Moon phase 1

After two years of developing the moon phase could be finally revealed. With Felipes Philosophy of using traditional methods, the most amount of time went into the testing of different crafting methods, to find out what the advantages and disadvantages of each techniques are.

The moon phase is Felipes first watch with a handmade complication and the first step towards a completely self-developed and handmade movement. All complication parts such as gears, pinions, rivets and the bridge that holds the moon are made to perfection using only traditional watchmaking skills.

The Dial of the moon phase is partly skeletonized to reveal the complication. Decorated with hand engravings, frosting and beveled edges, it features a variety of finishing techniques. The chapter ring has a black mirror polish with eastern arabic numerals. On the finished watch you can choose between breguet, arabic, roman or chinese numerals. The moon features a dark side that is black rhodium plated and the bright side which is white rhodium plated. Due to Felipes origin from brazil he chose to show the moon from the perspective of the southern hemisphere. 

Aside of the technical development the biggest challenge was to fit the large moon into the case without having to increase the tickness. For this reason, Felipe placed the moon in the middle of the mechanism. The moon is 0.4mm thicker than the movement and closes perfectly with the dial. The movement is hand-scored and then sawn, filed and finished watch the bridges will be frosted.