Exceptional timepieces
Solaria Ultra Grande Complication
La Première
The most complicated wristwatch ever made features 41 complications, 5 rare astronomical functions and an innovative Westminster minute-repeater. This unique watch with 1,521 components crowns eight years of research and development, including 13 patent applications filed.
Complex miniaturisation
One major difficulty lay in housing the Calibre 3655 and its 1,521 components in a reasonably sized case that would comfortably fit the wrist. Mission accomplished by the watchmaker, who succeeded in tucking the movement into a case measuring 45mm in diameter with a height of only 14.99mm - a watchmaking tour-de-force.
An innovative chiming
mechanism
One of the first challenges was to accommodate a chiming mechanism without compromising the calibre’s slimness - especially as the musical sequence retained is the most sophisticated of all: a Westminster carillon with four gongs and four hammers. This complication alone accounts for 7 of the 13 patents filed for this unique piece.
Five rare astronomical
complications
This watch occupies a special place in horology, notably for its five innovative astronomical complications, four of which relate to the course of the Sun across the sky. Thanks to an innovative mechanism, the display shows the position of the Sun in real time, its height, time of culmination and angle of declination - astronomical feats for a mechanical wristwatch.
Temporal tracking of celestial objects, a world premiere
This fifth astronomical complication - a world first - combines a split-seconds chronograph with a representation of the celestial vault and makes it possible to calculate the time it takes for a constellation or a given star to appear centred in the observer’s field of vision.
The art of finishing
The components' finishing required uncompromised attention to detail, notably due to an extreme miniaturisation of the entire Calibre 3655. To showcase the fascinating architecture of this movement, the components’ decoration includes nine types of finish, from circling to satin polishing.
