BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Some might say that most of Konstantin Chaykin’s model range is the same watch over and over, but that’s quite unfair, and Audemars Piguet gets away with it just fine. Yes, the goofy faces on the watches are their most unique selling point, but they’ve been interpreted in so many different ways over the years that we wonder if they ever will run out of things to do with it.
This unique piece is actually the most complex “Wristman” ever, with no fewer than 16 complications displayed across two dials from the calibre K.22-1. On the front, the watch shows the following:
Time, split into hours and minutes in the eyes
24-hour time
Day of the week (retrograde)
Length of the day
Length of the night
Current zodiac
Equation of time
Sidereal time
Celestial chart
That’s a lot of information, but there’s even more stuff on the back, like:
A tourbillon
Disk moonphase
Three-dimensional moonphase (called the discrete moonphase here)
Solar activity cycle display
Sunrise azimuth indicator
Sunset azimuth indicator
You’d imagine that this is a bulky thing with all that going on, but it’s still 42mm in diameter and the lugs are hinged so they swing downwards.
Konstantin Chaykin’s watches have been favourites of the Only Watch auctions for years, and this new most-complex-one-ever-watch will certainly continue that trend. The 150,000 – 220,000 CHF expected price seems a little meagre today.
