Vacheron's Ode to Copernicus

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Inspired by the great astronomical discoveries by famed mathematician and philosopher Nicolas Copernicus, Vacheron Constantin introduced the Hallmark of Geneva certified, Métiers d’Art Copernicus celestial spheres collection in three variations, during the SIHH 2017.

16 May 2017

Gurvisha Ahuja

Each timepiece takes inspiration from the graphic interpretations of the colorful sky map - Harmonia Macrocosmica - by Andreas Cellarius, a 17th century Dutch-German cartographer. The dials comprise of two distinct parts – the oval centre bearing the Sun with glowing hand-engraved pink gold face, and the outer disc which is dedicated to the three decorative craft variations.

Drawing inspiration from the astronomical map of the Copernicus system, Vacheron used the enameling technique on the Earth, revealing the oceans and the geography of the continents.

The dial is punctuated by fine lines illustrating the orbit of the five planets shown. Each of these heavenly bodies, represented by a star, is mentioned by its Latin name, as are the two solstices.

The outer part of the dial bears the 12 zodiac signs in polychrome enamel. They are formed using stencils, finished with a quill pen and filled using a fine brush.

This dial is then smoothed with an abrasive stone, lapped, and polished.

On the Earth orbiting around a flaming gold Sun, the oceans are covered with microscope waves achieved by engraving effects, while the contrasting continents are polished to accentuate the luminosity of the gold.

The engraver provides ramolayé (pounced ornament) details, highlighting volumes in the material carved out by hand and lit up by the subtle interplay of slanting and depth effects.

Graced by a baroque-inspired aesthetic, the second dial is hand-engraved, with the 12 signs of the zodiac overlapped on a white gold disc.

The Earth is hand-engraved, and the zodiac signs are further complemented with a 3D-effect star-studded sky.

A hand-painted midnight blue underdial is overlaid with a transparent sapphire crystal engraved on its back, with the symbols sculpted on it using a laser technique. After this, the engraver over them by hand to accentuate the raised motifs and sapphire.