Berd Vaye Sculptures: Art Collection Review

Patrick_y, a respected moderator and connoisseur of horological lifestyle objects, offers a unique perspective on Berd Vaye sculptures. His review delves into these captivating art pieces crafted from watch components, providing valuable insights into their construction, aesthetic appeal, and place within a collector's environment. This article explores why these sculptures resonate with enthusiasts who appreciate the intricate beauty of watchmaking beyond the wrist.

Moderator Patrick_y considers more lifestyle accessories and reviews the sculptures made of watch parts by Berd Vaye. 

My home is decorated with horological knick knacks.  While I don’t have antique machines like some of our members do, I do have a lot of clocks, winders, coffee table books, and more in my home office.  If you’ve got a mancave or a relaxation room (a couple of our members have dedicated “watch harems” in their homes), it would make sense to have some cool watch memorabilia placed in the room. 

As many of you already know, I love clocks and other “lifestyle” objects that relate to horology – Roland Iten belt buckles, Nixie Tube clocks, and more.  But one item, a Berd Vaye sculpture was recently offered to me on a very short loan. 

The Berd Vaye sculpture appears to look like crystal but is actually made from Lucite, a very high grade of acrylic plastic.  I’m a big fan of crystal barware (Lalique Owl whiskey tumblers, Baccarat Harcourt Abysse, and Baccarat Rotary are some of my favorite patterns) but I'm actually pleased this piece is made of Lucite instead of crystal for practical reasons.  Berd Vaye sources watch movement parts from various sources and combine these European, Japanese, and even American watch parts into suspension in acrylic plastic.  You can get different shapes; from cubes to skulls.  Personally, I like the cube. 

The Praise:

1.     These Berd Vaye products can be very cool.  Lots of cool parts, pinions, plates, bridges, springs (the mainsprings uncoiled in an elongated fashion is my favorite), and more. 

2.     The parts are encased in high quality acrylic plastic, not actual crystal, so it’s easier to handle. 

3.     The spacing is done quite well.  No area has too many parts, and no area has too few parts.  This is because the placement of all the parts are done by hand. 

4.     Each piece is unique, since not every piece has the same collection of parts. 

5.     Nice and heavy object.  Feels substantial.  Nicely packaged. 

6.     The placement is all done by hand, it isn’t random, nor is it done by machine.  Each piece is thoughtfully arranged and it’s like a choreography of a dance.  Keep in mind, there are 4000 parts in this large cube!  That’s a lot of individual placements!  Imagine a large production Broadway show choreographing a performance with 40 performers!  Now 4000! 

7.     Very exclusive product.  I’ve only seen two in the wild; a big skull in Tim Mosso’s YouTube studio and one cube in a friend’s office.  Obviously, the expense and rarity makes it exclusive. 

8.     Some parts come from small clocks and are big parts; others are tiny parts since they come from wristwatches and pocketwatches.  The size contrast looks great and harmonious. 

9.     There’s a mysterious and outer-space like quality to the arrangement.  It feels like a galaxy of watch parts!   

The Critique (almost all of these are admittedly very minor, but I mention them to be thorough):

1.     Lucite® can scratch, you have to be careful when you dust this.  Remind your housekeeper to get a fresh microfiber towel to dust this. 

2.     They’re not inexpensive!  This piece cost thousands of dollars!  The retail price of this piece is $2900.00 USD for a 6 x 6 x 6 inch cube.  But it's a very grand piece! 

3.     Movement parts generally don't have extremely high finishing.  They're generally sourced from watch and clock repair shops.  Most of you know that I CARE A LOT ABOUT MOVEMENT FINISHING and that I especially like anglage and polished teeth on steel gears.    

5.     Each Berd Vaye cube has a Berd Vaye gear with its logo and a serial number.  Unfortunately the Berd Vaye gear has a ruby jewel in the center of the gear that is hot pink in color.  The color of this jewel could be done a bit better, a photo is below.  I know I’m being overly critical here, but if you’ve read my reviews, you know that I care about every fine detail. 

The Constructive Feedback:

1.     One day, I hope Berd Vaye will make for me a special piece; where I donate the watch and they deconstruct it and put it in suspension!  But the thought of sacrificing a watch seems perilous and wasteful!  There could be collaborations with individual brands.  Imagine, a Rolex acrylic cube, a Panerai cube, a cube with only Glashutte watch parts, etc. 

2.     Maybe one day Berd Vaye will source only highly finished parts from Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, and Patek Philippe to make a cube with highly finished parts only.  As someone who has great emphasis towards movement finishing, this would be appealing to me. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the Berd Vaye sculpture and the piece almost sparkles like crystal in a well lit area.  The placement/choreography of the tiny movement pieces show a lot of thought and consideration goes into the assortment and placement of parts in a piece.  It also shows that each piece has to be made slowly and probably in layers while the material dries and hardens.  I was admittedly a little sad that I had to give back the sculpture to the PR team at Berd Vaye!  But obviously, it's nice enough that they wouldn't forget it!