By Harlan Chapman-Green
Every now and again we here get surprised by stuff. Not general stuff like the new price of eggs or something, but interesting watches from companies that we, perhaps, hadn’t expected. Admittedly, there isn’t a lot of coverage for Graham, but that is about to change as we reveal the Orrery Tourbillon Astronomical Watch, a timepiece made from the stars.
Well, not quite the stars, but other heavenly bodies no less. Graham’s Orrery Tourbillon Astronomical watch makes use of parts from not only our own planet, but also the moon and mars as well. These three are represented on the dial and orbit on a miniaturised scale of the actual planets, orbiting a diamond in the centre of the tourbillon to represent the sun. This miniature planetarium design has been seen before, most notably by Van Cleef & Arpels. The cage over the tourbillon has been hand engraved to represent the design of the company’s founder, George Graham, some time ago.
To read the time you’d have to try and spot the off-centre hands. Depending on the time of day that might be quite easy or really difficult considering they are made of the same 18K rose gold as the tourbillon cage. You’re able to roughly tell the date and the month on this watch as well, Earth’s position around the dial is marked with a parallel running track showing the dates and the months. There’s also an indicator for the astrologists out there who believe that the position of the stars plays a role in their decisions.
On the back of the watch is, not only a display case, but a display caseback with a function on it. The 100 year wheel shows you which year it is for the next century, when the time is up and it needs a change Graham’s watchmakers are able to fit another one in, assuming all the watch companies are here in 100 years. The movement was made by Christophe Claret for Graham, so I wonder whether you could take it to them in the worst case scenario that Graham folds, either way it’s a sign of quality, Christophe Claret doesn’t make bad watches.
This is an odd watch to look at. Although it’s a lot more normal looking than some of Graham’s other watches which almost always use a specialist crown. This one is more simple to operate, yet much more complex to understand. The movement runs at a timely 3Hz for a total of over 72 hours. Produced in rose gold this watch isn’t small, it’s actually 48mm in diameter and 17.6mm thick, so stand out it definitely will. But, if you love rose gold, planets and can take the $330,000 hit this watch will give out, it could be for you. There’s only 8 of these watches in total, so sighting one will be pretty rare, still, the watch is pretty. For more info, please visit graham1695.com
