ocated in the Lake Como region, La Vallée is an Italian family-owned business founded as a clock-repair workshop by Antonio Quintavalle in Venice the 1930s. From 1984, Antonio’s son Leopoldo Quintavalle moved La Vallée into the ultra-exclusive creation of luxury timepieces, all made on commission with customized designs, bringing to some astonishing unique pieces.

La Vallée’s creative, mechanical innovation is now becoming available to a wider audience for the first time in more than 40 years, through a series of limited edition timepieces and beginning with the Attimo. Conceived to uniquely replay the moments of triumph that apply in both sports and life, this is the first in a planned series of themed timepieces from the creative core of La Vallée’s designers, engineers and artisans.

The limited-edition timepiece features unprecedented levels of personalization. “In every La Vallée timepiece there is the professionalism, passion and character of each of our team members,” La Vallée President Leopoldo Quintavalle explained. “We share a common vision for beauty, art and aesthetics. We are constantly in search of the perfect fusion of design and mechanics.”

The Attimo (a “very short moment of time” in Italian) uses the triumphs of golf champions as a metaphor for personal success, and has been designed to capture that instant of victory, every hour. At the stroke of each hour, the creation replays the “winning” shot, symbolising an hour of concentration poured into one “attimo” of triumph.

At the approach of every hour, as the ball nears the golfer’s driver, the mechanism beneath the fairway is activated. A hammer shaped like a golf iron strikes a golf ball-shaped bell, which emits a ring that announces the golfer’s shot. In an instant, the golf ball runs off the golfer’s club and when it reaches the hole, the Attimo locks in the moment by gently rotating the unique number ring to show the next hour.

The golf player, golf bag and golf clubs are individually crafted in gold and silver.

The Attimo’s upper surface is crafted from green Aventurine and its lower base is made from black Obsidian. The lower bowl, which protects the mechanism, is crafted from hand-blown Italian crystal.

The details grow even more impressive with the golfing scene atop the timepiece. The scene is made entirely of rhodium-plated silver, enriched with gold and diamond details. The top of the irons, woods, putter, driver and ball are made from white gold, set with diamonds, and even the golfer’s belt and shoelaces are hand made in gold. Every detail of the golfer and his golf equipment can be customized, too, giving customers the unique opportunity to put themselves into the scene, and making their Attimo a true one-off.

A dedicated movement, made up of 472 components, is mounted in a body of 243 precision and precious pieces, including 206 diamonds. The minutes are counted along an elegant ring at the upper circumference and the hours, 1 to 24, are counted on a hand-polished, rotating numbered ring around the outside.

The movement of the Attimo, featuring Côtes de Genève finishing, polished bevels and screwed chatons, delivers 30 days of time keeping, as well as powering the movements of the golf ball and the hour ring, together with the hourly sound of the ball strike. There is a stand beneath the bowl to hold the winning golf ball, but that’s only a hint to the personalization La Vallée has considered with the Attimo.

Each La Vallée timepiece is conceived and designed to bind it directly to the person who chooses it, and that philosophy can change the Attimo from an extraordinary clock into a perpetual impression of its owner, to be handed down for generations. Thanks to their expertise in modeling and crafting metals and jewelry, La Vallée’s goldsmiths can reproduce the Attimo’s player in its owner’s image, including their body type, clothing, clubs and equipment, and it can even be tailored to specific requests, including materials and precious stones.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Upper scene - 750°°° gold and 925°°° silver
• Club heads - 750°°° gold, set with diamonds
• Golfer’s belt, shoelaces and golf-bag shoulder straps – hand-made in 750°°° gold Lower base – black Obsidian and green Aventurine
• Upper surface – green Aventurine
• Rotating hour ring – hand-polished stainless steel
• Minutes indicator - a 750°°° gold golf ball, fully set with 101 diamonds.
• Golf ball holder – doubles as the ATTIMO’s winding key
• Bowl – hand-blown Italian crystal
• Width – 270mm
• Length – 270mm
• Height – 530mm
• Weight – 15kg
• Power reserve – 30 days
• Power reserve indicators – double indicators Sound volume – adjustable to zero
• Time adjustment – dedicated time-setting system: fast advancement of the hours, retrograde minute setting.