THE ART SERIES - Koala
A dial painted by hand, in service of a cause beyond time
OUR COMMITMENT
A different idea of philanthropy
There, beyond the landscapes and the distant horizons, Speake Marin encountered a cause whose mission resonated deeply with the values that have defined the Maison since its inception: independence, dedication, and the belief that true craftsmanship carries a responsibility beyond the object itself.
In an age of instant gratification and fleeting attention, the Art Series stands for something different. It celebrates patience, handcraft, and human commitment. The same devotion that compels an artisan to spend countless hours perfecting a dial can also be found in those who dedicate their lives to protecting a fragile ecosystem, preserving a heritage, or supporting a community.
This is why every Art Series is intrinsically linked to a charitable cause. Not as an afterthought, nor as an exercise in corporate virtue, but as an extension of the Maison's philosophy. Because luxury, at its most meaningful, is not only about rarity, it is about purpose.
deep dive into the gesture of micro-painting
A VOICE FOR THE KOALA
Queensland Koala Crusaders
In 2012, in the eucalyptus forests of South-East Queensland, a small group of volunteers founded Queensland Koala Crusaders with a single, unambiguous purpose: to become a voice for an animal that has none of its own. Since then, the association has worked quietly and steadily alongside local authorities, landholders and conservation bodies, protecting habitat, rescuing koalas displaced by land clearing, disease and bushfire, and returning to the wild those strong enough to make the climb again.
It is patient, largely unseen work, carried out tree by tree and animal by animal, in a region where the species' future is no longer assured. By the association's own account, this generation holds the last real opportunity to keep the koala wild in South-East Queensland, a statement made not for effect, but as a fact they live with daily.
It is this kind of cause, modest in scale yet unwavering in resolve, that the Maison set out to find.
SAVOIR-FAIRE
A koala, painted by hand
The dial is first hollowed, then lacquered in a gradient of greens, lighter at the centre, in Pantone 2276C, deepening toward the periphery in Pantone 3508C, as though light were filtering through a canopy of eucalyptus.
It is onto this base that the koala takes shape. Occupying two-thirds of the left side of the dial, it is meticulously micro-painted by hand, in fine shades of grey alone. The work is entirely handcrafted, calling on one to two specialists depending on the complexity of the motif, and allows no second attempt: once pigment meets lacquer, the gesture is final.
It is this discipline, a single, irreversible pass, that ensures no two Koala dials are ever painted quite the same.