Lake Blausee is one of Swizerland’s hidden gems. Nestled in the heart of a 22-acre nature park in the Kander valley above Kandergrund, the beautiful lake is, as its name suggests, an intense shade of blue that’s so bold it can be seen from a great distance through the forest. The water is also crystal clear, which means you can appreciate the beauty of the lake from a glass-bottomed rowing boat. 

The serene and tranquil area served as the primary inspiration for Artisans de Genève’s latest piece, a customised Rolex Daytona featuring a painstakingly skeletonised movement that can be seen through the sandblasted black skeleton dial, a little like the lake through the trees. Appropriately christened ‘La Blausee’, the watch’s formerly automatic calibre 4130 movement has also been converted to be self-winding. Impressively, it still boasts 72 hours of power reserve. The conversion was reportedly the result of two challenging years of research and development in order to honour the first Daytonas. 

Of course, the glorious beating heart of ‘La Blausee’ is just the start. There’s also a deep blue tachymeter bezel crafted entirely by Artisans de Genève, ‘Millerighe’ chronograph pushers like those found on the original Daytonas and a transparent sapphire caseback. And the entire piece is polished and brushed by hand. A touch more restrained that the previous skeletonised pieces created for motorsport veterans Juan Pablo Montoya and Rubens Barrichello, the 46,650CHF ‘La Blausee’ (excl. VAT) channels the serenity and beauty of its namesake very well indeed. 

Photos: Artisans de Genève