Cover The 500-piece Franck Muller Cintrée Curvex Ryoko Kaneta Dragon Limited Edition watch is exclusive to Asia Pacific
The 500-piece Franck Muller Cintrée Curvex Ryoko Kaneta Dragon Limited Edition watch is exclusive to Asia Pacific
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Franck Muller’s Cintrée Curvex Ryoko Kaneta Dragon Limited Edition watch combines the playful aesthetic of Japanese art with the precision of Swiss watchmaking
In the spirit of the Year of the Dragon, Franck Muller presents the Cintrée Curvex Ryoko Kaneta Dragon Limited Edition, designed in collaboration with Ryoko Kaneta, a leading figure in Japan’s latest generation of artists. Limited to just 500 pieces, the Asia Pacific exclusive builds on the success of the 2023 #FR2NCK MULLER Vanguard, which ushered in the Year of the Rabbit with an edgy, risque dial that combined Swiss watchmaking with the spirit of Japanese street fashion.
The unexpected timepiece offers a whimsical take on the mythical dragon. While the revered creature is traditionally portrayed as a regal, authoritative figure symbolising strength, prosperity, and good health, it has been anthropomorphised here as a series of doll-like girls, a trademark of Kaneta. Each figure playfully engages with an index on the dial, introducing a never-before-seen quirkiness that contrasts with the neoclassical elegance of the Cintrée Curvex’s case. According to the artist, it was the case’s striking curvilinear elements, which extend in all three dimensions, that inspired her to have the figures interact with the dial’s indices.
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Above The turquoise dial with a guilloche sun pattern features 25 layers of lacquer
The turquoise dial with a guilloche sun pattern features 25 layers of lacquer
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Born in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, in 1991, Kaneta graduated from Yokohama University of Art and Design in 2014. Drawing inspiration from ancient Japanese philosophy, her artworks express the omniscience of god, natural phenomena and knowledge that transcends human understanding. The artist’s paintings depict expansive, dreamlike landscapes that celebrate the fleeting beauty of nature, highlighting the fragility of time, the dynamics of weather, and the dramatic seasonal transformations that come with it. Employing her distinctive soft and delicate acrylic colouring technique, Kaneta also draws from both the Rinpa and Kano schools of art styles that offer perspectives on nature through the lens of ancient Japanese literature.
The quirky interpretation of the dragon in the Cintrée Curvex Ryoko Kaneta Dragon Limited Edition reflects both Franck Muller and Kaneta’s artistic philosophies.
The Swiss watchmaker is renowned for pushing creative boundaries by iterating on the familiar in unexpected ways, from the Master Banker that redefined the dual-time complication to the tri-axial tourbillon’s debut in the Revolution 3. Kaneta’s unique signature style presents various aspects of nature in the form of anthropomorphic beings.
Above The 500-piece Franck Muller Cintrée Curvex Ryoko Kaneta Dragon Limited Edition watch is exclusive to Asia Pacific
The 500-piece Franck Muller Cintrée Curvex Ryoko Kaneta Dragon Limited Edition watch is exclusive to Asia Pacific
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Rendered in a chibi style, which echoes Japanese pop culture’s obsession with anything kawaii (Japanese for cute), the figures also explore traditional Japanese philosophies such as Shinto—the belief that the divine exists in all things.
For her collaboration with Franck Muller, Kaneta drew on traditional East Asian beliefs that see the dragon as a divine figure blessing the earth with rain for a bountiful harvest. In this instance, the artist opted for a simpler, more elegant variant of her style. The 12 figures on the dial are largely in black and white, with hints of aqua blue in their hair to provide a visual link to their role as bearers of rain. The parallels extend to similarly coloured indices, in another subtle nod to the dragon’s ties to the element of water. Visual cues extend to the striking turquoise dial, which offers a matching palette in lacquer (25 layers, to be exact), while playing with light via its captivating stamped guilloché pattern. A matching turquoise strap completes the watch perfectly.
Above Japanese artist Ryoko Kaneta’s depiction of the mythical dragon appear as doll-like girls gracing each index
Japanese artist Ryoko Kaneta’s depiction of the mythical dragon appear as doll-like girls gracing each index
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Anchoring the above are the familiar features of Franck Muller’s Cintrée Curvex watch, beginning with its 5850 Cintrée Curvex steel case boasting complex curves that make it much more than just a simple tonneau-shaped timepiece. Spade hands and Arabic numeral indices round out the overall look of the 45mm by 32mm model, while the workhorse MVT FM 2536-SC self-winding movement provides a level of reliability that makes this timepiece perfect for daily wear.
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Credits
Images: Franck Muller
