fiona krüger: memento mori

‘memento mori’ by fiona krüger all images by damien ropero/ECAL

fiona krüger, a recent graduate of ECAL/university of arts and design lausanne from the master in luxury industry and design has created ‘memento mori’ for her thesis project. the timepiece reinterprets the theme of mortality in watch-making.  the luxury watch appreciates both the mexican imagery of dia de los muertos and the 17th century watch of mary queen of scotts with a human skull detailed with decorative, gold metalwork. the skeletal form of the the faceplate is formed by layering, by which the intricate nature of a mechanical watch is reinforced. the case is fashioned from solid silver and mineral hand cut glass and is engraved by hand as well. the dial is made from gold and rhodium plated brass which has been laser cut and engraved. blued steel hands of the clock move by a ETA 2824 mechanism over the skull watch face. ‘momento mori’ is fastened to one’s wrist by a blued calf leather band with a silver buckle.

detailed view of the watch face

detailed view of the underside of ‘memento morti’

conceptual drawings and final renderings from krüger’s portfolio

earlier conceptual sketches of ‘memento mori’

dia de los muertos skeletal study

krüger’s diploma project explanation for the timepiece

progress images