inspiration

inspiration

The Legacy Machine FlyingT immediately appealed to Tarpin thanks to its volume. Where the majority of timepieces are flat, he was fascinated by this domed space around the vertically built mechanism. With a free ticket to design whatever he wanted, he decided on a wintery theme, as not only is winter his favourite season, but travelling back and forth between his hometown of Annecy to Geneva, in a sometimes wintery wonderland, quickly provided him with the inspiration he needed.

The first model, called Ice, features asymmetrical diamond-set stalagmites that encroach on the sapphire crystal dome and the movement. Each icy stalagmite is different, replicating the randomness of nature. Tarpin took his inspiration from a trip to Lake Baïkal in Southern Siberia, where in winter the lake freezes from the edge inwards until it is totally frozen. The claws of the diamond stalagmites have not quite claimed the movement and the matt lapis lazuli dial, leaving the beauty of the mechanism and the time visible to the eye.

For the second model, named Blizzard, Tarpin let his imagination run free into the Alps where he has been skiing since he was two years old. He has interpreted memories of being caught in blizzards of snow into the LM FlyingT with brilliant-cut diamonds set under the sapphire crystal dome and closed-set diamonds set into the matt lapis lazuli dial, depicting snowflakes on the ground. The result is like a snow globe in motion.

EMMANUEL TARPIN

Emmanuel Tarpin is a 30-year-old independent jewellery designer from Annecy, in Haute Savoie, France. Fascinated by art and precious stones from a young age, he studied jewellery design at Geneva’s Haute Ecole d’Art et Design (HEAD), before accepting an internship with a studio working for Van Cleef & Arpels.

Keen to learn all aspects of the jewellery business, he would continue working directly for Van Cleef & Arpels in the Maison’s Haute Joaillerie workshop for a further three years, specializing in all the different jewellery techniques to perfect his craft.

In 2017, at the age of 25, he set up his own eponymous business, crafting one-of-a-kind pieces for private clients, by appointment only, who were drawn to his unique style. His creations are appreciated for their volume, lightness, texture, and movement that he achieves by using unusual materials – such as aluminium, bronze, and copper – that he combines with precious and colourful gemstones.

“Nature is an inexhaustible source of inspiration,” he explains. “I attach myself to every detail, the pistil of a flower, the curve of a leaf, the colours, the gradients, the play on materials and textures. It’s not just the visual sense that comes first, the touch also has its importance, the feeling it has on the skin.”