Close Up: Moiseikin The Horn of Plenty
Today we’re taking a close up look at “The Horn of Plenty” clock by Moiseikin. This tourbillon clockwork piece features one of the most beautiful works of jeweler’s art we’ve ever seen.
The Horn of Plenty features the mother-of-pearl shell of an oceanic mollusk nautilus, which according to the manufacture was caught in the eastern part of the Indian Ocean. The mounting on the clock is decorated to look like a cockleshell braided with algae, featuring amethyst grapes (sources specially from Brazil for their purple tone) and leaves carved from emerald nephritis. Topping it off is a hummingbird hovering above an orchid. The hummingbird features rare precious stones, including a crimson garnet-almandine and a sea pearl for the body, and a scattering of diamonds for the bird’s wings. In total The Horn of Plenty features 4,144 diamonds, with a total weight of 29.967 carats.
As for the clock itself, the winding reserve equals to 8 days, and it is wound up manually with a golden key which is enchased with diamonds and demantoids, and is kept in a miniature nephrite box. Its designer Anatoly Zubkov said, “In 19th the word “Breguet” century was a synonym for the notion of a good timepiece. I learned how to assemble a good clock because I take individually every mechanism. The most difficult thing is to construct a mechanism for a certain shape. For “The Horn of Plenty” clock I selected and disposed gears so that the mechanism would fit in the truncated cone of the pedestal lower part.”
Photo courtesy Moiseikin.
