The Legacy Machine FlyingT immediately appealed to Tarpin thanks to its volume. Where the majority of timepieces are flat, he was fascinated by this domed space around the vertically built mechanism. With a free ticket to design whatever he wanted, he decided on a wintery theme, as not only is winter his favourite season, but travelling back and forth between his hometown of Annecy to Geneva, in a sometimes wintery wonderland, quickly provided him with the inspiration he needed.
The first model, called Ice, features asymmetrical diamond-set stalagmites that encroach on the sapphire crystal dome and the movement. Each icy stalagmite is different, replicating the randomness of nature. Tarpin took his inspiration from a trip to Lake Baïkal in Southern Siberia, where in winter the lake freezes from the edge inwards until it is totally frozen. The claws of the diamond stalagmites have not quite claimed the movement and the matt lapis lazuli dial, leaving the beauty of the mechanism and the time visible to the eye.
For the second model, named Blizzard, Tarpin let his imagination run free into the Alps where he has been skiing since he was two years old. He has interpreted memories of being caught in blizzards of snow into the LM FlyingT with brilliant-cut diamonds set under the sapphire crystal dome and closed-set diamonds set into the matt lapis lazuli dial, depicting snowflakes on the ground. The result is like a snow globe in motion.
Emmanuel Tarpin is 30-year-old independent jewellery designer from Annecy, in Haute Savoie, France. Fascinated by art and precious stones from a young age, he studied jewellery design at Geneva’s Haute Ecole d’Art et Design (HEAD), before accepting an internship with a studio working for Van Cleef & Arpels.
In 2017, at the age of 25, he set up his own eponymous business, crafting one-of-a-kind pieces for private clients, by appointment only, who were drawn to his unique style. His creations are appreciated for their volume, lightness, texture, and movement that he achieves by using unusual materials – such as aluminium, bronze, and copper – that he combines with precious and colourful gemstones.
His work immediately caught the interest of jewellery connoisseurs and his very first creation was included in Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale that took place in New York in December 2017, further projecting him into the limelight.
Growing up between the Annecy Lake and the surrounding French Alps, nature is one of his major sources of inspiration and his jewellery takes the forms of shells, jellyfish, geranium leaves, arum lilies, and wild orchids, to name a few.
“Nature is an inexhaustible source of inspiration,” he explains. “I attach myself to every detail, the pistil of a flower, the curve of a leaf, the colours, the gradients, the play on materials and textures. It’s not just the visual sense that comes first, the touch also has its importance, the feeling it has on the skin.”
In 2020, he embarked on his first watch project with MB&F where he was given the freedom to interpret two Legacy Machine FlyingT timepieces. Tarpin had already met MB&F’s founder Maximillian Büsser during a presentation about the watch brand during his studies at the HEAD. After an initial meeting in person, the two gentlemen immediately hit it off and Tarpin embarked on the creation of two unique designs inspired by winter that further attest to the talent of this young designer.
Emmanuel Tarpin is 30-year-old independent jewellery designer from Annecy, in Haute Savoie, France. Fascinated by art and precious stones from a young age, he studied jewellery design at Geneva’s Haute Ecole d’Art et Design (HEAD), before accepting an internship with a studio working for Van Cleef & Arpels.
In 2017, at the age of 25, he set up his own eponymous business, crafting one-of-a-kind pieces for private clients, by appointment only, who were drawn to his unique style. His creations are appreciated for their volume, lightness, texture, and movement that he achieves by using unusual materials – such as aluminium, bronze, and copper – that he combines with precious and colourful gemstones.
His work immediately caught the interest of jewellery connoisseurs and his very first creation was included in Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale that took place in New York in December 2017, further projecting him into the limelight.
Growing up between the Annecy Lake and the surrounding French Alps, nature is one of his major sources of inspiration and his jewellery takes the forms of shells, jellyfish, geranium leaves, arum lilies, and wild orchids, to name a few.
“Nature is an inexhaustible source of inspiration,” he explains. “I attach myself to every detail, the pistil of a flower, the curve of a leaf, the colours, the gradients, the play on materials and textures. It’s not just the visual sense that comes first, the touch also has its importance, the feeling it has on the skin.”
In 2020, he embarked on his first watch project with MB&F where he was given the freedom to interpret two Legacy Machine FlyingT timepieces. Tarpin had already met MB&F’s founder Maximillian Büsser during a presentation about the watch brand during his studies at the HEAD. After an initial meeting in person, the two gentlemen immediately hit it off and Tarpin embarked on the creation of two unique designs inspired by winter that further attest to the talent of this young designer.
MB&F FlyingT movement featuring three-dimensional vertical architecture, automatic winding, conceived and developed in-house with a blue balance wheel
Central flying 60-second tourbillon
Three-dimensional sun-shaped winding rotor
Frequency: 2.5 Hz (18,000 bph)
280 components, 30 jewels
18K white gold and diamonds. High domed sapphire crystal on top with anti-reflective coating on both sides, sapphire crystal on back.
Number of components: 17
Water resistance: 3ATM / 30m / 90’
100 hours (4 days)
Hours and minutes displayed on a 50° vertically tilted dial with two serpentine hands
Winding on left crown and time-setting on right crown
38.5 mm x 20 mm
Alligator leather straps with pin buckle maching the case
Blizzard: 8 pieces
Ice: 8 pieces
For the ‘BLIZZARD’ edition:
• Brilliant-cut diamonds on the dial: ~ 0.0457ct
• Brilliant-cut diamonds on the Blizzard decoration: ~ 0.921ct
• Brilliant-cut diamonds on the crowns: ~ 0.138ct
• Brilliant-cut diamonds on the case: ~ 1.402cts
• 2 paraibas on the crowns: ~ 0.11ct and 1 paraiba on the tourbillon: ~ 0.03ct
For the ‘ICE’ edition:
• Brilliant-cut diamonds on the Ice decoration: ~ 0.611ct
• Brilliant-cut diamonds on the crowns: ~ 0.138ct
• Brilliant-cut diamonds on the case: ~ 1.402cts
• 2 paraibas on the crowns: ~ 0.11ct and 1 paraiba on the tourbillon: ~ 0.03ct
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