This post was originally published on this site
The Italian brand Sicis creates watches from tiny tiles and gemstones.
Hidden in the center of a ruby and diamond gardenia or tucked among three diamond doves, a watch by the Italian brand Sicis is not so much a timepiece as a micromosaic jewel that tells the time.
Micromosaic is the signature of Sicis, which sets minute 0.1-millimeter tiles, or tesserae, directly onto dials to create, for example, a daisy with petals of diamond and pink sapphires or a whimsical Parisian landscape, complete with Eiffel Tower, in rubies, sapphires and colored diamonds.
The name Sicis is an acronym for a Latin phrase meaning “create your dream,” said Gioia Placuzzi, the business’s chief operating officer and creative director of its jewelry division.
The company was founded in 1987 by Ms. Placuzzi’s father, Leo, who still is its chief executive, to produce high-quality mosaics for private homes and luxury hotels, including many of the Las Vegas casinos created by the billionaire developer Steve Wynn.
In 2013, Mr. Placuzzi, who collects antique jewelry, expanded the business to include jewelry with micromosaic. Its first timepiece, which debuted at the 2015 Baselworld watch trade fair in Switzerland, was a 49-millimeter automatic model called the Mystery Watch because it had no hands. Instead, a diamond rotated to indicate the hour, and a display window on the face showed the minutes.