A Closer Look at the Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers

The Vacheron Constatin Celestia rewards repeated exposure. The watch, which prides in its Swiss origin, is a complex watch: in actual sense, it is the most complicated and unique watch ever manufactured by the Vacheron Constatin. The motivation behind this watch was to come up with a masterpiece that would offer something like a horological exploration of astronomical complications. The piece was also designed to express a deep connection between the astronomical cycles that lead to different manifestations in the sky and on Earth as well.

Before making the Celestia, Vacheron Constantin's most complex watch was the Tour de L’lle, which had been crafted to celebrate the Company’s 250th anniversary. The predecessor had some astronomical complications, a minute repeater, a tourbillon, and a perpetual calendar. The Celestia is designed differently from the Tour de L’lle. For instance, the new masterpiece by Vacheron has more comprehensive astronomical complications.

Unlike most complicated watches, the Celestia has managed to achieve a harmonious aesthetic characteristic that is not usual in most complicated watches. Grand pocket and wrist watches, which usually have a large number of complications, oftentimes seem full of complex detail. The Celestia breaks away from this ideology; the watch, in all its complexity, has managed to focus on specific visions of time. Also, the watch is designed to operate mechanically: it is thus similarly a philosophical expression as it is a watch.

The Celestia is crafted differently from other complicated Vacheron Constantin watches: it is devoid of the archaic designs. Also, the organization of indications, the dial treatment, and the watch’s feel are all different from Swiss practices when making such watches. The watch’s displays enable clearer and better legibility.

The predecessor, Tour de L’lle watch, has some indication on the back and front. The Celestia, however, takes a similar approach. On the front side of the watch, the user will see the time of sunset and sunrise, indications of the perpetual calendar, amount of daylight, and the moon’s phase. There is, additionally, a hidden night and day indicator.

Probably, the most notable departure from the norm is the mareoscope, which is designed to show low and high tides as well as the relative position of the moon and the earth to the sun. Lastly, there is an indication for the solstices and equinoxes, a Zodiac indication, and an Equation of Time merchant. In this equation, the hand indicates the amount of time by which the local time is behind or ahead of the meridian time.

Lunar and Tidal Cycles

The moon phase and the mareoscope sit beside each other, which is logical since they are related. The biggest contributor to oceanic tides on earth is the moon. The user will first consult the tides in his locale and set the tide indicator to correspondent to the low and high tides in your location before using the mareoscope. Immediately you have cleared the two steps above, you will see when the next tide is due and when the last tide struck.

High tides, otherwise known as spring tides, happen when the sun, moon, and earth are aligned together. The effect of the lunar and solar gravitational forces during oppositions and conjunctions is what leads to high tides. Since the mareoscope indicates the relative position for the earth, moon, and the sun during a synodic month, it is possible for one to identify exactly when the neap tides and spring tides will happen. A neap tide occurs once the sun, moon, and the earth have formed a 90-degree angle. The neap and spring tide quadrature and conjunctions are shown on the watch by crosshairs, which is centered on the earth.

Cycles of Tropical and Civil Year

The Celestia has a separate gear train included for tropical years: this is a very unusual feature. A tropical year is basically the amount of time that the earth takes to go round the sun. The gear train, undoubtedly, adds significant complexity to the watch, but it, simultaneously, increases the accuracy of indications that are dependent on the astronomical reality as opposed to the civil year. Indications such as time of sunset and sunrise, the equation of time, solstice display and equinox, and the length of night and day are all depended on the tropical gear train.