celestial

Patek Philippe Celestial Calendar Ref. 5106 Timepiece For Only Watch 2009

Patek Philippe collectors will want to pay attention to this unique watch that has been produced specially for the Only Watch 2009 charity watch auction taking place in Monaco in September. The watch furthers the growing line of celestial themed watches that Patek Philippe is known for. This watch has a few unique touches that you'll want to know about. The about 44mm wide case is done in 18k rose gold while the bezel is done in 22k rose gold which is not standard for watches that often use 18k rose gold for the whole case. 22k rose gold is often regarded as being too soft for a watch exterior, but Patek Philippe knowing the likely life of this watch (in a case) opted for the more pure gold in order to enhance the look of the guilloche engraving on the bezel. The mini rotor in the automatic 240 LU CL C movement is also in 22k rose gold. For all its complications the movement is thin at about 6.4mm thick - making for an overall thin watch. The strap is dark blue alligator.

So what does the watch do? It is funny as the watch is very Geneva-centric - in that the frame of reference for looking at the sky is how the sky appears while in Geneva. Basically the watch tells you what the night sky looks like from Geneva - as opposed to other positions on Earth. It has a lot of information about the sky, as well as the time and date. Looking at the dial you can tell what the sky (position) of the stars looks like as well as the phase of the moon and the position of the moon in the night sky. This tells you the solar time, the passage of Sirius, what is going on with the moon, and shows you a nice sky chart. Most of this information will just look pretty because you can go online to figure out all this information in a more readable manner. This is lovely novelty for novelty's sake, and is just what collectors like - you don't get to look at a delicate golden rendition of the Milky Way online the way you do while gazing at this beauty.

With the fine decoration, complex automatic movement, and unique nature of a one-off Patek Philippe model, I have a feeling that this Ref. 5106 watch from Patek Philippe will go for a hefty price at auction in September, and will likely increase in value a few years from now if recent Patek Philippe watch auction results are any indication.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: 2009, 5106, auction, calendar, celestial, only watch, OnlyWatch, patek philippe, PatekPhilippe

The Scholarly Antiques Of George Glazer

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

A listing in March's Architectural Digest brought me to the unique New York gallery of George Glazer. Glazer, a former lawyer is dedicated to antiques that focus on science and exploration. He specializes in prints, maps, globes and planetary spheres. If you are looking for something perfect for your library, this is the place. I have a particular weakness for antique celestial engravings and Glazer offers a variety, some of which can be see on his website. The print shown here is from Andrea Cellarius' Harmonia Macrocosmica, a celestial atlas originally issues in 1660. The print shown here, an astronomical chart in the form of the concentric rings of an armillary sphere, showing apparent movements of sun, moon and planets around the earth is from the reissued 1708 edition and sells for $3,900.

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Tags: antiques, celestial, map, new york

Gaia 23°27' Watch

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry, Timepieces / Watches

Wow, this little piece of heaven is featured on Europastar and is called Gaïa 23°27'. The watch was created by Anatole Le Grand Edouard. The Gaïa 23°27' is a jewelry watch that features a bracelet of pink gold spheres that are slightly flattened on the interior. The main sphere, which has a diameter equal to 500 millionths of the diameter of the Earth, features an automatic calibre movement which is set off center and inclined to 23°27' which is the angle of inclination of the Earth’s rotational axis to its elliptical plane. The watch is full of celestial themes like comets, planets and stars rendered in diamonds, rubies and colored sapphires. The center is supposed to invoke the sun (although it reminds me a bit of a bloodshot eye). A total of 440 diamonds and 519 gemstones went into the piece and the tiny dial is actually a 2.32 carat ruby cabochon with a hole in the center. The watch is the first model in a limited series of 22 pieces.

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Tags: celestial, diamonds, jewelry, luxist, luxury, sapphires, timepiece, watch