Albanian jeweler Pirro Ruco worked day and night for five years to capture the essence of his country in a spectacular luxury watch. Now the timepiece, worth about US$1.4 million, is set to face off against the best watches from across the world at the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix in Switzerland in November.
Set under a sapphire dome, the hours are marked by 12 golden folk dancers — each in different regional dress — set on Murano glass, the minute and hour hands adorned with eagle talons in homage to Albania’s national symbol.
Ruco’s rollercoaster rise mirrors that of Albania, from poverty and isolation as the most closed communist regime in Europe, to rollicking capitalism.
Photo: AFP
Along the way the jeweler overcame jealousy, the secret police and being sent into internal exile to rise to the pinnacle of his profession.
It all began for Ruco in 1985 when he was asked to make a medal in red and gold bearing the head of Enver Hoxha, the paranoid leader who ruled the small Balkan nation for more than four decades.
“That saved me,” Ruco told reporters from his workshop tucked away in an alley in the capital, Tirana.
The medals were awarded to the regime’s most loyal supporters and later caught the eye of Hoxha’s wife. The turn of fortune saw thousands more produced and worn by communist cadres across Albania.
“All the congressional delegates had to wear it. I made a name for myself with it,” Ruco said.
It also saved him from the textile mills where he had been sent because his family had been deemed “rebellious.”
However, all this was nearly derailed by an anonymous letter sent to authorities that accused Ruco of working with foreign agents. He was questioned by intelligence agents and his workshop raided.
Down, but not out, he bounced back after crafting a ring bearing the image of the late husband of a member of the communist politburo and in July 1990 won a prize for a piece featuring Albania’s 15th-century national hero Skanderberg.
The very next day history intervened. The regime began to crumble and the collapse of Albania’s communist rule in 1991 was followed by years of violent tumult as the country transitioned to a free-market economy.
Amid the ups and downs, Ruco stayed busy designing pieces for officials and celebrities. During a trip to Basel in Switzerland in 2016, something new caught his eye.
“I wanted to make a watch. It was my new dream,” he told reporters.
For the next five years, Ruco said that he focused on “doing something special, Albanian, and at the same time completely new and never before seen in the watch industry.”
The new timepiece, which he calls Primordial Passion, was designed in collaboration with Swiss watchmaker Agenhor.
“I never wanted to make jewelry, but art,” the jeweler said. “Sculptures, images of the country, pieces of culture... This watch is the culmination of all that, of this love for Albania.”
“It is more than just a watch. It combines the rich heritage of ancient Albanian culture with the notion of chronometry,” he said.
Ruco refuses to divulge the methods used to craft the watch, but remains hopeful the painstaking details would be recognized by the judges at the Geneva event.
Several collectors have already contacted him about buying the timepiece, he said, although it would be difficult to part with his creation.
“I set a price because I had to, but for me, it is priceless,” he said.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
TESTING BAN: Satellite photos show a facility in the Chinese city of Mianyang that could aid nuclear weapons design and power generation, a US researcher said China appears to be building a large laser-ignited fusion research center in the southwestern city of Mianyang, experts at two analytical organizations said, a development that could aid nuclear weapons design and work exploring power generation. Satellite photos show four outlying “arms” that would house laser bays, and a central experiment bay that would hold a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes the powerful lasers would fuse together, producing energy, said Decker Eveleth, a researcher at US-based independent research organization CNA Corp. It is a similar layout to the US$3.5 billion US National Ignition Facility (NIF) in northern California, which in 2022 generated
RSS