Vortex Cabinet

The cabinet was commissioned by a long-standing Silverlining client and a collector, to house their watches. The client is also an avid fan of the sea, and so the design of their piece was inspired by gigantic vortexes up to 10m in diameter and 4-5 deep, which can be found in Saltstraumen in Norway. These powerful whirlpools occur when the world’s strongest tidal current flows in and out of a narrow channel that connects two fjords. Every six hours – and at speeds reaching 20 knots – 400 million cubic metres of seawater force their way through the narrow strait between the fjords, which is just 150m wide and 3km long.

The design features mother-of-pearl, dyed rippled sycamore and clear resin vortexes that disappear into aqua-blue tessellated polygon marquetry background.