The exquisite arts born of flawless dexterity

In the hushed workshops of Blancpain’s Le Brassus, Switzerland manufacture, the ticking of recently assembled watches lends a rhythmic soundtrack to each day. Meanwhile, those still being pieced together have yet to acquire the sound associated with the finished timepieces. Skilled hands delicately work on the numerous components of their complex movements, like those of Marie-Laure Tarbouriech. Blancpain’s master engraver since 2005 and holder of a Meilleur Ouvrière de France title, she handles her engraver’s burin with astonishing precision, her eyes locked to her binocular microscope. A similar kind of painstaking work can also be seen in the pastry kitchens at Relais & Châteaux establishments, like those of executive pastry chefs Brandon Dehan, from Baumanière Hôtel & Spa in the south of France; Clément Réauté, from Fleur de Loire, in the Loire Valley; and Benoît Godillon, from Villa Grand Voile, in La Rochelle, who add the finishing touches to their creations with long, tapered tweezers.

Perpetuating age-old techniques

The art of watchmaking and the artistry of patisserie share a common language of meticulousness, precision and finesse. The Métiers d’Art collection by Blancpain perfectly embodies its particular heritage; each unique creation is designed according to a customer’s preferences and customized down to the smallest detail, including decorative designs—whether floral motifs or landscapes, marine-inspired scenes or tableau inspired by, say, Asian or Indian culture. The luxury watchmaker’s dedicated workshop is committed to preserving age-old techniques, perpetuating the arts of engraving and miniature enamel painting, as well as lesser-known approaches like shakudō, a traditional Japanese process that transforms the hue of a copper and gold alloy, and damascening, a 16th-century technique that consists of hammering gold or silver threads into precisely chiseled grooves. 

In the kitchens of Relais & Châteaux restaurants, chefs are driven by the same desire to share their own expertise, expressed both through the artistry of their food and its flavor, and to incorporate local savoir-faire as they create dishes for guests. Brandon Dehan, named 2020 Pastry Chef of the Year by Le Chef magazine, has been creating desserts at Baumanière Hôtel & Spa since 2016. Aware of the rich heritage he inherited from his predecessors, he has reimagined the millefeuille and crêpe soufflée–with both dishes that play an important part of Baumanière’s culinary history. He plays with textures to bring even more impact to such classics, introduces an element of surprise by including unexpected ingredients (like onions, for example), and has devised a vegetable-based tasting menu. This, he explains, is born from “a deep reflection, [to create] something that will ultimately be different.”

A delicate balance

Both watchmaking and making pastry share similar principles when it comes to visual and sensory balance, as well as material strength and texture. Chef Godillon had to find the right balance when devising patisserie that incorporates ingredients sourced from the sea for Christopher Coutanceau’s seafood menu. Having worked with Chef Coutanceau since 2012, the ocean, along with the local area and its farmers, has clearly become a crucial source of inspiration. In his ’ESTRAN‘ dessert, for example, he pairs sea lettuce, sea fennel, fleur de sel and oysters with more conventional ingredients–a dialogue that's as bewitching as mermaids. His ongoing creativity has earned him the Michelin Guide’s 2025 Passion Dessert prize.

Back in her engraving workshop, Marie-Laure Tarbouriech faces similar challenges, but at different scales. First, she must balance customers’ requests against technical constraints, then balance the force required by the movement and the fragility of the material, to the nearest hundredth of a millimeter. Her mission is to remain calm at the same time that she is using all her strength to control her tool. Mastering this paradoxical combination has allowed her to achieve feats of great detail. “Concentration plays an essential part,” she says. “Everyone has to find their own method. When I started out, I would listen to techno music to get into the rhythm; today, I work with tranquility, isolating myself inside a bubble of my own making. The essential thing is to manage to push aside the rational part of your brain to make room for your hand and artistry.”

Hands, materials and utensils in harmony

Watching Clément Réauté position a tuile on his dessert, or Marie-Laure sketch her first design, you may think that what they are doing looks easy. Yet behind these actions lie years of learning, experience and knowledge gained from what has previously been crafted with their hands: from the choice of materials to the choice of utensils. In addition, the materials used by these artisans are always of the highest quality, from the different types of gold that Marie-Laure likes to work with to the ripe citrus fruit used by Chef Réauté in his signature dessert Agrumes du Froid (Cold Citrus Fruit), which earned him the title of Champion de France du Dessert in 2025. “The aim is to show respect for the material while taking it to its highest expression,” he says. “I love working with tuiles because of their complexity and elegance. You need extremely precise and rigorous control over their cooking, shape and texture.”

His utensils–kitchen scale, tweezers and offset spatula–echo the gravers, brushes and binocular microscope used by Marie-Laure. “With a 40x zoom, I can work with precision,” she says. “When you’re just starting out, it [the microscope] isn’t easy to handle, because you can lose your bearings completely on such a scale–there were even times when I couldn’t ‘find’ my fingers.” Each artisan tends to compile a set of utensils according to their specific needs and the creations they’re working on, she adds. “I’ve kept these ones from my studies, as well as the ones that belonged to my father and grandfather. Some of them hold a real sense of tradition from being passed down.”

This choreography of flawless dexterity takes place mostly out of sight in Blancpain’s workshops and kitchens the world over. Behind the scenes, these gifted hands conjure fascinating creations–from a perfectly cooked gavotte to a precise chiseled line–that ultimately take center stage. Whether they result in gourmet interludes or objects to be treasured for decades, these craftspeople manage to make time stand still through the beauty of their artistry.