The latest Louis Moinet timepiece demonstrates the brand’s mind-blowing creativity. The new Sideralis Inverted Double Tourbillon Watch is structured around two oversized tourbillons, with cages measuring 14.90mm each which are according to the manufacturer the largest cages of two tourbillons ever created.
These colossal tourbillons are situated above the movement, and even above the dial, set in two raised and fully visible cages, thus allowing the balance wheels and their fabulously fashioned screws to be fully exposed. Tourbillons rotate in the opposite directions – the left hand tourbillon carriage rotates clockwise, whilst the right hand tourbillon carriage rotates counter clockwise – which is yet another amazing feature of the new Louis Moinet Sideralis timepiece which results in a delectable visual effect.
Besides two tourbillons which offer a gorgeous three dimensional allure, the stunning hand-painted dark blue aventurine dial also features a time sub-dial which is positioned at the 12 o’clock position. It displays in sequence Mars, the Moon, Mercury and authentic meteorites. This is achieved thanks to the use of two discs which are set one on top of the other. The top one features a tiny hand-painted picture illustrating the universe and its constellations of stars and planets, hand-painted one by one on the aventurine sidereal background. The disc complete one counter-clockwise rotation every 60 seconds. At the top of the upper disc, there is a circular opening through which three planets can be viewed. The bottom disc rotates in the opposite direction at the same speed as the top one.
About the selection of these three planets Louis Moinet’s CEO Jean-Marie Schaller said: “These three bodies have not been chosen at random. Each of the micro-paintings includes genuine dust from the heavenly body in question: a fragment of Mars, moon dust, and extremely rare fragments of the Rosetta Stone, whose scientific name is Sahara 99555. This stone has travelled across the universe to reach us: it is the oldest known to mankind, believed by the scientific community to have come from Mercury and to be four and half billion years old.”
Protected by two patent applications, the inverted double tourbillon, same as the Sideralis caliber, is completely exclusive to Louis Moinet. The beating heart of the Sideralis timepiece is the caliber LN46 manually-wound movement which operates at the semi-rapid frequency of 21,600 alternations per hour (3 Hz). The movement is mounted on 36 jewels and offers approximately 72 hours of power reserve. The case construction provides water resistance of up to 30 meters (about 100 feet).
Louis Moinet Sideralis Inverted Double Tourbillon Watch is crafted from 18-karat white gold and housed in a large-sized case with the diameter of 47.40mm and the thickness of 14.92mm. The exceptional Sideralis model is attached to a high quality alligator leather strap which offers an amazing degree of the wearer’s comfort.
The watch is produced in the limited quantity of only 28 pieces. The retail price is CHF 245,000 (approximately $250,700).
