Christiaan van der Klaauw Astronomical Watches (CVDK) celebrates its 50th anniversary with the unveiling of the CVDK Grand Planetarium Eccentric Manufacture, the world’s most advanced mechanical planetarium watch. On the back of revealing this new creation, CVDK went one better with an exclusive three-piece limited edition celebrating the 70th anniversary of Sincere Fine Watches. The CVDK Grand Planetarium Eccentric Sincere Platinum Jubilee Edition is distinguished by a unique dial, oil painted by Gaël Colon. There is a lot to unpack here so let us begin with a brief introduction to the watchmaker Christiaan van der Klaauw.
Renowned for his astronomical works of mechanical art, Dutch master watchmaker Christiaan van der Klaauw has built a reputation by crafting complex timepieces that capture celestial movements. The CVDK Grand Planetarium Eccentric Manufacture, the atelier’s most intricate work, is the only watch in the world capable of closely mirroring the reality of all eight planets’ orbits as accurately as possible, making it a true marvel of horological and astronomical artistry. Connoisseurs should note the presence of the Earth’s moon, and four each for Jupiter and Saturn. This is a unique touch for the CVDK Grand Planetarium Eccentric Sincere Platinum Jubilee Edition.
Christiaan van der Klaauw, a longstanding member of the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI), has previously developed other complex astronomical watches and tides indicators. His planetarium watches, however, remain his signature pieces. In 1995, Christiaan van der Klaauw created the world’s smallest mechanical planetarium, which tracked the orbits of six planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Notably, Uranus and Neptune were missing because their orbital periods (84 and 165 years, respectively) posed significant technical challenges. The CVDK Grand Planetarium Eccentric Manufacture finally incorporates these outermost planets, overcoming the difficulty of representing their slow orbits in a wristwatch through painstaking manual calculations used to create specialised gear trains.
The making of the CVDK Grand Planetarium Eccentric Manufacture spanned across three generations of CVDK craftsmanship. Initially inspired by the CVDK Kepler’s Planetarium Clock designed by Christiaan van der Klaauw, Daniël and Maria Reintjes shaped the design over their 15 years at the helm. The original hand-drawn designs were transformed into a 3D CAD model, bringing the project to completion. This watch meticulously mimics the true paths of the planets, which follow eccentric orbits around the Sun, adding a realistic dimension to the display.
CVDK’s newly developed in-house movement features a complex arrangement of gears totalling 3,338 gear teeth. This movement includes a free-sprung hairspring, a variable-inertia balance wheel, and a power reserve of 60 hours, accompanied by decorative elements that reference the starry sky, including frosted star detailing and a skeletonised rotor in the shape of the CVDK logo, plated in rose gold.
The wondrous movement is visible via the exhibition caseback, which bears the engraving of the Sincere Platinum Jubilee emblem; notably, the case middle here also bears an engraving of this same emblem. This brings us, finally, to Gaël Colon’s specially executed dial for the CVDK Grand Planetarium Eccentric Sincere Platinum Jubilee Edition. As you can easily see, the dial evokes a cosmological feel that brings the expanse of space and time into focus on the limited physical space of the 44mm watch. Gaël Colon’s dial is more than merely beautiful though because it is inspired by an early prototype made by Christiaan van der Klaauw. The watchmaker had spray-painted the design on his drawing board while developing the watch.
Encased in 18k yellow gold, the watch is 15mm thick and is water-resistant to 50m. Additional details include yellow gold-plated pomme hands and a rotating sun emblem in the centre to indicate the seconds. The CVDK Grand Planetarium Eccentric Sincere Platinum Jubilee Edition will be available at Sincere Fine Watches boutiques and retails for SGD 280,000, including GST.
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