7/23/2023 0 Comments Fantastical gamer![]() We looked to steam engines for the solution – springs with regulators.’Īs to why the Extraordinary Objects and Junod’s skills are so popular today, Rainer Bernard, head of research and development for Van Cleef & Arpels timepieces, has an explanation: ‘Maybe they have been forgotten a little bit – in the 17th and 18th centuries there were a lot of them – but making objects like this is very complicated. Automatons from the 18th century all had wheels that acted like propellers, and this is not good for a regular speed. ![]() The more animation there is, the more energy is needed. It is all about experimentation – a spring here, two springs here, a regulator here. ‘In my world, we never ever use computers,’ he says. This made it 40 per cent more efficient, and now I believe we could miniaturise the process to use inside a wristwatch.’īut one piece of tech that Junod draws a line at is computers. We discovered this solution by looking at the shock absorbers inside a photocopier. It is a very traditional system with everything made of glass, except for the piston, which is made in carbon so will never need repairing. For example, with the Fontaine aux Oiseaux, we needed bellows for the fountain. ‘This is something we are always doing and we keep abreast of all new mechanical techniques and materials. ‘We had to look at new robotic innovations to help,’ he says. There is a designer for the engine and another for the aesthetic, and the movement infuses the poetic side.’ ![]() ‘But how the piece moves, that is what I bring to the table. ‘Nature and floral decoration are not my speciality,’ admits Junod. A true collaboration with Van Cleef & Arpels, it was made entirely within the house’s codes. The Eveil du Cyclamen took more than 600 hours of work with between five and 10 engineers chipping in. In a century’s time, anybody will be able to repair and restore them. And, unlike electronic creations, these will work for ever. My automatons are universal – you don’t need to be a certain age or have a certain level of sophistication to understand them. It should be like a dream that everyone can relate to. I had previously made a flying carpet that moved like undulating waves and I put these two things together to develop the Fée Ondine. ‘So, I went to Paris to look at the archive collection. It takes up to five years to finish some pieces, such as the 80cm-high automaton of Alexander Pushkin, which can write 1,458 poems in ink. But today Junod’s skills are so rare that he is in demand the world over for private commissions or to bring the creative vision of top watchmakers to life.Īlong with his small team, Junod works on five or six sculptures simultaneously. It has been a centre of watchmaking and its associated arts for more than three centuries. Junod’s atelier is in the Jura Mountain village of Sainte-Croix, close to the Swiss-French border. A rare invitation to the workshop of François Junod is a passport to a strange land of exotic birds and beasts, human figures and artworks that come to life in a whir of traditional craftsmanship and mechanical innovation.Īround the workbenches, there are gears, pistons, tools and collections of cameras hanging from the rafters, while porcelain and plaster heads, limbs and torsos are crammed on to every shelf among ever-watchful glass eyes, all ready to aid in the modelling of the figures created by this master of the art of automatons.
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