Engraving may not be one of those professions that is fundamental to watchmaking, but without it horological mechanics would remain soulless machines, the metal
remaining as cold and lifeless as the earth it was mined from. In its function as a decorative medium, engraving is irreplaceable in the history of watchmaking,
unmistakably a science all its own – with its own history, techniques, and artists.
The beginnings of engraving on metal are documented at around the fifth century BC. This artistic form was often used in conjunction with other crafts such as chasing
and repousee, methods different from engraving in that they employ a shaped metal rod hammered against the metal to make an indentation. Hand engraving fundamentally
employs a short, very sharp metal rod called a graver that is pushed along a surface by hand. It results in a much sharper line than other instruments. The development
of alphabets brought with it the increased use of this art form.
During the fifteenth century the engraving art reached its peak. Not only was it used to decorate armor and commemorative items (heraldry became a critical issue
during this time as a shield was the only item to announce alliance when the entire body was covered in armor!), but during the Renaissance it became an art form
unto itself in conjunction with an early incarnation of printing. The close of the fifteenth century heralded the activities of great master engravers, the most
famous and talented of them all being Germany’s Albrecht Durer. This prodigal talent is unanimously called the greatest of all line engravers, perfectly able to
express his genius within this medium. Living in Nuremberg from his birth in 1471 until his death in 1528, he was a pioneer in both line engraving and etching.
In the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the epicenter of the engraving art form moved from the Germanic and Low Countries to the west and south, generally
France and Italy, where portrait engraving began its run.
Because the engravings were turned into prints by means of ink and paper, this art form can be termed the first successful industrial procedure applied to artistic
representation. At the end of the eighteenth century, machine ruling came into use among commercial engravers, and as the Industrial Revolution came along, machines
began to take on a larger and larger role within the art form. Impersonal roll stamping and commercial casting began to overtake hand engraving, which became largely
unavailable except as ornamentation on firearms, knives, rare gifts, and personal objects owned by the wealthy to lend them greater value – such as pocket watches.
Today most engraving we see is also done by machine in some form. Hand engraving is still rare, and those who practice the art are even rarer.
It’s no wonder that this craft, whose beginnings originated on the European continent, wandered over to watchmaking, an art also rooted in the Old World. The portable
nature of both art forms make them ideal counterparts. A delicate and exact craft, engraving complements the delicate and exacting nature of watches and their movements
perfectly.
The engraved line is a simple, universal mode of ornamentation, and in intaglio engraving it is incised directly onto the surface of the chosen metal by hand using
various instruments such as the graver, the burin and the drypoint to name just a few. Relief engraving is achieved by making the lines and spaces in negative,
leaving the design raised above the surface.
By contrast, the etching technique is obtained by corroding the metal plate with an acid or mordant. Substances generally used for this include nitric acid, sulphur,
and a mixture including hydrocholoric acid that is known as the Dutch Bath. This technique was introduced as early as the fifteenth century, and Durer was one of
its forerunners. Today it is a widespread technique used on contemporary wristwatches to obtain very exact renditions and a “grainy” look. Case backs of luxury
wristwatches made of steel, a very hard substance to hand engrave, often display etchings achieved by the use of industrial acid baths. Today this technique is
termed “chemical engraving.”
In this day and age engraving is generally done by machine: Lasers and CNC machines to diamond engrave and mill are among those used industrially. There are few
true masters of the trade left, although according to Adone T. Pozzobon, proprietor of Adone Galleries and the popular website engravingarts.com specializing in
firearm and knife engraving, “Present-day master engravers have transformed the craft into a true respected art form. Never before in our history have engravers
reached such high standards in producing fine engravings.”
The modern era’s arsenal of tools for the master engraver has hardly changed over the centuries. One important innovation is, of course, the microscope. This instrument
allows the engraver to continue cutting minute areas of metal to a ripe old age by relieving strain on his eyes. It also allows for a more exacting view of the
area to be engraved. Jochen Benzinger, one of less than a handful of independent master engravers left in Germany, has always preferred to practice his profession
entirely in the traditional manner – including the use of only the naked eye when he works. “We work very traditionally in my workshop, utilizing only traditional
hand-held tools and practices.” In addition to making his own unique pieces, he works with many traditionally minded watchmakers such as Martin Braun, Roland Murphy
and Christiaan van der Klaauw, mainly embellishing their movements and making them unique pieces. Benzinger is not a watchmaker himself, although he employs a full-time
watchmaker to aid in his work with movements. “You have to have a good watchmaker to help with the individual components. After the movement has been dismantled,
it needs to be rebuilt, and that is no problem with a good watchmaker on hand.” Benzinger’s specialty is ornamental engraving, something he does with visible elan,
including flourishing patterns and vine and leaf motifs. He can, however, work according to the wishes of the client, first lightly sketching the pattern onto the
surface with a pencil. He adds vine and leaf motifs freehand, with feeling, so that it looks different every time. Additionally his workshop does skeletonizing
and guilloche by hand. Benzinger taught himself the art of guilloche, as courses for this are no longer available in metalworking schools, and owns an impressive
collection of historical rose engine machines that have not been produced in over half a century.
Engraver Kees Englbarts also comes from the traditional engraving region of central Europe. Born and schooled in Holland – one of the Low Countries – he formally
studied engraving in Germany as well. A young, self-styled freelance engraver now living and working in Geneva, Englbarts has embraced some of the more modern additions
to the engraver’s tool kit such as a powerful microscope and the Graver Max, a push graver outfitted with a compressor. Although he also engraves movements and
practical components, giving them a soul to go along with their beating hearts, his specialty lies in the beautiful rendition of concrete objects in relief on dials.
He loves to try out new techniques and methods, and was the first to engrave a watch dial made of the rare metal amalgamate mokume gane. “Using modern techniques
to work more quickly and more precisely are okay. But once it is done machine engraving cannot possibly be compared with hand engraving,” Englbarts reports. For
an in-depth report on Kees Englbarts please see International Wristwatch issue number 59 from September 2002.
This is not to say that only Europe produces good engravers – au contraire. Jaeger-LeCoultre’s official U.S. engraver is actually an American-born, self-taught
watchmaker-turned-engraver, an interest that began as a hobby. J.C. Randell now owns the title of “professional engraver” (the equivalent of a European master engraver)
earned from the Firearms Engravers Guild of America. Apart from the classic monograms and initials he styles, Randell’s strong – and from a horological point of
view unusual – point definitely lies in the three-dimensional renditions that find their origins in the art of firearm and knife engraving including fine shading
and gradual tone changes, techniques that add to the three-dimensional quality of his work. The fact that Randell is self-taught frees him from traditional ways
of thinking and adds an unusual style to his work, which he terms “an ongoing process. I only want each of my engravings to be better than the last.” He thinks
up techniques to achieve the effect he is shooting for, best expressed in his near photo-realistic portraits. One technique he employs in achieving this is bulino
engraving, although he personally would never term it that way. Bulino is actually a combination of closely placed lines and dots to achieve various degrees of
shading and 3D imagery. His interest lies not in naming the techniques, but in being able to ask the question “Do you like my work?” and getting a positive answer.
“Engraving is an illusion, and an illusion should come out to meet the eye,” he professes. He is most well known in watch circles for his work on Jaeger-LeCoultre’s
classic Reverso model, a watch that possesses a glossy surface that is not entirely easy to engrave; any buffing and scratching is immediately visible and unretractable.
When working he sketches a basic outline of the chosen pattern on the surface, after which he uses unusually light lines to cut the rest of the design utilizing
only his experience to guide him. “Cutting the lines is the actual art,” he says. “Even if I were to draw the entire design beforehand, I would want to change it
along the way anyway. A cut line is always sharper than a line that has been drawn by pencil.”
Engravers such as Pozzobon who specialize in firearm and knife embellishment consider the high-definition images of bulino and photo realism the most difficult
and prestigious part of an engraving. Kees Englbarts begs to differ. “Engravers who can do this are certainly great artists and craftsmen, but you cannot compare
apples to oranges – these engraving techniques are totally different and may be compared to making a drawing on metal on one hand, and on the other to doing a sculpture
on metal (in bas-relief technique). There are no world championships in engraving: For me, engraving is like painting, making music, or any other creative activity.
What they have in common is that they are not hard to do, but hard to do right. The most important thing is the result!”