If you’re in the market for a one-of-a-kind timepiece, Baroque Access has just the one. It’s the brand new watch created by Swiss horologists Vacheron Constantin and not only does it carry the cachet of being the most complicated timepiece ever made, it has a price tag to match
For over $1 million you could own the brand new timepiece created by Swiss watchmakers Vacheron Constantin. Called Les Cabinotiers Celestia Astronomical Grand Complication 3600, this extraordinary 18-karat gold timepiece features an incredible 23 complications. This masterpiece follows another celebrated watch created by the brand in 2016, the Celestia 57260 pocket watch that featured even more complications – 57 in all!
Although both of these watches were developed in secret, the latest offering was created in honor of the way in which grand master horologists worked, which was to develop a piece without thought to the length of time it took to create. In addition, the latest Vacheron Constantin creation was made with an extraordinary level of precision, just like historic astronomical watches.
This one-of-a-kind watch was created by a master horologist who has kept his identity secret. The only thing that has been revealed is that the timepiece was developed using math equations. In all, developing this remarkable timepiece took five years – three years to conceptualize it and two years to fabricate it. The result is an impressive feat of miniaturization that is a combination of civil, solar and sidereal times. The fully integrated caliber has an incredible 514 components in all, despite the watch being a mere 8.7mm thick.
The extremely complicated and exclusive Caliber 3600 has a mechanical manual-winding movement. Its three distinctly different times are driven by three separate gear trains, making it an incredible piece, a combination of astronomy and timekeeping. The watch features hours, minutes, a perpetual calendar and even indicates when it’s day or night. There’s a precision moon phase, a running equation of time, times given for sunrise and sunset, seasons, solstices, equinoxes, even zodiac signs.
Of course, there’s more… Sun-Earth-Moon conjunction, the transparent celestial chart of the Northern Hemisphere showing the Milky Way, an ecliptic and celestial equator, celestial time hours and minutes, a tourbillon… the complex list of features is endless, literally encompassing the universe.
This extraordinary masterpiece of horology was first revealed at the beginning of the year at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) 2017 in Geneva.