“The Three Gorgons” – “Song of Awe”

« Gothic Origin Watch Series » : The Three Gorgons – “Song of Awe”

Brief Description: 316 Stainless Steel Case, Original Brass Complex-Forged Miniature Sculptures, Miniature Coloring, Sapphire Dual-Mirrors, and Hand-Tailored Watchband

Bard’s Whisper from Taiwan

Bard’s Whisper was founded in 2018 in Taiwan, featuring over 300 works inspired by fantasies, legends, and mythologies around the world. The average views of our pages are between twenty-five and thirty thousand people, primarily from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.

The concept of this work comes from Ercy Bysshe Shelley’s (1792-1822) “On The Medusa Of Leonardo da Vinci In The Florentine Gallery.”

The Song of Awe depicts the cold and proud Gorgons, and an impressionist art style was used to form a strong contrast through the presentation of metal-like scales with white and soft body. To add a sense of layers, the shield has the painted pattern of Kintsugi – a Japanese art of repairing – to mimic the effect. The paint naturally flows on the pattern, and so there are subtle differences in the painting of each work, which also displays the value of handcrafting.

The composition stems from the guardian symbol of “trinacria” in Sicily, with the Gorgon sisters forming some kind of a totem; the triangular shield in the center symbolizes the one wielded by Perseus.

Substantial Techniques and Features: we combine 3D printing, which is the most maturely developed technology in Taiwan, with traditional forging to create the “precision brass” sculpture that may be applied to the clockwork parts.

1. This method is rarely used in the field. At first, the parts were almost unusable due to the high rate of thermal shrinkage during forging. After two years of experimentation, we finally found a stable printing-forging procedure. In this way, we can create patterns as delicate as 0.03mm for the sculpture. Each of them is unique, and the subtleness of these sophisticated lines is different from the rigidness of CNC.

2. Forging the Sculpture: A professional craftsman is required to finish the 3D parts that are disassembled into dozens of finer units. We found NI SHENG-SIANG, who has been engaging in the jewel crafting business of his family since 9. Possessing 30 years of experience in metallurgy, he has the outstanding skill and vitality to make any microscopic level of sculpture patterns.

3. The painting is done with miniature painting brush to the degree it almost ruptures, leaving only a tiny bit to dip the paint and boldly present the aesthetics of the body and facial expressions in the size of 1mm. We invited two artists: Estela Shen, who used to learn coloring skills for years in New Zealand from a prosthetic makeup artist who had worked in The Lord of the Rings, and Chia-Mi-Chao, an excellent painting artist with a degree from Accademia delle Belle Arti di Firenze, to do the work of coloring with magnifying glass and microscope and by calculating the distribution of coloring and lighting of all angles.

4. 3D Design and Concept Design of the Sculpture: CHIA LUNG-HSI is responsible for digital sculpturing; he’s a master glass artist in Taiwan, possessing over 30 years of experience in manual and digital sculpturing. (The theme this time is pretty tricky. We put the three angles of “front, side, and back” of the Gorgons into the case that is only 5mm, spending nearly six months to properly present the contrast of sculpture and body curve. The presentations of the snakes also vividly decorate other details.)

5. Movement: Considering the convenience of repairing, we chose the sw-200 automatic movement from SELLITA after trials with numerous brands from different countries. Bard’s Whisper uses over 1,200 sw-200 movements and has seen its excellent yield. This is very important to us who have yet to develop our own movements.

6. Case and Case Back: For lugs and crowns, we applied Gothic erosion carving, manually creating “spire texture” and exquisite “karakusa crown,” while the side is carved with “Goethea” patterns. The sapphire glass case back has the “decorative circle” electroplating that present medieval ceremonial fashion. Through the electroplating, the case back reflects the patterns of magical circle under the light, expressing its nocturnal charm. We also hide the movements into the circle to add a touch of mysteriousness to it.

7. The watchband is made by Antony Huang. In order to present the style of old leather in Gothic fashion as well as visual effects similar to that of a dragon, we specifically use lizard leather. We also apply a special coating that is waterproof, while maintaining the softness and flexibility of the leather.

Ethics and Ecological Innovation: Sustainability

Bard’s Whisper is cooperating with over 30 artists and craftsmen in Taiwan to ensure that our production is stable. We offer satisfactory remuneration to the artists and high-quality crafts to customers, reaching 35% of repurchase rate.

Bard’s Whisper hopes that artists can earn stable incomes, and almost all young artists and craftsmen cooperating with us actually have improved finances. We have even saved a clockwork company “HSIN HUEI PRECISION INDUSTRIAL CO.，LTD.” in Tainan, Taiwan that was about to close. (We have shot a documentary capturing the processing works in the factory, where the staff members are mostly senior technicians aged from 60 to 70.)

We also tried to pass on the techniques to National Tsing Hua University and thus earned a certificate of merit from its graduate school of art and design. In addition to that, we accepted the interview from stylemaster, a magazine in Taiwan.

Conclusion:

Bard’s Whisper treats the island of Taiwan as a massive production base. We’ve seen young artists who study abroad full of aspirations yet have no opportunities to showcase their skills. What they need is a stage. The cost to design 3D miniature sculptures can just be as pricey as movements modeling. In fact, we have proved that watches have another possibility other than movements.

Our questionnaire survey shows that in addition to watch fans, there are more young customers who didn’t wear watches before. They are moved by the stories and delicate craftsmanship, and we’re convinced that this is a recognition to our values.