The Ascendent was made by Mr Jones Watches in London. Each watch glass was printed and gilded one at a time, by hand; before being assembled in turn by their small and talented team.

Designed by Marion Labbez as a celebration of the journey of life and the challenges we all face to scale our personal mountains.

The watch glass is gilded with palladium applied in different ways to achieve two distinct textures. Each dial was airbrushed to achieve a gradient which contrasts with the smooth mirror gilding. A mountain shimmers on the horizon, appearing both near enough to touch and also impossibly beyond our grasp.

This design completes a set of four watches which Marion has produced, each of which embody a different element. In this series, The Ascendent embodies the element of earth. Marion explains her inspiration:

"I designed this watch to be a hopeful visual invitation to look forward. Explore, discover, climb, travel: experience the world around you. Never look down, the only way is up and the journey is fulfilling."

How to read the time
The hours can be found in the tree
The minutes are represented by groups of stars as follows:

• A small gold star represents 5 minutes
• A large gold star represents 10 minutes
• A large silver star represents 30 minutes
• The moon represents 0 minutes past

If the stars are on the line, then it's exactly that time past the hour; slightly above the line means subtract a minute or two and slightly below the line means add on a minute or two.