The Exquisite Hour Secret - Unique Piece

A waltz of celestial wonders, lyrical and enchanting

The Maison renews itself by exploring for the first time the world of lyrical horological complications, with a timepiece adorned with a moon phase, coming to life under a moving starry sky. With this edition “L’Heure Exquise", an enchanting celestial door reveals a ballet of stars dancing on a sapphire crystal to the rhythm of the seconds. Beneath this celestial waltz, two moons intertwine in a rhythmic you-and-me. They face each other in the night sky of the sunray disc, metamorphosing to the rhythm of the new X-Centric calibre.

For the first time, the moon phase is co-axially linked to the seconds wheel, under a dynamic and mesmerizing starry sky. A gear wheel with 59 cogs evokes the orbit of the Moon around the Earth, completing a full cycle of 29.5 days.

Encased in grade 5 titanium, this model features a blue personalized sand-blasted dial, with a polished and satin-finished flange. It defies symmetrical shapes, and is made up of five parts, three of which are in permanent rotation, in an anti-clockwise direction: The largest ring for the hours, the median for the minutes, the starry sapphire glass rotating to the rhythm of the seconds.

The hour and minute rings run smoothly across the dial, and a slight tilt of the numerals accentuates the movement of the discs, highlighting the passage of time. The trilobe, a universal and timeless architectural motif, serves as the indicator for the hours and minutes.

My soul has its secret, my watch has its story

The "Secret" Edition, is an invitation to immortalize a precious moment in a poetic way. The starry sky, thus conceived, is a freeze frame for a chosen moment in life. Each dial is made to measure: a map of the sky reflecting the day, time and place that are dear to you, making each watch a unique piece. At nightfall, after being activated by a UV light, the drawn stars come to life to illuminate the chosen moment, thus suspending the passage of time.

We obtain the position of the stars through an algorithm of 1600 constellations, around a repetitive 4-year cycle. Thus, we can determine the starry sky for a moment in the past or in the future. This algorithm is based on the book “Calculs astronomiques à l’usage des amateurs” (Jean Meeus, Société astronomique de France, Paris, 1986). The constellations are transferred onto the dial with white ink in successive layers using a pad printing technique, while the stars are hand-decorated by a craftsman, each filled with superluminova using a syringe.