose silver.
Entirely crafted from top to bottom at the Lundis Bleus workshop, the dial for this watch measures 34 mm in diameter and one millimeter in thickness. To create the viper, no less than 107 fine gold wires —some of them shorter than a millimeter— were shaped by hand. The total length of gold wires is about 45 cm —17.7 inches.
It required nearly three weeks of meticulous labor and 15 shades of transparent and opalescent enamels were used in thin layers to give the dial its colors. Nine firings at about 830 degrees Celsius were required before they could carefully polish the surface to make it flat and perfectly shiny. The last operation was to pad print a minute track and the words: “PIÈCE UNIQUE”.
Cased in a 40 mm polished stainless steel case and powered by a Swiss automatic movement Sellita SW300-1 Premium, the watch features flat and polished hands plated with rhodium. The watch is rounded out by a beautifully handmade light mustard alligator leather strap with an electric blue lining.
While the front features a box-type sapphire crystal with AR-coating on both sides, the display case back features a blue mineral crystal, which is one of Lundis Bleus’ signature design elements. The Lundis Bleus "Vipera Aspis Blue Green" ref. 1120 Unique Piece is water-resistant to 30 meters and the alligator strap features large scales on its mustard side and small round scales on its blue alligator lining matching the color of the case back. The watch comes with a 5-year warranty and is delivered on a high-end French calf leather traveling pouch.
Sticker Price CHF 12,000 Swiss Francs. For more info on Lundis Bleus click here.
