This time, Louis Moinet has gone and beyond with yet another spectacular ‘space-inspired’ timepiece. The new Louis Moinet Space Revolution took three years to develop and it taps into the pillars of ‘Mechanical Wonders’ and ‘Cosmic Art’ with double flying tourbillons whirling at high speed in opposite directions. Nominated for the GPHG 2021, the Space Revolution is cased in a generous 18K rose gold and sapphire crystal case measuring 43 mm in diameter.
Its case doesn’t leave anything to the imagination with unsurpassed transparency offering incredible side views of the spectacle taking place on its dial. The case is composed by a sapphire crystal container mounted on an 18K gold chassis that is open-worked at the lugs and with a case middle with a sapphire dome and a welded inner bezel ring. Despite its partial solid gold construction, the case has a total weight of only 69.44 grams — 9.33 grams of sapphire crystal and 60.11 grams of gold.
In a complete break with the past, the case has been fully redesigned. Made from polished, satin-finished gold, the base supports the sapphire crystal dome, allowing the magic to be admired from the side as well as from above.
Available in a highly exclusive limited edition of only 8 pieces, the Space Revolution features an aventurine dial that brilliantly evokes the starlit sky. Its origin dates back to the 17th century, in Murano. The aventurine dial in the Space Revolution is of exceptional quality. It was acquired more than 50 years ago by the father of Daniel Haas —Louis Moinet’s partner for precious stones and gems. From the original block to final polishing, more than eight handcrafted steps are required to prepare it for appearing at its best advantage.
Additionally, each of the eight watches is truly unique, thanks to the meteorite fragment placed underneath the hour and minute hands’ axis. A total of eight different meteorite inserts made out of eight different very well known meteorites are available upon request.
The Eight Different Meteorite Inserts
These meteorites include the rarest in the world and are the following:
LUNAR METEORITE: The lunar meteorite is one of the rarest. To date, less than 200 lunar meteorites have been identified in the world.
MARTIAN METEORITE: The Martian meteorite is one of the rarest. To date, fewer than 150 Martian meteorites have been identified in the world. The price per gram is higher than gold and platinum combined.
ALLENDE METEORITE: The oldest known material in the solar system. Its age is estimated at 4.567 billion years old - making it older than the Earth itself.
ERG CHECH METEORITE: This exceptional meteorite is older than the earth. It is estimated to date back 4.566 billion years.
JBILET WINSELWAN METEORITE: This mysterious meteorite contains traces of amino acids, potentially the very first trace of known life in the cosmos.
ISHEYEVO METEORITE: The Isheyevo meterorite was found in Russia in 2003 and is a carbonaceous chondrite meteorite containing a beautiful sequence of fine layers.
GIBEON METEORITE: This iron meteorite was found in Namibia. It displays an extraterrestrial motif: the exceptional Widmanstätten pattern.
ARMANTY METEORITE: This meteorite, composed of a natural and extraterrestrial ferronickel alloy, comes from the heart of an asteroid measuring more than 100 km in diameter. It was discovered in recent years in China.
Things to Know About the Space Revolution
The mechanism devised by Jean-Marie Schaller —CEO and Creative Director of Louis Moinet— is entirely original. Initially deemed impossible, its development required more than three years of research. Given the complexity of the technology involved, the possibility of a successful outcome was even called into doubt after a year's research.
In the words of Jean-Marie Schaller: “To establish the Space Revolution as a landmark creation of its time, we had to set aside all our certainties. There’s movement everywhere you look: the two spaceships themselves, of course, plus the two flying tourbillon cages, whose satellites rotate on their own axis once a minute.”
Then, a captivating animation unfolds before your eyes. Six elements are in motion with two spaceships and two satellite tourbillons rotating around the dial, as well as the two tourbillon cages —each spinning on its own axis. Two tourbillons are rotating at high speed in opposite directions. They cross paths 18 times per hour —i.e. every three minutes and twenty seconds— and are built on two levels.
More accurate than a regular tourbillon, thanks to its two oscillators with a differential gear mechanism, the Space Revolution from Louis Moinet includes five ball-bearings with seven ceramic balls and one ball-bearing with nine ceramic balls. Powered by two mainspring barrels, each barrel supplies energy to each tourbillon.
Composed of 470 components, each movement takes up to a month to be assembled. Like an art of magic, the mechanism is hidden in the base of the chassis, measuring a mere 3.75 mm thick. The central column transmits orders to the tourbillons, spaceships and hands. The advantage of this construction is to leave plenty of space so as to highlight the magic of the show being staged.
The exquisite tourbillons feature hexagonal and geometrically shaped cages. Each cage weighs only 0.24 grams, in order to guarantee suitable speed through fine poising. Each cage performs one rotation per minute and requires perfect poising. Then two spaceships made of high-tech titanium complete the visual spectacle on the dial side. Serving as counterweights to the tourbillons on the opposite ends, these science-fiction inspired spaceships complete a full turn on the dial in 5 and 10-minute revolutions —five minutes for the Black Force and ten minutes for the Red Force. Each spaceship has a total weight of only 0.5 grams, barely more than that of a bird feather.
Turning the watch over reveals the gorgeous beautifully finished in-house manual movement calibre LM104 with 56 jewels. The case back features a sapphire crystal opening offering partial view of the mainspring double barrels and two thirds of the movement.
A selector placed on the case-back features two distinct positions for time-setting and winding. Therefore, it is not necessary to pull out the crown to set the time or wind the movement. The movement provides a power reserve of 48 hours when fully wound while beating at a frequency of 21,600 vph —3 Hz.
The Louis Moinet Space Revolution is delivered on a black large scale hand-sewn alligator strap with a deployant folding clasp in 18K rose gold matching the case of the watch. The watch is presented on a themed spherical blue presentation box and available in a limited edition of only 8 pieces.
Sticker Price $380,000 USD. For more info on Louis Moinet click here.
