Details 

A fine, neat and attractive decorative rose gold wristwatch from watch brand Bernies, founded in 2017 by Bernard Van Ormelingen, a Belgian craftsman of hand guilloché and engraving. Made in the early 2020s. Case in 18k rose gold, diameter 39 mm, 9.9 mm thick, sapphire crystal caseback. Silver 925 dial, bleached, with handmade ‘Spiral of Time’ guilloché motif, signed “Artis Arti Automatic Hand Guilloché”. Caliber BALP00102, self-winding, power reserve up to 38 hours. Functions – display of time in hours, minutes and seconds. Black leather strap with 18k rose gold buckle. Unique piece. 

Lot essay 

The Bernies brand is a newcomer in the world of fine watchmaking. It was founded in 2017 by Bernard Van Ormelingen, an independent Belgian hand-guilloché and engraving artisan, as a provider of custom dials. Bernard Van Ormelingen graduated from a watchmaking school in Belgium, but then became interested in guilloché, which eventually determined the specialization of his brand. In 2019, he founded the small Van Bricht brand with fellow watchmaker Sébastien Lambricht, formerly responsible for prototyping at Ressence. Their first project, an Old Mind Tourbillon wristwatch based on the T02 caliber from BCP Tourbillons (La Chaux-de-Fonds), was greeted with enthusiasm by the professional community. However, since 2020, the Van Bricht brand hasn’t shown any activity, which may be the reason why Bernard Van Ormelingen has focused his efforts on his own Bernies brand. He has launched the Artis Arti wristwatch collection, which has a distinctive, calm and classic character. The dials are decorated with guilloches handmade by him on a rose engine from La Chaux-de-Fonds, which is more than a hundred years old. 

The Bernies Artis Arti Piece Unique would be a great buy for the collector or connoisseur of exquisite decorative watches looking for a fine, neat, eye-catching and unique rose gold timepiece from a small and creative brand known for its handcrafted guilloché dials.

The present lot is a unique piece by Bernard Van Ormelingen with a beautiful guilloché dial in solid sterling silver. To create the airy and warm white tone of the dial, Bernard Van Ormelingen uses the traditional bleaching technique of oxidizing the piece in several steps in a flame and etching it in acid. Abraham-Louis Breguet used a similar technique in his time, thanks to which the dials of his pocket watches still surprise with their beauty, and besides, they have been well preserved for more than two centuries. The soft, luminous tones of the ‘Spiral of Time’ guilloché motif are accentuated by the use of rose gold toned hands, which is a fitting complement to the rose gold case. 

Caliber BALP00102 is a personalized version of the Sellita SW200, a counterpart of the well-known Eta 2824. The rotor is openworked, which is very fitting, since the bridge of the self-winding mechanism is also skeletonized. This skeletonization reveals, first of all, an interesting pair of reverse gears, which are almost hidden in the standard version of the SW200. This caliber, the workhorse of many small brands, seems to be a good choice, as it turns an elegant and classic watch into a reliable daily wearer. 

Reasons to bid 

The Bernies Artis Arti Piece Unique would be a great buy for the collector or connoisseur of exquisite decorative watches looking for a fine, neat, eye-catching and unique rose gold timepiece from a small and creative brand known for its handcrafted guilloché dials. The classic appearance is complemented by the use of a reliable automatic caliber, so the collector’s watch can also be used as a reliable everyday companion. The solid sterling silver dial with the intricate guilloché motif highlighted by the traditional bleaching technique makes this lot even more attractive. 

Specification

Condition report