In my opinion, some of the most interesting, gorgeous and exclusive timepieces to have ever been manufactured are the moon watches, those based on moon-related principles of either featuring pieces of moon rocks, either resembling our natural satellite and even replicate and track each of its phases. The latest line to be associated with the moon is the Ochs und Junior Moon Phase Patina, crafted solely from titanium and brass.
This particularly simplistic timepiece is meant to track the moon phases through exquisite craftsmanship and gorgeous contrasts between the two aforementioned metals. The Moon Phase Patina was designed with 5 parts so that the watch will reportedly go off balance by just 1 day every 3478.27 years. In fact, what we have here is the most accurate moon phase indicator wristwatch ever manufactured.
The dial itself is superbly minimalistic, contrasting brass and titanium in order to display the time and the moon phase. It boasts 30+1 date perforations and 6 additional indices which assist in the displaying of minutes, hours and seconds. The dial hasn’t even been engraved with the brand’s logo – genuinely simple!
The one behind the development, engineering and design of the Moon Phase Patina is Ludwig Oechslin, having managed to put together a stunning mechanism from just 5 parts. In regular conditions, the mechanism would deviate by 1 day every 122, 500 or 1,007 years, but this one deviates once every 3478.27 years. The deviation can be as grave as for 1 day every 2 years at cheaper watches. In addition, the Moon Phase Patina is available in 39 or 42 mm casings, in silver or titanium. The movement inside is an ETA 2824-2. And the dial is available in a number of color options, just like the strapping system.
The Ochs und Junior Moon Phase Patina is insured for lifetime, as are the gears, crown, buckle, case and dial. Just 300 of these will reportedly be manufactured per year, each of them priced at 8,000 CHF ($8,452) for the titanium version and 10,000 CHF ($10,565) for the silver one.
[OchsundJunior]
