The anOrdain A1: Decorating La Joux-Perret’s G101 Movement

May 29, 2025

In early 2020, anOrdain approached Glasgow-based artist Rachel Duckhouse to take up a residency. The subject of movement finishing and decoration had been discussed for some time, and the prevailing view was to approach it with as few preconceived ideas as possible. The techniques in use today often rely on machinery from the 1950s, with hand-finishing filling in the rest. The team posed a question: If today’s equipment had been available then, what would the result look like? The answer combined lasers, CNC, and advanced multi-layer galvanic processes. It was Sally who suggested that Rachel’s work might be an ideal fit.

Based in Glasgow, she is an artist guided by repetition, pattern, and rhythm. Inspired by architecture, energy flows, and biological systems, her projects span a wide range of disciplines. One unifying thread, however, persists throughout. “The thing that connects my work, whether it’s in water flow, biomedical engineering, or horology, is that underlying rhythm that drives everything,” she explains. “I’m fascinated by how often pattern and rhythm emerge in such different research contexts.”

 “The thing that connects my work, whether it’s working in water flow biomedical engineering or horology, is that underlying rhythm that drives everything”

After earning a BA Hons in Textile Design from Leeds College of Art in 1997, she reflects on how that period shaped her process. “That’s where I cemented my passion for repeat pattern,” she says. “But after four years, I felt a bit lost. I realised I didn’t want to be a designer. That’s why I thought, maybe an academic Masters would help.” A year later, she completed her MA in Material Culture from Winchester School of Art. “What I learnt from that, though, is that I really didn’t want to be an academic,” she laughs. “So at the time, I thought, ‘oh my god, what have I done?’”

Despite those doubts, she recognises how both paths shaped her career. “They’ve become an intrinsic part of what I do now. The degree led me to keep a sketchbook and explore repetition, print, and drawing. The Masters taught me that I am truly drawn to research. That’s now a core part of my practice.”

This research-led approach is partly what led to the collaboration with anOrdain. “They were interested in how I approach drawing through research,” she explains. “I also work on a small scale in line drawings, and I think they imagined those would translate well onto the surface of the movement.”

“beauty lies somewhere between boredom and confusion.”

E.H. Gombrich

As well as rhythm and repetition, her work often overlaps with other disciplines through collaborative residencies. In 2012, she became artist in residence for Calgary’s Watershed+ project, working with river engineers to draw the water’s structure with architectural precision. “For a lot of my work, I’ll meet someone who isn’t an artist, or be in a landscape and make research-based drawings by talking to someone and learning something outside my own knowledge.”

Reflecting on that project, she noted how she tried to freeze something as fluid as water in time and space. “Water is invisible—it’s impossible to draw.” But her sketchbooks told a different story: page after page filled with overlapping lines and curves that gave shape to something intangible.

In 2017, she collaborated with a biominerals specialist at the University of Glasgow, and the following year, with a biomedical engineering team. Each project deepened her connection with rhythm and structure, leading naturally to the world of horology.

“Time has, funnily, become a big theme in my recent work. But for this, I was more wrapped up in the mechanism — the physicality of the movement.”

Working with anOrdain, she again found herself engaging with an “invisible substance” — this time, time itself. “You could go down so many crazy conceptual rabbit holes,” she muses. “Time has, funnily, become a big theme in my recent work. But for this, I was more wrapped up in the mechanism — the physicality of the movement.”

anOrdain’s founder, Lewis Heath, helped ground her in horological tradition, sending her books and a watch movement to study. Holding the movement in her hand sparked a turning point. “I became mesmerised by it. The mainspring especially caught my attention — it’s the heart.”

Her early sketches followed that inspiration, evolving from simple spirals into multi-layered compositions. The lines became increasingly technical, intersected by pivots and wheels, yet retained a natural flow. “The movement is a landscape,” she says. “Tiny, but a self-contained world of rhythms and oscillations.”

“The movement is a landscape. Tiny, but a self-contained world of rhythms and oscillations.”

The sketchbook was central to the design process. “It helped me develop my thinking, and ask what goes on inside the mechanism.” Feedback from the anOrdain team was instrumental — not just in gathering data, but in refining her drawings. “Their responses really pushed me forward.”

Just as she had once tried to freeze the motion of a river, she now sought to distill the energy of a watch’s hairspring. “The pattern is about expanding and contracting spirals — but also layering.” Eventually, the central motif shifted to align with the mainspring, subtly off-center, echoing the asymmetry of the human body.

She often quotes E. H. Gombrich’s idea that “beauty lies somewhere between boredom and confusion.” The contrast between engineered precision and the handmade caught her eye. “There’s a warmth to that balance,” she says. “The mechanism may be exact, but the enamel and drawing are done by hand — and that’s what gives the watches their soul.”

Preserving the integrity of her hand-drawn lines was key. “I didn’t want it vectorised. You can mathematically replicate a drawing, but it loses its heart.” The team understood this completely — the original sketches were kept as-is, their subtle imperfections preserved.

“The scale is so small, the handmade quality might barely be visible... but it’s there — and it needs to be there.”

The final engravings will be done in Switzerland, and her lines — now tiny etchings — will cross borders while maintaining the human touch. “The scale is so small, the handmade quality might barely be visible,” she says. “But it’s there — and it needs to be there.”

Made entirely by our partners in Switzerland, the A1 is now offered as an optional movement across our Model 1 Enamel, Model 2 Enamel, and Model 2 Porcelain ranges with an exhibition caseback.