Francesca Perona

Francesca Perona is an Italian designer and illustrator specialising in the portraiture of timepieces and fine jewellery. Through hyperrealistic pencil drawing and hand-painted gouache, she creates one-of-a-kind artworks that celebrate craftsmanship, precision and the beauty of exceptional objects.

Born in Turin, she began her career in the Creation Department at Rolex as a designer, where she developed a profound understanding of haute horlogerie, its aesthetics and technical excellence. She later refined her expertise in jewellery illustration at the École Van Cleef & Arpels in Paris.

At the heart of her practice lies a simple yet enduring question: what does it mean to draw time? Through her ongoing project, TheWatchPortraits, she approaches exceptional watches and jewels as subjects worthy of portraiture, translating their mechanical complexity and craftsmanship into hyperrealistic works of art. Every artwork is created entirely freehand and exists as a unique original.

Inspired by gemology, precious stones and the visual language of Swiss watchmaking, Francesca Perona combines the eye of a designer with the hand of an illustrator, transforming technical mastery into timeless works of art.

She collaborates with some of the world's leading maisons of haute horlogerie and high jewellery, including Vacheron Constantin, Cartier and Bvlgari. Alongside creating live artworks at prestigious international events such as Watches and Wonders Geneva and Geneva Watch Days, she designs bespoke artistic experiences, live ateliers and immersive activations that transform craftsmanship into meaningful encounters between brand, object and audience.

Her works are held in private collections across Switzerland, Italy, the United Arab Emirates and beyond.

She lives and works between Turin and Geneva.