Kees Engelbarts eneva has held a special attraction
imitation Tag Heuer watches
Kees Engelbarts eneva has held a special attraction for creative Gand artistic people for centuries. Poets and painters, philosophers, artisans, scientists and politicians have always been attracted by its special magic, seated on the shores of Lake Leman, with the mountains rising dramatically in the distance and France close by. It’s an in-between, insular, other worldly place, and quite early on, the Swiss watch industry noted that it was a magnet for well-to-do and highly educated clients as well as for the specialist artisans who could fulfill their every desire for fabulous objects. This combination turned Geneva into a showcase for all forms of the goldsmith’s art, such as enameling, engraving, the setting of precious stones and dozens of other crafts; all of these preferably applied in horological creations. That’s the way it was for centuries, and that’s the way it still is today.
A few years ago, back in the 1990s, a tall, shy Dutchman, Kees Engelbarts, landed in this gilded hotbed during the years of wanderlust that passed after receiving his engraver’s diploma from the enowned crafts school in Schoonhoven, the Netherlands. His engraver’s education was taken a step further while working in Switzerland and Germany, where he mastered the technique of engraving under the microscope, which was for him a whole new method of working that instantly fired his imagination and creativity. This was followed by steady work for various names in the Swiss watch-making industry as an engraver in haute horology; Engelbarts often received requests for the production of one-of-a-kind pieces for special clientele.
Later, he finally made the decision to stay in Switzerland and start off on his own. (Of course, this decision was made easier because of a chance meeting in a crowded music and beer-filled café located a diamond’s throw from Harry Winston’s, with a lady named Pascale, who was to become his future wife. But that’s another story.)
The bridge from engraving to the creation of wristwatches was supported by his friend, watchmaker Antoine Preziuso, who supplied him with various movements to disassemble, engrave, decorate and then reassemble. Slowly his expertise as an engraver entered the interior of the watch, the very heart of the movement itself. And his passion has remained there ever since.
The Dutch historically have always been curious when it comes to other cultures (they were, for instance, the first Europeans allowed to trade with Japan as well as the first to learn their language), so perhaps it was already in Kees’ blood to look for inspiration outside of European traditions. Through contact with friends from Japan, he was reintroduced to a centuries-old technique called mokume gane, which was briefly mentioned in classes during his training. Invented by the master swordmaker Denbai Shoami (1651-1728) and originally applied to the decoration of sword hilts and handles, it appears to us today as being very contemporary and intensely modern.
Kees immersed himself in all the technical details and became firmly convinced that if it were artfully applied, it could be a visual showstopper for wristwatch creations. The final step to the actual realization of the first dragon watch came about through the intervention of Masao Mishima, a Japanese dealer who invited Kees to come to Osaka to demonstrate the engraving of mokume. The Japanese.
Processing your request, Please wait....
