This is one of the most beautiful timepieces I’ve ever seen. These pictures are from the original page, and the compilation of them is from the I fucking love science page on facebook. I couldn’t get the link to work from the actual site, but I can link it.
Here’s what I fucking love science said about it: “ Think 12 or 24 hour watches are a little short-sighted?
The Midnight Planétarium timepiece tracks the position of the six planets visible from Earth. Each of them are independently controlled for precise tracking at any given time and their true orbital speeds are represented. Aside from keeping you updated on planetary positioning, it also functions as a regular watch with the shooting star indicating the time in hours and minutes.
Designed by Van Cleef & Arpels “
And here’s a bit what Van Cleef & Arpels had to say: "This new Poetic Complication timepiece provides a miniature representation of the movement of six planets around the sun and their position at any given time: Earth and Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn – all visible from Earth with the naked eye
[…]
The Maison has applied its jewelry-making expertise to depicting the planets with a selection of hard stones: turquoise for the Earth, serpentine for Mercury, chloromelanite for Venus, red jasper for Mars, blue agate for Jupiter and sugilite for Saturn.
Intricately sculpted by hand into spheres of different dimensions and colors, they are positioned round a sun in pink gold. Each of these elements, along with the shooting star in pink gold, is fixed on its own aventurine disc.
Painstaking attention has been given to selecting the stones, then sculpting the discs and spheres in order to give form to this animated tableau, with its combination of jewelry and watchmaking savoir-faire.
[…]
Planets are set in motion thanks to a self-winding mechanical movement of great complexity: equipped with an exclusive module developed in partnership with the MaisonChristiaan van der Klaauw, it contains 396 separate parts.
The movement of each planet is true to its genuine length of orbit: it will take Saturn over 29 years to make a complete circuit of the dial, while Jupiter will take almost 12 years, Mars 687 days, Earth 365 days, Venus 224 days and Mercury 88 days.
On the back of the watch, the oscillating weight is engraved with a starry composition. The day, month and year can be set using two push buttons and viewed through two apertures on the dial.“
Via: http://www.vancleefarpels.com/us/en/la-maison/spirit-of-creation/creation-highlights/midnight-planetarium-timepiece.html
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