Launched in 2004 as a tribute to the world’s greatest explorers, the Hommage Aux Grands Explorateurs, was a limited edition collection of 240 pieces that was spread across four variants of 60 pieces, each dedicated to a particular explorer. Offered here we have the Marco Polo edition, with a cloisonné enamel dial that was painstakingly produced to depict Marco Polo’s legendary travels across Asia and the “Silk Road” from the Mediterranean all the way to China and through Persia, India, and Mongolia. Executed by Jean and Lucie Genbrugge as individual miniature works of art, each example’s dial requires over 30 separate firings in the enameler's kiln, with layers of enamel being applied on top of one another in a notoriously painstaking production process that sees an incredible amount of dials fail to make it all the way through without cracking or otherwise not being fit for casing in a watch. As a result, cloisonné enamel dials that are this complex are famously sought-after and cherished by collectors. Additionally, this collection’s level of complexity was even more complicated as its cloisonné enamel dial features two levels so that it has an opening across the bottom 120 degrees of the dial to allow for the sapphire disk required for its wandering hours complication.

An incredibly unique watch that is essentially a piece of art on your wrist, the ref. 47070 might not be mechanically complex but it does feature one of the most complex dials on the market, a stunning depiction of Marco Polo's legendary travels.