For the serpent, three exceptionally demanding techniques were combined in its final incarnation: micro-sculpture, engraving and champlevé enamelling. To give the serpent three-dimensional depth and the semblance of motion, the coils of its white-gold body were sculpted according to the rules of perspective. Its scales were hollowed out, then decorated with engraved V-strokes and Monogram flowers. Both the sculpting and engraving stages were executed with strict limits on the amount of white gold that could be removed, so that the surface would be optimised for the application of the champlevé-style enamel. A spray of bamboo leaves — also sculpted, engraved and enamelled in the same way — frame the upper right corner of the dial, enclosing the GLV monogram in the forest’s embrace. The vitality of the scene cannot be contained by the dial alone; bamboo leaves burst out of their vitreous confines and spill onto the white-gold case itself, a potent allegory of untamed Nature.