The worlds most unusual watches
The worlds most unusual watches
The essence of Astronomical watches lies in their interpretation of celestial timekeeping, a combination of horological history and cutting edge technology.
Astronomy and timepieces have been intertwined throughout history and its a natural relationship given that all time units are caused by astronomical phenomena. Indeed watchmakers look to this astronomical history for inspiration.
Dutch watchmaker Christiaan van der Klaauw for instance was inspired to create his first astronomical wristwatches by Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695), the well-known astronomer and maker of the first pendulum clock. He also drew inspiration from the planetarium built by Eise Eisinga (1744-1828) for his Planetarium watch.
Other brands such as Ulysse Nardin have been inspired to create astronomical watches named after famous astronomers, three such watches were the “Astrolabium Galileo Galilei“, the “Planetarium Copernicus” and the “Tellurium Johannes Kepler“, called the Trilogy of Time. Astronomical timepieces are not only fascinating technical marvels but also interesting tools for astronomical observations.
“Watches with astronomical indications remain among the rarest and most poetic type of complications.” – Patek Phillipe
The main feature of this astronomical watch is its moonphase complication. Clearly showing you the phases of the moon over its monthly cycle as well as some constellations. Separate calendar markers are indicated around the edge of the dial. The classic design of the satin finished case houses the Perrelet automatic P-11 movement with…
Patek Philippe is well known for its sophisticated high-end astronomical watches. This one provides information about the night sky by using a dial constructed from a series of superimposed layers of sapphire crystal disks which concentrically rotate and tell you information about the cosmos. Using the Geneva sky as a reference, it will give…
The Van Cleef & Arpels “Midnight in Paris” recreates a map of the stars in the night sky above Paris. The orbiting of the stars is achieved by using a rotating Aventurine glass disk. Genuine meteorite stone from 4.5 billion years ago has been set into a disk that surrounds the calendar in the…