Vanessa Lecci

L’Officina de l’émail

Enameller

Making her dreams come true

Vanessa loves to work in miniature
Her enamelled dials decorate the finest Swiss-made watches
She used to be a professional volleyball player

“I still get goose bumps when I think of the succession of coincidences that have brought me to where I am now.” With unfaltering determination and contagious enthusiasm, Vanessa Lecci has seized every opportunity that life has presented her with. First she moved from her hometown in the south of Italy to Switzerland to build a career as a professional volleyball player. Then, turning 30, she decided to make the most of her studies in artistic crafts and fine arts. She sent her CV to Cartier, who noticed that she had expertise in enamelling and decided to make her the head of the newly founded enamel workshop. Then came Girard Perregaux and Patek Philippe, and today she is one of the few independent master artisans specialising in the ancient tradition of enamelled watch dials.

Interview

Did you think you would stay in Switzerland for the rest of your life?: Not at all. When I started playing volleyball as a professional, my plan was to save up the money to go back to Italy and study restoration in Florence. But I realised that Switzerland is a country where you can make your dreams come true: I tried my chance and succeeded.
Do you consider yourself more of an artist or an artisan?: Definitely an artisan, because working for the fine watch industry, my products have to be flawless. That’s why the most exiting moment for me is the last firing of the enamel, the 'feu de glassage'; every last firing gives me an adrenaline rush, because that’s when I risk losing long days of work.
What’s it like to work on such minute dials?: Relaxing! At art school I studied scenography, but the dimension of the space was far too big for me. Whereas working in miniature gives me the opportunity to delve into infinitely small details. I don’t enjoy working on easy things, I like challenges.
Is it possible to be creative in this traditional craft?: Not with the most classical watch brands, because the buyers and collectors are not accustomed to innovations. But my head is full of ideas and projects only waiting to find a collaboration with a brand that is crazy enough to dare!

Vanessa Lecci is a master artisan: she began her career in 2002 and she started teaching in 2016