AN INCOMPARABLE FEAT
This masterpiece of miniaturization goes way beyond the limits to center stage an outstanding mechanical choreography that boasts a myriad of perfectly-poetical, fabulously-functional features.
41 complications, 5 astronomical functions, 1,521 components, 13 patent applications… How on Earth can you not be captivated by Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grand Complication imagined by Vacheron Constantin! Dial-side, the data display of a perpetual calendar at 12 o’clock consorts with a second time zone at 3 and Moon phases at 9. All these features are enhanced with novelties. The first counter gives you the current year and the week number. The second tells you world time. The third also indicates the tides, seasons, equinoxes and solstices. Astronomical functions related to the Sun’s course are compiled at 6 o’clock. In addition to giving our daytime star’s real-time position based on a reference city, this one-off piece reveals the time it rises and sets, as well as its culmination and declination. The equation of time and the current zodiac sign are also featured.
This face may fascinate with its savant intricacy yet, on the back of the 45 mm-diameter, 14.99 mm-thick white gold case, a navigation chart mesmerizes. What’s more, an unexpected astronomical function, combining the split-second chronograph with an illustration of a mobile sky chart, enables you to calculate the time it will take a constellation (among 13) or a given star to appear centered in the observer’s field of vision. The precious casket middle hosts the pushers and the crown. A discreet trigger at 5 o’clock alludes to an ultimate surprise. If you tap on it, it delivers the musical notes of a Westminster-chime minute repeater brought to life by Caliber 3655, a masterpiece of miniaturization.
