Ulysse Nardin has revived the art of cloisonné some 20 years ago when this artform was on the verge of extinction. Over 30 timepieces from its unique museum collection - enamel and cloisonné - were on view on 8 July to 14 July in Ulysse Nardin Ocean Terminal Showroom . This extraordinary exclusive collection of fine art will later in the year be on tour across China, including Xian, Taiyuan, Shenyang, Dalian, Haerbin, Shanghai, Beijing and Kunming.

The cloisonné technique is one of the most refined and complicated methods in the enamelling art. It consists of the elaboration of a drawing and the matching of colors on each segment. Every single segment must be divided from the others by gold wires that will enclose the liquid filled with powdered enamel. It is up to the artist's fingers to delineate the different color segments with a gold wire with a thickness of only 0.07 millimeter, which must be positioned and glued on the dial surface with great accuracy and talent to obtain a wonderful and unique design. This is a work of art performed on a surface only two centimeters in diameter! For each individual dial pertaining to a limited edition, more than fifty preliminary operations are necessary, 12-24 kiln steps and at least fifty working hours by the experienced enameller. At the end of this arduous process which will have seen a sizeable number of rejects, each enamel dial of a Ulysse Nardin timepiece reflects our pride in contributing to the revival of this lost art.

Today, the special blue of the San Marco chronometers, the limited editions of the famous boat series and sea battles, the historical places and the map of the world adorning the Tellurium are dials which represent Ulysse Nardin's unique signature. The beauty of these dials is by no means a chance happening for enamelling does not spring from some simple universal rule. Its mastery depends upon a personal sensitivity and daily practice going beyond all frontiers of empiricism. It is an art, rather than a science.