The Family House CLAUDE MEYLAN preserves and proudly perpetuates its ancestral know-how in the heart of Jura Switzerland, more specifically in L’Abbaye, a traditional Vallée de Joux village where the harsh winters have given birth to great ideas and realizations of time measurement. This year and once again, CLAUDE MEYLAN reveals a new masterpiece called LIONNE Sheherazade.
Inspired by timeless legends
CLAUDE MEYLAN takes its inspiration from the magic of the Middle East to combine open movement and arabesques. Marrying black to white, sober and elegant, Sheherazade presents a new sculpture of time.
In the centre of the piece, the hour and minute wheels take the hands in an infinite ballet. Each bridge is sculpted, fully decorated and in very particular harmony; they set intriguing transparency and are enhanced by the arabesque décor. Such elements layered bring us to a new dimension where space and time are giving us a great opportunity to let our imagination flow.
An arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of “surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils” or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is “Foliate ornament, used in the Islamic world, typically using leaves, derived from stylised half-palmettes, which were combined with spiralling stems”. It usually consists of a single design that can be ’tiled’ or seamlessly repeated as many times as desired.
Arabesque is a French term derived from the Italian word arabesco, meaning “in the Arabic style”. The term was first used in Italian, where rabeschi was used in the 16th century as a term for “pilaster ornaments featuring acanthus decoration”, specifically “running scrolls” that ran vertically up a panel or pilaster, rather than horizontally along a frieze.
CLAUDE MEYLAN as an architect of time gets inspiration from the most original references, and it was normal that arabesques inspired the perfect work of skeletonization.
Sheherazade allows us to escape and discover the fascinating various elements of its mechanics. LIONNE is fitted with either mechanical or automatic movement.
Technical Information
Movement Automatic
Functions Hours, Minutes and seconds
Decors Refined, fully sculpted and engraved.
Caliber PESEUX 7040 or PESEUX 7001 or ETA 2892 ;
Autonomy 42 hours
Case Stainless steel 316L, see-through back, sapphire glasses
Dimension 35 mm
Waterproof 30 m
Strap Black tech satin or choice of printed alligator calf,
Boucle Stainless pin 316L
LIONNE is the name of the river that runs from the top of the mount, howls and rages in front of CLAUDE MEYLAN’s workshops before being let go to join the lake. LIONNE is CLAUDE MEYLAN’s river, and as its name indicates, it is at the same time a mother, a huntress and a capital element of the CLAUDE MEYLAN family.
Check the company official website to learn more about this timepiece and CLAUDE MEYLAN’s art:
https://www.claudemeylan.ch. Founded in the ’80s, Claude Meylan has secured its rightful place amongst the prestigious “watchmaking families” from Vallée de Joux.
The names of the collections, “Lac” (Lake), “Lionne” (Name of the river) and “l’Abbaye” (the Abbey), reflect the brand geographic roots. These unique watches showcase the Maison’s authenticity and know-how.
Arsène Wargas
Information sourced by the author for luxuryactivist.com. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. Images are for illustration purposes only.
