Every Christiaan van der Klaauw watch that bears a planetarium is, by definition, special. Since the mid-1990s, this rare and spectacular complication has been the brand's trademark, conceived and calculated by Mr. van der Klaauw himself. Recently, the brand, now under the direction of Pim Koeslag, presented the fantastic Grand Planetarium Eccentric, the first of its kind, showcasing all 8 planets of our solar system. But let's not forget the classic planetarium, the smallest mechanical planetarium in the world. This watch was recently made even more special with the creation of a one-of-a-kind piece with a fully skeletonized dial, the one-of-a-kind Christiaan van der Klaauw Planetarium Julie.
Christiaan van der Klaauw is one of the most famous watchmakers in the Netherlands and probably worldwide when it comes to handcrafted astronomical complications. Arguably the most impressive achievement of his career was the development of the planetarium wristwatch in the 1990s, which became the smallest mechanical planetarium in the world. A planetarium is a device that attempts to accurately depict the movement of the solar system and its planets orbiting the sun. With the recent Grand Planetarium Eccentric, CVDK introduced the first of its kind mounted on a wristwatch and capable of displaying the 8 planets of our solar system. But there's another important watch from 1995 that started it all: the CVDK Kepler Planetarium Clock. Although not as complete as the current model, the miniaturization of the complication is spectacular.
Today we are unveiling a new version of the Christiaan van der Klaauw Planetarium, designed not to showcase new technical achievements, but to show what the brand can do in terms of customization. “This extraordinary watch was made according to the very special wishes of a true friend of the brand Christiaan van der Klaauw,” says Koeslag, who, after brainstorming with the future owner, had a clear idea of what needed to be done. The concept was to pay tribute to this collector's young daughter, hence the name Julie for this edition.
As for the design, we can already see some evolutions, as the 40mm case center and caseback have been made from grade 5 titanium, while maintaining the model's classic design and its onion-shaped crown. Combining the exterior with the complication it displays, the watch features a unique meteorite bezel on which the signature Widmanstätten pattern is clearly visible.
What really sets this edition of the Christiaan van der Klaauw Planetarium apart is the movement and the way it is visible through the sapphire crystal dial with hand-applied Hindu-Arabic indices. The latter retains the same display as previous versions of this watch, with date and month displays at 12 o'clock and the planetarium at 6 o'clock. Here, given its particularly small size, it shows the ballet of six planets in our solar system rotating around the sun in real time – Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are present.
The clockwork is the highlight of this Julie version. It is actually completely skeletonized, with the entire module having to be redesigned to fit the broken theme. The bridges and main plate of the planetarium module had to be made in different shapes to achieve the shape of the CVDK logo, the sun with 12 claws. All bridges are opened by hand and the angle has no less than 70 angles inwards. Another unique touch: Julie's profile was hand-engraved into the barrel by master engraver Kees Engelbarts.
The back of the movement, which was also skeletonized and beveled by hand, is no less special. Here CVDK opts for the CKM-01 caliber, which is the same base as the Grand Planetarium Eccentric, an evolution compared to previous editions of this watch. This in-house base caliber was developed together with the watch parts manufacturer UhrTeil AG (founded by Andreas Strehler) and features a rose gold-plated brass rotor with the CVDK logo incorporated into it.
This new version of the Christiaan van der Klaauw Planetarium Julie is, as expected, already assigned to its owner. However, it is also a testament to what the brand is capable of when it comes to customization with its Atelier collection. As the brand states: “Your personal wishes serve as the basis for our watchmakers to put together your personal watch: the materials, complications, dials, rotors and workmanship can all be selected according to your personal wishes.” Further information can be found at www.klaauw.com.
https://monochrome-watches.com/christiaan-van-der-klaauw-planetarium-julie-unique-openworked-edition-of-the-worlds-smallest-mechanical-planetarium-introducing/